Heroes and Heartbreak

The Final Stage of PGA Tour Q-school begins Thursday at TPC Sawgrass. Before it starts, we recap the five Second Stage sites that wrapped up last week. Each site's medalist (and ties) will have 12 guaranteed starts on the Korn Ferry Tour to start the year. The top five and ties (final year for ties) will earn PGA Tour cards, and the next 40 (and ties) will earn guaranteed KFT starts. 

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Savannah, Georgia, The Landings

‍Medalist

‍Marcelo Rozo—Rozo finished 128th in points last year after making eight of 21 cuts on the Korn Ferry Tour. Towards the end of the season, he started playing better but couldn't put together four rounds. He now has KFT status locked up and will go into Final Stage with nothing to worry about. 

‍Clutch gene

‍Brandon Berry- After opening with 68-63, Berry struggled with back pain that was so intense he struggled to walk. A third-round 74 left him just a few inside the number. In the final round, he gutted out a 71, including a birdie on the last hole to make it through on the number. 

‍Derek Bard—The 2015 runner-up in the U.S. Amateur to Bryson DeChambeau had an adventurous final round that included two doubles in a three-hole stretch. Bard was able to play the last seven in one-under to finish one inside the number. Bard has been through years of struggles after a great amateur career and a promising start to his pro career. 

‍Heartbreak Hotel 

‍Ollie Schneiderjans—The 31-year-old former Georgia Tech star and veteran of 105 PGA Tour starts has battled injuries for a few years now. Although he played solidly throughout the week, his 11-under total was one short of getting through to the final stage. 

‍Sampson Zheng—Zheng was five-under through 12 holes in the final round and inside the number, but he bogeyed both his 16th and 17th holes to fall outside and missed advancing to the final stage.

‍Surprisingly missed

‍Brandon Hagy- Although it wasn't terribly surprising to see him miss considering his recent struggles, it is a reminder of how cruel this game can be. Hagy finished runner-up at the Honda Classic just three years ago and finished 84th in points. Soon after, his struggles began. This year, he missed all four of his cuts on KFT, and made just one of nine on the Americas Tour. Hagy finished 23 strokes outside the number. 

‍Ryan Cole- Cole has dominated the mini tours this year and nearly Monday Q'd his way into KFT status. Cole won twice on the GPro Tour and took the money title this year. He also Monday Q'd into three KFT events and played in eight, making seven cuts. Cole shot seven-under total but missed by five. 

Full Field Scores

‍Dothan, Alabama, Robert Trent Jones Highlands/Marshwood

‍Medalist 

‍Ashton Van Horne and Owen Stamper- Van Horne has 62 career KFT starts but struggled in 2023 and lost his status. This season, he played just one Americas Tour event, but now has his KFT status locked up heading into the final stage. Stamper had a great career at Middle Tennessee State, and in his first attempt at Q-school, will have guaranteed starts on KFT. 

‍Clutch gene

‍Billy Tom Sargeant- After opening with a three-over 75, Sergeant, who lost his KFT status in 2022, played the final three rounds in 12-under and finished one inside the number. Sergeant, who was recently married, put a ton of work in this year leading up to Q-school and it has paid off. 

‍Ryan Davis- The former Penn State standout went four-under on his closing nine to make it through on the number. Davis was just one-under through 36 holes but played the final two rounds in -7. 

‍Heartbreak Hotel

‍Benton Weinberg- The University of Iowa alum played the final 54 holes 11-under, among the best in the field. Unfortunately, he opened with a four-over 76 that he wasn’t able to overcome and fell one stroke short. 

‍Eddy Lai- After starting the final round two inside the number, Lai played the first 10 holes in five-over to fall well outside the number. He then made a remarkable comeback, making birdies on four of his next six holes. However, a devastating bogey on the last left him one outside the number. 

‍Surprisingly Missed 

‍Keenan Huskey- The talented left-hander finished 82nd last season in KFT points, and he will have conditional status next season. However, he couldn’t get things going in Dothan, shooting a four-under total and missing by four strokes. 

‍Yuxin Lin- Another talented lefty who absolutely bombs the ball. The former University of Florida All-American shot a bogey-free 68 in the final round, but his seven-under total was one stroke outside of getting to Final Stage. 

Full Field Scores

‍Valencia, California, Valencia Country Club

‍Medalist 

‍Petr Hruby—In 2022-23, Hruby led the University of Washington with a 70.93 average, the 10th best in the school's history. A native of the Czech Republic, Hruby will be the first native Czech to hold full KFT status. 

‍Clutch gene

‍Takumi Kanaya—The former number-one ranked amateur in the world opened with a 76, beating only four players. However, in the second round, he shot a 63, the best round of the day. He then shot a third-round 70 and a final-round 67, the second-best round of the day, to coast to the final stage. It will be interesting to see how the seven-time Japan Tour winner does if he gets full status. 

‍Jeffrey Kang- Kang finished 81st in points this season on the KFT but found himself in a deep hole after a third-round 77 that left him well outside the number. In the final round, Kang was even through five holes and six outside the number. He proceeded to play the last 13 holes in six-under and get through. 

