With no sign of a late call to this week's Belgacom Open, Philip Walton was forced to concede yesterday that his tournament season in Europe was at an end. And after 14 events he is about £50,000 short of the target for regaining a player's card.

At one stage during the summer, Walton indicated that this could be his last shot at a return to the tournament scene, but he is now ready to go back to the Final Qualifying School in Spain on November 17th to 22nd. "I'm gearing myself for it, mentally and physically," he said yesterday.

Though the German Masters is scheduled for next week, Walton knows he has no chance of gaining a sponsor's invitation there. "The Belgacom was my last chance and I was really hoping to make it because of the venue," he said. "The Royal Zoute course is a lovely old links where I have always played well."

When starting the year without a player's card, Walton had only one sponsor's invitation - to the Qatar Masters on March 9th to 12th. But as the months went by, things became a lot less bleak. In fact, he played in a total of 14 events, 10 of them on sponsors' invitations, including the Murphy's Irish Open, the Smurfit European Open and the North West of Ireland Open.

"Ballybunion was my big chance," he said. "I could have earned my card that weekend if I had been able to capitalise on my strong position after the first two rounds. But my putting let me down. I missed five short putts which cost me very serious money."

It will be recalled that two rounds of 67 left Walton on eight under par and sharing fourth place behind the leader, Patrik Sjoland, at the halfway stage at Ballybunion. Still, fragile confidence was evident when he said: "Saturday has tended to be an unlucky day for me, but I really want to keep it going this time. This is a great chance for the sort of high finish I'll need to regain my card."

Indeed it was. As things turned out, however, third and fourth rounds of 71 and 72 pushed Walton back into a share of 10th place for relatively modest prize money of £15,460. Two strokes fewer and he would have earned £42,000. Three strokes and he would have been picking up the £56,300 which Paul McGinley got for a share of third place.

"That's what I needed," he reflected wistfully. "That would have done the job. Instead, I had to battle on. I couldn't seem to feel relaxed on the course like I did when I was competing really well back in 1995, my Ryder Cup year."

He went on: "It's all about confidence. I can't pinpoint how or why it happened. All I know is that last year, my confidence was shattered. I had no self-belief standing over the ball. Nick Faldo went through it but he seems to be coming back now. Funny, Nick and me were hailed as the heroes at Oak Hill (in the 1995 Ryder Cup)."

Though Walton has watched his money and is not under any financial strain at the moment, he is aware that he must look to the future needs of his wife and three children. And looking at the enduring competitiveness of Des Smyth has given him heart.

"Des is playing really well at the moment and he's certainly not going to be a pushover in the Dunhill Cup," he said. "Looking at Des, I would like to think I could have another six or eight years in tournament golf if I could get my old confidence back.

"Things are looking up. From daily practice at The Island, I can see that the quality of my shots is getting better. And I am working hard on my fitness so that I'll be ready for the six rounds at the qualifying school."

He retains a vivid recollection of his experience last November when rounds of 68,73,78 and 70 appeared to leave him in reasonable shape with two rounds to play. But he then wrecked his chances with a fifth round of 81, followed by a similarly dispiriting 77.

"Looking back on it now, I was probably a bit embarrassed about having to go to the school last year," he said. "It was as if I felt I shouldn't really be there. Now it's different. It represents my future in the game."

Darren Clarke's runner-up finish to Retief Goosen in the Lancome Tournament means that the Tyroneman will carry an Order of Merit lead of £60,000 over Lee Westwood into this week's Belgacom Open. Clarke will be joined at Royal Zoute by Padraig Harrington, Smyth, Eamonn Darcy, McGinley and Gary Murphy.

Clarke, who has been third and second in his last two tournaments, also leads the Ryder Cup table by more than 20,000 points from second-placed Thomas Bjorn. The only other Irish player in the top 40 at this stage is McGinley, 29th.

Meanwhile, in the battle to retain exempt status, Smyth did himself considerable good in Paris last weekend. But Murphy, currently 132nd in the Order of Merit with earnings of £50,800, badly needs a good performance this week if he is approach the safety zone.