The annual PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament is one of the most grueling competitions in any sport. Every fall, veterans and talented hopefuls sweat through six rounds of hell at Q school to obtain a shot at the PGA Tour, vying for the 30 slot machine games available. Unless you make it through Q school, you’re not on the PGA tour.

John Feinstein tells the story of the players who compete for these coveted positions in the 2005 Q school. With arresting accounts from the players, set up winners, rising superstars, the defeated, and the endlessly hopeful, America’s favorite sportswriter unearths the within story behind the PGA Tour’s brutal all-or-nothing competition.