Golf: Whelan skids off the hard road again

David Whelan, a Geordie, never considered himself a likely lad but in 1988 the unlikeliest thing happened, writes Tim Glover from Montpellier. In his second event on the European Tour he reached a play-off for the Barcelona Open with Nick Faldo, Barry Lane and Mark Mouland. Whelan, the 1000-1 outsider, won it and went on to finish 40th in the Order of Merit. His victory in Spain gave him a three-year exemption. He had gone to the Qualifying School five times in search of a Tour card, which he lost in 1991 and earned a living driving a lorry. He was back at the School of hard knocks last year, failed and vowed 'never again'. Yesterday Whelan, 32, shot 75 in the third round of the School of '93 and at 19 over par his cause was lost.