PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament

The annual PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, also known as Qualifying School or Q-School, was historically the main method by which golfers earned PGA Tour playing privileges, commonly known as a Tour card. From 2013 to 2022, Q-School granted privileges only for the Korn Ferry Tour, the PGA Tour's official developmental circuit, but in 2023 it began to again award a small number of PGA Tour cards.

History

At the PGA of America's annual meeting in 1963 Earl Stewart, a club professional from Dallas, first brought up the idea of having a qualifying school. Two years later at the inaugural q-school he explained to the press on the purpose of the event. "It is designed to take the burden of making a judgement on a proposed player's talent away from the local level," he said. "Formerly the various sections were responsible for screening and qualifying a man for the tour, but all they do now is screen and recommend for the new qualifying tournament."[1]

In several early years (1968–69, 1975–81), two separate tournaments were played, one in the spring and one in the fall.[2] The format of the tournament has changed several times, ranging from a 72-hole tournament to a 144-hole tournament.[2] In June 1977, Commissioner Deane Beman announced some changes. Sectional and regional components were added to the tournament. Beman thought it would help weed out mediocre players from playing in finals. He also thought it would be "easier from the standpoint of travel and accommodations" and would be "less expensive" for the players. Many players, however, thought sectionals were unnecessary as they only eliminated a small minority of players.[3]

The current format (in place since 1982) is 108 holes over six days in late November and early December.[2] Before 2013, the top 25 players and ties earned their tour cards.[2] The next set of fifty finishers earned full Korn Ferry Tour cards.[4] The remaining participants received conditional Korn Ferry Tour status.

The 2012 Qualifying Tournament was the last to grant playing privileges for the PGA Tour. On March 20, 2012, the tour announced radical changes to its season structure and qualifying process,[5] and announced further details on July 10 of that year.[6]

The 2013 season ended with The Tour Championship in September, and the 2014 season began the following month. Since then, the Qualifying Tournament only grants playing privileges for the Korn Ferry Tour (known as the Nationwide Tour at the time of the March 2012 announcement). A new series of three tournaments known as the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, held in September, grants 50 PGA Tour cards to a field consisting of the top 75 on the Korn Ferry Tour money list and the golfers placed 126 to 200 on the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup points list. The top 25 on the Korn Ferry Tour money list before the Finals receive PGA Tour cards, with total money earned in the Finals determining the remaining 25 card earners.[6]

For 2023, qualifying school again awarded PGA Tour cards, this time to top five plus ties in the final stage. The next 40 plus ties were guaranteed starts on the Korn Ferry Tour. The next twenty plus ties earned full status on the PGA Tour Americas, while all others who reached the final stage received conditional Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas status. The 2023 edition of Q School also awarded privileges on the PGA Tour Americas to First Stage medalists. Second stage medalists also earned eight Korn Ferry Tour starts.[7]

Medalists

Year Winner(s) Cards
2024 Lanto Griffin 6
2023 Harrison Endycott 5
2013–2022: No Qualifying School
2012 Lee Dong-hwan 26
2011 Brendon Todd 29
2010 Billy Mayfair 29
2009 Troy Merritt 25
2008 Harrison Frazar 28
2007 Frank Lickliter 26
2006 George McNeill 40
2005 J. B. Holmes 32
2004 Brian Davis 35
2003 Mathias Grönberg 34
2002 Jeff Brehaut 38
2001 Pat Perez 36
2000 Stephen Allan 36
1999 Blaine McCallister 40
1998 Mike Weir 41
1997 Scott Verplank 38
1996 Allen Doyle
Jimmy Johnston		 49
1995 Carl Paulson 42
1994 Woody Austin 46
1993 Ty Armstrong
Robin Freeman (2)
Dave Stockton Jr.		 46
1992 Skip Kendall
Masahiro Kuramoto
Perry Moss
Brett Ogle
Neale Smith		 43
1991 Mike Standly 48
1990 Duffy Waldorf 49
1989 David Peoples 59
1988 Robin Freeman 52
1987 John Huston 54
1986 Steve Jones 53
1985 Tom Sieckmann 50
1984 Paul Azinger 50
1983 Willie Wood 57
1982 Donnie Hammond 50
1981 (Fall) Tim Graham
Robert Thompson		 34
1981 (Spring) Billy Glisson 25
1980 (Fall) Bruce Douglass 27
1980 (Spring) Jack Spradlin 27
1979 (Fall) Tom Jones 27
1979 (Spring) Terry Mauney 25
1978 (Fall) John Fought
Jim Thorpe		 27
1978 (Spring) Wren Lum 28
1977 (Fall) Ed Fiori 34
1977 (Spring) Phil Hancock 26
1976 (Fall) Keith Fergus 29
1976 (Spring) Woody Blackburn
Bob Shearer		 15
1975 (Fall) Jerry Pate 25
1975 (Spring) Joey Dills 13
1974 Fuzzy Zoeller 19
1973 Ben Crenshaw 23
1972 John Adams
Larry Stubblefield		 25
1971 Bob Zender 23
1970 Robert Barbarossa 18
1969 (Fall) Doug Olson 12
1969 (Spring) Bob Eastwood 12
1968 (Fall) Grier Jones 30
1968 (Spring) Bob Dickson 15
1967 Bobby Cole 30
1966 Harry Toscano 32
1965 John Schlee 17

References

  1. ^ Wilson, Johnny (October 26, 1965). "PGA Sends Pros To School". The Miami News. p. 5B. Retrieved June 21, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c d "Past champions: PGA Tour National Qualifying Tournament". PGA Tour. December 7, 2009. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012.
  3. ^ Concannon, Joe (September 28, 1977). "'School' spirit doesn't show in conversation of local qualifiers". The Boston Globe. p. 23. Retrieved January 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Q-School Finals - Tournament Information". PGA Tour. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  5. ^ "PGA Tour announces changes". ESPN. March 21, 2012. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
  6. ^ a b Dell, John (July 10, 2012). "Web.com impact expanded with qualifying changes". PGA Tour. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  7. ^ "How it works: 2023 PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry". PGA Tour. June 1, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.