Q-School

Adiós PGA Tour Q-School?

by Derek on March 22, 2011

in Nationwide Tour,PGA Tour

Anthony Kim at Congressional

Anthony Kim went straight from college to the PGA Tour via Q-school in 2006

The NY Times is reporting that the PGA Tour is considering a dramatic change to the end of the season that would significantly reshape how players earn PGA Tour cards.  The net of the idea is that the players who don’t make the FedEx Cup Playoffs would play in a series of 3 tournaments against Nationwide Tour players.  The series would have a points structure and the rankings at the end of the series would determine who gets a PGA Tour card for the following season.

The current speculation is that the tournaments would consist of 75 PGA Tour players and 50 Nationwide Tour players competing for 50 PGA Tour cards.   The Tour’s policy board has given preliminary approval to the concept and began informing players of the decision by memo yesterday.

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May 06, 2010 - Ponte Vedra Beach, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES - epa02146192 Caddie Brett Waldman (L) pats Camilo Villegas of Colombia on the back after Villegas putted on the 6th green on the TCP Sawgrass Stadium Course in the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship golf tournament in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA 06 May 2010.

Last Monday, Brett Waldman, shot a final round 68 at PGA Tour Q-School.  It wasn’t enough for him to earn a PGA Tour Card, but it was good enough to get him a Nationwide Tour Card.  And the Nationwide Tour is where you will find Waldman next year.

There was quite a bit of speculation about where he would be in 2011.  Would he be on Camilo’s bag or making a go of it on the Nationwide Tour?  If he had earned a PGA Tour card, the decision would have been a no-brainer.  But the Nationwide Tour wasn’t necessarily an easy choice.

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Freebird!!!

by Derek on December 7, 2010

in PGA Tour

Andres Gonzales

Stephanie Wei’s buddy Andres Gonzales made it through Q-school yesterday with a 6-day total of -10 under par. He is now the guy with the coolest facial hair on the PGA Tour.  When I see him play in person I’m planning on yelling “Freebird!” at the top of my lungs from the gallery after he tees off.

[image: Stephanie Wei/weiunderpar.com]

Q-School 101

by Derek on October 29, 2010

in PGA Tour

The PGA tour has put together a great little primer on the basics of Q-School.  If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a 3-stage (with a pre-qualifier) tournament that determines where pro golfers will be plying their trade next season.  Will they spend another season on the mini-tours, step up to the Nationwide Tour, or make it to the big show of the PGA Tour?

Stage 1 started this week and includes some notable players:

Q. Who are some of the notable players entered in the first stage?
A.
There are several players with family ties to notable golfers. Among them are Jay Haas Jr. (whose brother Bill won twice on the PGA TOUR this year and father Jay has won 23 times on the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour);Mike Perez (whose brother is veteran Pat Perez ;)  Boyd Summerhays (whose uncle Bruce Summerhays plays the Champions Tour); Manuel Villegas (whose brother is three-time TOUR champ Camilo Villegas); Patrick Damron(whose brother Robert Damron is a past TOUR winner); Josh McCumber (whose uncle is veteran TOUR and Champions Tour pro Mark McCumber); Mario Tiziani (who is the brother-in-law of Steve Stricker); and Sam Saunders (whose grandfather is Arnold Palmer). Other players to watch include double heart-transplant survivorErik Compton; former U.S. Amateur champ Danny Lee; Virginia Tech’s Drew Weaver, who won the 2007 British Amateur; Todd Demsey, who overcame a brain tumor to play professional golf; and Kevin Hall, who would be the first deaf golfer to play on the PGA TOUR.

Fall Series Update

by Derek on October 19, 2010

in PGA Tour

I said a couple of weeks ago that the Fall Series was one of my favorite times of the year for golf viewing.  And this past weekend proved my point.  Rocco Mediate grabbed his 6th win on tour (has he really only won 6 times? Wow) in dramatic style.  He was sitting 182nd on the money list and had already sent in his application for Q-School.  I imagine that he’ll now spend December gearing up for the season opener at Kapalua in January.

It’s also awesome to see David Duval playing solid golf.  He’s sitting comfortably at 99th on the list, so he’ll definitely be out on Tour next year.  Shooting 4 rounds under par isn’t something that he’s done since his T2 at Pebble Beach in Feburary.  He’s shown flashes of brilliance over the past couple of years.  Could we be close to seeing the former world #1 snag his first victory since the 2001 British Open?

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