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.

With the proposed change, Q-school wouldn’t go away, but it would only provide access to the Nationwide Tour.  This would effectively eliminate the possibility of a player going straight from college or the mini-tours to the PGA Tour.  Tour officials think that this will improve the quality of tournament fields on Tour (I didn’t know they needed strengthening).

That may or may not be true, but it means that we wouldn’t have success stories from players like Anthony Kim or Rickie Fowler, who went straight from college to the PGA Tour to the Ryder Cup last year.  Yes, Fowler is the exception to the rule, but he was a much needed exception last year given Tiger’s lackluster play.

There are still plenty of details to work out and quite a bit could change between now and then.  I’m assuming this would take the place of the fall series (at least part of it), but that’s not completely clear right now.  According to PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw:

The number from the Nationwide that goes to the three-tournament series hasn’t been determined yet.  And the question of how many cards has not been, either.

This change would certainly add drama to the end of the PGA Tour season (although I think it already has plenty).  And it would also have the benefit of focusing additional attention on FedEx Cup (bleh!) standings throughout the season, which I’m sure Tim Finchem would love.  But honestly I don’t like the idea of taking away the chance, however unlikely, that an unknown pro can show up at Q-school, play his heart out, and find himself teeing it up against Tiger and Phil a few weeks later.

All of this begs the question: Why?  $$$:  Nationwide is not renewing it’s sponsorship of the Nationwide Tour after 2012.  The PGA Tour is shopping for a new sponsor and by funneling players through the Nationwide Tour (or whatever it will be called in 2013), they presumably increase the value of the sponsorship.  It’s all about the Benjamins.

Given that players were just informed about the proposed changes yesterday afternoon, keep your eyes peeled for reactions this week at Bay Hill.

[Image Flicker/Chase McAlpine]

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.

Camilo Villegas won over $3m on tour last year. Nobody knows Waldman’s exact take home pay, but it’s not unreasonable to assume that he earned north of $300k.

Only the top 9 players on the Nationwide Tour in 2010 won more than that.  And after taking into account sponsorship deals, travel expenses, etc they probably didn’t make as much as you might think.  And there’s no guarantee that Waldman will cash a single check next year playing on the Nationwide Tour.

It seems like a risky move giving up a virtually guaranteed 6 figure salary.  But for Waldman, the choice was clear:

I don’t want to look back knowing that I had the chance to do it and not doing it, and hating myself for it. I would always look back and say, ‘What if?’  There’s a reason I got to where I am. I might as well chase the dream.

For his part, Camilo has been very supportive of Waldman’s success:

Camilo was great.  I don’t think he was surprised. I think he expected it. I told him I was sorry, because I feel like we’ve got unfinished business. But all along, he has been unbelievable supportive and respectful.

Now both Waldman and Villegas have to begin the search for new caddies.  And who knows, maybe we’ll get to see the former caddie teeing it up with his former player on the PGA Tour in the not too distant future.

Golf.com

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]

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.

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?

Guys on the move:

Rocco wasn’t the only player making a move last week.  Dean Wilson finished T13 with some solid, if unspectacular weekend play.  That bumped him from 122 to 111, likely ensuring that he’ll have his card for the 2011 season.

Troy Merritt’s 65 on Saturday helped him to a T18 finish.  That moved him from the dreaded 126 position to 118.  If he can make one more cut this season, he should probably be OK.

Aaron Baddley moved up a spot to 120.  He was in a position to do much better than that, but a Sunday 75 really hurt him.  However another T30 would lock it up for him.

Guys moving the wrong way:

There were also some guys moving the wrong way.  Woody Austin dropped a spot from 124 to 125.  That’s cutting it awful close, Woody.  My dad had a great pro-am experience with Woody a few years ago and I’d really like to see him keep his card and avoid Q-School.

Briny Baird’s missed cut could cost him dearly.  He dropped from 123 to 127.  He needs a couple of solid weeks to guarantee a spot on Tour next year.

On the Bubble:

Aaron Price is now the man on the bubble, moving from 125 to 126.  I don’t imagine he’s sleeping very well right now.

There are a couple of guys just outside the top 125 to keep an eye on as well.  Bob Estes missed cut dropped him from 127 to 128.  Billy Mayfair is sitting at 131.  He’s making cuts, but needs to put together a couple of solid weekend rounds if he wants to earn his card for next year.  Tom Pernice Jr move up from 138 to 133.

We’ve only got 2 weeks until the end of the 2010 season.  It’s the last chance for players to lock up their playing spot for 2011 and avoid the dreaded Q-School.  If the last few weeks are any indication, we have some great golf to look forward to.