Dougherty and Ferrie play limited schedules

At the end of 2007, Nick Dougherty was ranked 48th in the Official World Golf Rankings.  He won the lucrative Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and finished 11th on the European Tour's Order of Merit.  He was on the fringe of a Ryder Cup place the following year and was brought by Nick Faldo to Valhalla to give him a taste of what was destined for him.  The Liverpudlian was branded the next Faldo due to his prestigious amateur play.  Fast forward to now and Dougherty is ranked 1184th in the world and has only played in one Tour event this season.  

Kenneth Ferrie was ranked 68th in the world at the end of 2005.  He won the prestigious Smurfit European Open that year and finished 11th in the Order of Merit.  The man from North East England has struggled since, with few bright spots but did win the 2011 Austrian Golf Open, the most recent of his three European Tour titles.  The 6'5" Englishman lost his playing privileges in 2012 and spent 2013 on the Challenge Tour.  Since 2013, he's played in five main tour events and two Challenge Tour events.  

In terms of the rest of 2015, Dougherty looks like playing in at least two more main Tour events (BMW International Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where he is a past champion of both events).  Ferrie will be playing in the Lyoness Open and European Open as a past champion of both events and will be eligible via his Challenge Tour ranking to play in the Madeira Islands Open (co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour) in July.  There will also be opportunities for both to gain entry via invitations for Made in Denmark, D+D REAL Czech Masters, M2M Russian Open, and the Italian Open.  These tournaments generally have weak fields and would be prime opportunities for the two Englishmen to gain entry into those events.  But for both players, qualifying school in November will be their best chance to reclaim their full playing rights on the European Tour in 2016.