‍Heartbreak Hotel

‍Joe Vrzich- The former Pepperdine standout played his last 11 holes in the final round in four under. However, a costly double bogey on the seventh hole resulted in a front-nine 39, which was too much to overcome. He missed advancing by one stroke. 

‍Whee Kim- The veteran of 124 KFT and 136 PGA Tour starts was well inside the number to start the final round. However, four bogeys in a row on holes 14 through 17 resulted in a final round 76, and he missed by two strokes. 

Full Field Scores

‍Surprisingly Missed 

Ryo Ishikawa- I love Ryo and think his career is vastly underappreciated. Still only 32 years old, I was excited to see him in the field. The 20-time Japan Tour winner (20!) played solid, but a third-round 74 derailed his chances of getting through. He missed by two strokes. 

‍Stuart Macdonald- The Canadian has dominated almost everywhere he has played, but has struggled at Q-school. He has won on the Canadian Tour, Asher Tour, and Americas Tour, and has been a consistent performer. He couldn't recover from an opening 75 and withdrew during the final round. 

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‍Palm Coast, Florida, Hammock Beach Conservatory 

‍Medalist 

‍Luke Guthrie- The former University of Illinois star burst onto the pro scene in 2012, winning two events in his first 10 KFT starts. He lost in a playoff in his first-ever start and had seven top-10s in those 10 starts. He graduated to the PGA Tour and kept his full card for a few years. However, he has struggled since. In the COVID superseason of 2020-2021, Guthrie played 38 events on KFT, making just eight cuts and losing his full card. Since then, he has been grinding on the Monday Q scene. It is so great to see him back with full status. 

‍Clutch gene

‍Charles Reiter- One of the longest pros in golf, Reiter shot a final round 67 to advance. The five-under final round was the best of the day in challenging conditions, and moved him up more than 20 spots to get through on the number. I spoke with him at DP World Tour Q-school, where he also made the final stage. He said he can reach 216 mph ball speed with a long drive contest driver. 

‍John Houchin- Normally, a final-round 76 wouldn't fall under the clutch gene category. However, the Stetson University alum birdied his final hole after struggling throughout the day, and made it through on the number. With six holes to play in the third round, Houchin was outside the number before finishing with six straight birdies!

 Heartbreak Hotel

‍Julian Suri- The former European Tour winner has had numerous near misses at Q-school in the last few years, and missed a four-foot birdie putt on the last to miss by one stroke. 

‍Joey Moore- Q-school can be cruel at times. Moore was one inside the number with just seven holes to play, but played the last seven holes eight-over to miss. 

‍Surprisingly Missed

‍Adam Long- A PGA Tour winner and veteran of 162 PGA Tour events, Long played 13 PGA and 11 KFT events this season, making just six combined cuts. It is surprising to see him at Second Stage at all, let alone miss by 15 strokes. 

‍Willie Mack III- The talented Flint, Mich., native made nine of 20 cuts on the KFT last season, finishing 151st in points. He couldn't overcome a second-round 75 and a final-round 77, and finished well down the leaderboard. However, he will start at the Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour in early 2025, and it would be no surprise to see him play well. 

Full Field Scores

‍Valdosta, Georgia, Kinderlou Forest GC

‍Medalist 

‍Samuel Anderson—The University of Wisconsin alum finished 15th on the Americas Tour this season. He had a runner-up and five top-10s in 16 events. Anderson finished 12-under and won by six in tough conditions in Florida. 

‍Clutch gene

‍Blaine Hale- Hale made just five of 24 cuts on the PGA Tour this year and finished 202nd in points. Because he finished below 200th, he was in danger of losing all of his status on any tour for next season. It must have been tough to finish the PGA Tour season the previous week and head straight to the second stage of Q-school. However, Hale played solid all week and finished T2. 

‍Steffen Smith- These are the types of stories that make Q-school great. Smith played college golf at Gardner-Webb, and missed all but one cut this season on the GPro Tour. Where you went to college and previous finishes on the mini tours don’t matter at Q-school. Smith shot the day's best round in the final round, moving up 22 spots on the leaderboard. He made it through on the number. 

‍Heartbreak Hotel

‍Thomas Ponder- The University of Alabama alum shot a closing round 75 to miss by one in his first try at Q-school. Ponder played the par-5s even for the week, including a double-bogey seven on the second hole of the final round. 

‍Taylor Funk- Last year at this site, I watched Funk shoot a final round 65 at the very long and difficult Kinderlou course, sneaking inside the number. Unfortunately, it was a different story this year as Funk shot a final round 77 to miss by three. Funk also made it to the final stage of DP World Tour Q-school, where he missed the four-round cut. 

‍Surprisingly Missed 

‍Neal Shipley- The Ohio State standout who made the cut at both the Masters and U.S. Open missed by just one shot. The opening round 79 was too much to overcome, although he fought back valiantly to give himself a chance on the final day. 

‍Augusto Nunez- The all-time money winner on the Latinoamerica Tour, Nunez was a PGA Tour member in 2022-23 and now finds himself without status on any tour. 

Full Field Scores