It is the tournament that separates champions from mortals. It is the starting point for the careers of future legends and can be the final stop on the down escalator for fading stars. The annual PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament is one of the most gruelling competitions of any sport. Every autumn, veterans and talented hopefuls alike sweat through six rounds of hell at Q school as it is universally known, to get a shot at the PGA Tour, vying for the slots available. The grim reality: if you don't make it through Q school, you're not on the PGA tour. You are out. And those who make it to the sixth day are the truly lucky ones. Hundreds of players fail to get through the equally gruelling first two rounds.

John Feinstein tells the story of the players who compete for those coveted PGA positions in the 2005 Q school as only he can. With arresting accounts from the players - established winners, rising stars, the defeated and the endlessly hopeful - America's favourite sports writer unearths the inside story behind the PGA Tour's most brutal all-or-nothing competitions.