After four failures to win back his European tour card, Ireland's Philip Walton - match-winning hero of the 1995 Ryder Cup - today kept alive his hopes of making it fifth time lucky, but only just.
The 41-year-old's four-under-par 68 in the fourth round of the qualifying school at Pals in northern Spain enabled him to survive the cut with nothing to spare.
Walton's card needed three birdies in the last five holes after he feared he had blown his chances with a triple-bogey seven which threatened to be even more damaging until he got up and down from a bunker.
But that is only the first hurdle. Walton lies joint 71st - and to reignite his tour career he has to climb into the top 35 and ties in the two remaining rounds at nearby Emporda.
"I'm pleased to have made it in - I missed by one last year," said the former French, English and Catalan Open champion. "I think I've missed only 10 greens in 72 holes, but until today my putting let me down. I had 35, 32 and 32 in the first three rounds, but only 28 today - so I hope I can keep that going.
"If I can manage two 67s now I might just get one of the last cards."
At six under par, he trails 14 strokes behind French leader Francois Delamontagne - but for the top 35 Walton is likely to need a finishing score of around 16 under.
Damien McGrane had no such worries as the Wexford professional stormed up the leaderboard in the gruelling six-round marathon with a fourth round 65 today. It left McGrane in a tie for sixth place with a 269 aggregate.
There was disappointment for Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey and Waterville's David Higgins.Hoey, a former Walker Cup player and 2001 British amateur champion, missed the cut (280) by two shots after today's 71.
Higgins was rarely in touch and needed something special to make it into the final two rounds. Instead, his 72 left Higgins eight shots off the pace.