Long and winding road to the PGA Tour

The PGA Tour Qualifying School, better known as the Q-School, perhaps should be called Qualifying Examination. It is a test of not only the applicant's golfing expertise, but of their mental toughness and concentration over, at least for those in the final stage, the six longest rounds they will ever play. The Q-School also tests players' arithmetic skills, as they must constantly check the leaderboard and try to figure out how low they need to score. Only the top-35 and ties join the PGA Tour for the following year, while the rest head to the Buy.com Tour.

At this year's Q-School, a number of former PGA Tour members and winners, such as Tommy Armour III, Blaine McAllister, Jim McGovern, Trevor Dodds, Shaun Micheel, Ted Tryba and Brad Elder, were trying out their luck once again. Buy.com Tour standouts like Doug Dunakey, Joe Ogilvie, Ryuji Imada and Spike McRoy were also vying for PGA Tour membership. Gary Nicklaus entered the final round with confidence-claiming he believed he was one of the best players in the field-as his legendary father, Jack, looked on.

A couple of youngsters also garnered attention. Aaron Baddeley and Luke Donald are but two 20-somethings that are expected to excel in the pro ranks. Baddeley has already shown signs of brilliance with consecutive Australian Open wins in 1999 and 2000, while Donald is the 1999 NCAA Individual champion.

Then there was the 17-year-old Ty Tryon, who came into the spotlight this past season with strong showings at the Honda Classic and the B.C. Open, and with subsequent decision to turn professional before even finishing high school.

Thus, whether it was young guys trying out for the first time or veterans returning to the Q-School for umpteenth time, this year's Q-School had no shortage of drama and fascinating story lines.

When it was all said and done in the mid-Monday afternoon, however, only a selected few, 36 golfers of 161 this year, could stand proud and call themselves the newest members of the world's most prestigious golf tour.

42-year-old Amour, in his seventh visit to the Q-School, finished tied for eighth and is returning to the PGA Tour. Aussie Russ Cochran, ever a streaky player, came up with a final round of 64 just when he needed a low round. He now joins Phil Mickelson, Mike Weir, Steve Flesch and Greg Chalmers as PGA Tour's left-handed golfers.

Ian Leggat is the only Canadian out of this year's Q-School that will play full-time on the PGA Tour, where he will join Weir, Richard Zokol, Stephen Ames and Glen Hnatiuk in Canadian contingent. Fellow Canucks David Morland IV, Jon Mills, Todd Fanning and Jim Rutledge will ply their trades on the Buy.com Tour.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic