Every autumn, more than a thousand veterans and talented hopefuls sweat through three phases of hell in the Q School, as the PGA Tour Qualifying tournament is known, vying for the thirty slots available. It's a test all but a handful of the most brilliant golfers have to endure. And there's no way back if a player misses the cut. At Q School, a bad round or the wrong mindset means you're out for the year.

John Feinstein tells the stories of the players who competed in the 2005 Q School and the lessons they learned along the way, with arresting accounts from established winners, rising stars, the defeated and the endlessly hopeful.