A last-gasp poolside touch to clinch qualification by 1/100th of a second; an injury-time goal to win a cup tie; a driven four off the final ball to edge through a semi-final.
Irrespective of the level at which they’re contested, the final stages of qualification for virtually any sporting event can be extraordinarily dramatic, ostensibly because there’s so much at stake – be it pride, prestige or payment.
One budding golf pro I know reckons that qualifying for the latter stages of a tournament can be as nerve-racking as lining up a final-minute penalty in a football match, “but doing it over four hours.”
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Losing concentration can be fatal, he says, because should you finish down the leaderboard, you’re almost certain to miss out on the chance to secure a decent pay day.
“And at my level,” he adds, with a disarmingly potent slice of reality, “that’s not something you want to do, assuming you want to eat.”
According to figures published in mid-June by the Office for National Statistics, the average gross 海角视频 salary is £23,244.
I mention this as next Monday (July 8), a sizeable contingent of mostly young, eager golf professionals will compete to secure one of six places available in next month’s Farm Foods British Par 3 Championship at Nailcote Hall, near Birmingham.
This is serious stuff; a Championship victory is worth £25,000 to the winner, a welcome sum to a rookie pro, which is why Monday’s competition (also at Nailcote Hall) promises to be so intense.
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We can expect drama too. Rhythm is an important ingredient in a good round of golf, but almost inevitably, as the finish line nears, players are affected by the invidious march of tension.
Anyone who saw Frenchman Jean Van de Velde blow a three-shot lead on the last hole of the 1999 Open will understand what an unbearable combination of pressure, nerves and anxiety can do to a professional golfer.
Van de Velde could afford to shoot a double-bogey six on the last hole and still be crowned Open champion, yet he took a seven after firing his tee shot into the rough, an error he compounded by knocking his ball into the Barry Burn.
The whole episode was so dramatic you wanted to hide behind the settee every time the Frenchman had a club in his hand.
Let’s hope nothing similar happens next week...
* Peter Sharkey is playing in the Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship, staged at Nailcote Hall between 6-9 August. We’ll be following his progress as he prepares for the event.