Hampshire's most successful golfer Steve Richardson has threatened to tear up his European Tour card at the end of the season if his form doesn't improve.

The three-times European Tour winner from Lee-on-Solent has earned close to £1.9m from golf but has spent the last five years struggling to make cuts and admits: "It just can't go on.

"I have an exemption for tour school for a few years yet but there's just no point in keep going back if I can't play well on tour."

Rico qualified through Tour School for the third year running last November and is due to start the new season in the Carlsberg Malaysian Open on February 15.

He and Portsmouth-based coach Jason Banting have been working hard to solve a problem with his driving and Richardson says: "I'm starting to feel more comfortable with my technique. My posture's better, my leg action's better but there is still room for impovement."

When Richardson finished number two to Seve Ballesteros on the European PGA Order of Merit in 1991, he was one of the longest drivers in world golf. He says: "In those days eight drives out of ten were good and long and when you're doing that the rest of your game - your iron play, your chipping and your putting falls into place.

"But when you have problems off the tee, it puts pressure on every other aspect of your game and that's what's been happening to me."

Richardson admits this is going to be a make or break season. "If by next autumn I don't feel I've made enough progress, I'll have to think long and hard about whether to continue.

"I know if that moment arrives it will be a tough decision, because playing tournament golf is all I really want to do.

"But I'm fed up not being able to play as well as I want to. It's not doing my confidence any good. I don't know whether I want to go on like that."

Richarson (pictured right with his Tour buddy Gary Emerson) has only an outside chance of making the first tournament of the year in South Africa on January 18. This week he was on the reserve list but way down in 15th place.

He came out of Tour School with 36th card which means his early-season tournaments will be few and far between

"It's a chicken and egg situation," says Richardson. "You need plenty of tournaments to get into a good rhythm but coming out of Tour School you don't get enough.

"You just have to make sure you do well in the few you play in so that you get a higher re-rank in May."