Bahamas Atlantis Field #2

We are highlighting three players per day leading up to the first round of the Bahamas Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island.  In the first installment, we did Korn Ferry Tour rookies (link here). Today, we look at three players returning to the KFT after losing status. 

James Nicholas

Age: 27

Turned Pro: 2019

College: Yale

Nicholas went to Yale to play football, but after his first year decided to stop and play golf. The decision has paid off as Nicholas will again have status on a worldwide tour. 

Last season, Nicholas was a member of the DP World Tour. The native New Yorker played 20 events and made seven cuts, with a best finish of T5 at the Italian Open. 

Nicholas got through all three stages of Q-school and the second stage of Q-school on the DP World Tour. He finished T-51 at the final stage of DP Q-school and has full Challenge Tour status, but will concentrate on KFT for the 2025 season. 

The 27-year-old held KFT status during the 2020 Covid superseason, playing in 30 events. He made 16 cuts and finished 114th in points. In 2022, he held conditional KFT status, playing in just five events. 

At Final Stage, Nicholas shot a final round 65, the second best score of the day, moving up 50 spots on the leaderboard and earning guaranteed starts in the first eight events. 

Zack Fischer

Age: 35

Turned Pro: 2011

College: University of Texas-San Arlington

Fischer has the unique distinction of being the only two-time winner of the final stage of Q-school. He won in 2013 and 2020. 

Fischer told me that there was a very good chance this year was his last run at Q-school. The father of two played on the Americas Tour last year, and if he didn't earn KFT status, he might have hung up the clubs. 

However, his stellar record at the Fall Classic (maybe we can't call Q-school that anymore since it's played in December) continued. After finishing T11 at First Stage with four solid rounds, Fischer finished runner-up at Second Stage in Georgia, with a 20-under total. Although he didn't win his third Final Stage, he earned eight guaranteed starts on KFT. 

The 35-year-old has played in 138 KFT events in his Korn Ferry career. In 2023, he won the Argentina Open, which earned him a spot in the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. In his first and only Major Championship, he opened with 71, made the cut, and finished 76th.

Fischer also Monday qualified for the 2019 Valero Texas Open and finished T14. That would be huge news for a Monday qualifier most weeks, but another Monday Q that week, Corey Conners, won the event. 

Grant Hirschman 

Age: 29

Turned Pro: 2018

College: University of Oklahoma

With nine holes to play at First Stage in October, Hirschman, the veteran of over 100 KFT starts, found himself two outside the number. From there, he played perfect golf, played the closing nine in four-under, and made it through. 

The former Sooner standout then grinded his way through the second stage, getting through by two. At Final Stage, Hirschman had a chance at a PGA Tour card before a late bogey knocked him out of contention. He finished T8, just two strokes outside of earning a PGA Tour card. The top-10 earned him the first 12 guaranteed starts on KFT. 

It's against golf journalism rules to write a story about Hirschman without mentioning that during Covid he was roommates with Scottie Scheffler. The house also included current PGA Tour member Max McGreevy, and former KFT member Charlie Saxon. 

Late in 2021, a successful Monday Q and T14 at the Sanderson Farms may have saved Hirschman's career. But the momentum of that week didn't carry over to the 2022 KFT season, where he finished 103rd in points and lost his card. After missing at Q-school, it looked like he wouldn't have any status for the 2023 season. However, the amount of non-member FedEx points he earned at the Sanderson allowed him to finish in the top 200 of FedEx points and gave him the first four starts of the 2023 KFT season. 

Hirschman will look to carry over his stellar Q-school run to the first Bahamas events, where he has played well in the past. 

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