For every Ian Poulter, there will be 30 men who will have a name for a year, then return to the anonymity from whence they came. For them, the Costa del Sol was not so much the Sunshine Coast as a vale wracked with tears. As recently as 1995, Walton was a Ryder Cup hero in the European cause. You'd need a heart of granite not to feed a seed of sympathy for golfers such as Claydon and Walton, gentlemen both. But sympathy is not the name of the game here.
Glacial honesty is.
The truth is that Claydon and Walton did not get their cards because they were simply not good enough. The tour would be enriched by their presence, but it is right that it will be without them next year. It may be heartless, but it is the way it has to be. Hurry back soon, guys.