LEE James faces another year in the golfing wilderness after failing to make the grade in the European Tour Qualifying School at San Roque yesterday (November 16).

The 31-year-old Bournemouth player had hoped to regain his place on the main European Tour by grabbing one of the 35 cards up for grabs after six gruelling rounds in Spain.

But the former British Amateur champion fell four shots short of the qualifying mark after a closing round three-over-par 75 left him in a tie for 55th place with an 11-over-par total.

James must now decide whether or not to pursue his dream by playing the financially-demanding Challenge Tour for a second consecutive year.

"I am flying to Mexico on Monday to play the first three events of the new season in Central America," said James.

"I need to win enough money from those events to continue playing on the tour. If not I will have to decide where to go from there.

"I am gutted not to have won back my card this week. I played well all week but couldn't hold enough putts and didn't get the breaks you need at this level," he added.

James shot to national prominence in 1995 when he was paired with Jack Nicklaus and the current world number one Vijay Sing as the reigning British Amateur champion in the first two rounds of the US Masters at Augusta.

But despite turning pro the same year, James had to wait a further eight years to join the main European Tour by topping the 2002 Challenge Tour rankings with wins in Kenya, Finland, and Luxembourg.

Prior to his success, James had to stop playing the Challenge Tour due to the lack of funds and could soon find himself in a similar position.

James lost his 2003 European Tour card in just 12 months after failing to finish in the top 115.