Long Live the Monday Q

Pinnacle Peak Country Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., hosts the Monday qualifier for the Waste Management Open. It will be the 77th qualifier for the event and with the changes coming to the PGA Tour in 2026, it will also be the last. The run of qualifiers that began in 1948 will come to an end.

Nearly 650 golfers teed it up last week in eight pre-qualifiers run by the Southwest PGA Section, with 20 players advancing. Approximately 73 players will join the 20 who advanced from the pre-Qs to compete for three spots in the WMO field.

With the help of Tim Cronin and the Southwest Section, we pulled out some of the amazing stories from the Phoenix Open qualifiers over the years. I couldn’t have done it without their help. So a HUGE thank you to them!

Without further ado, here are some of the stories we pulled. 

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• According to the Arizona Republic on January 21, 1948, the first Monday Q was held for the Phoenix Open with 70 spots available. The paper called the players in the field “lesser lights,” and a gentleman named Wilfred Wehrle was the medalist with a 68. It took a 75 to get into the field.

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• Wehrle, who Bobby Jones once called the “best amateur player of the 1930’s,” would end up playing in multiple Masters and U.S. Opens. Wehrle was a native of Racine, Wisc., and his best finish in a Major was a T16 in the 1939 U.S. Open at Philadelphia Country Club. In the only interview I could find, he was asked why he remained amateur instead of turning pro. Wehrle said, “those guys are too good.” Some things never change 

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• In 1963, a player named Duff Lawrence shot 66 at Scottsdale C.C., one of the four sites being used that year. He was medalist and drove over to Arizona CC to register for the event. There he found out his brother, Jim, was in a playoff for the final spot at that site. Instead of registering, he caddied for his brother in the playoff. Unfortunately for the brothers and the story, Jim lost in a four-for-one playoff.

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• In 1964, the “Monday Q” was held on Tuesday after the Thunderbirds – the organization that still runs the event – and the PGA of America, had a dispute over TV rights. Eventually a deal was struck and the qualifier took place Tuesday. 

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• There had to be some confusion on the 1965 leaderboard after two men named Bill Dunn Monday qualified. Bill Dunn shot a 75 at Moon Valley C.C. to nab one of the 14 spots at that site. The other Bill Dunn shot 66 at Scottsdale C.C., finishing one stroke behind Dave Stockton Sr. 

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• Three-time Stanley Cup winner, Bill Ezinicki, who played wing for the Toronto Maple Leafs (among other teams), qualified with a 69. Ezenicki won four state opens in the New England area and was inducted into New England PGA Hall of Fame. 

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• Although Ralph Johnston still easily qualified with a 66, he actually shot a 64. According to the notes from the qualifier, Johnston was assessed a two-stroke penalty for “using, on one hole, a competitor’s club that ended up in his bag.” 

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• A 70 for a young pro from Stanford a year into his pro career was good enough to qualify. That pro’s name was Tom Watson. 

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• Bob Risch fired a 65 in the 1975 Monday Q, easily good enough to get through, but he forgot to register prior to teeing off. I caught up with him about what happened. Read the full story here. 

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• The oldest Monday qualifier to ever earn a spot in the Phoenix Open was in 1980, when 56-year-old Art Wall earned one of the last spots after getting through a 10-for-9 playoff! 

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• 1981 produced the biggest playoff (that we found): at Moon Valley C.C., 18 guys shot 70 and they had a playoff for the last 12 spots. 

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• 1982 was the final year before the Tour went to 125 exempt spots. Two eventual Major champions, Paul Azinger and Steve Jones, got through a 16-for-8 playoff for the final spots.

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• In 1989, a young Sophomore from Arizona State shot a 70 and grabbed the final spot. He shot 71-76 and missed the cut. However, he would go on to win 45 PGA Tour events in his career. That fledgling college player was Phil Mickelson.

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• In 2008, Brett Rumford signed up for the Monday Q weeks before the event, but on Sunday, he thought he was in the Waste Management field. However, when he arrived at TPC Scottsdale to register, he learned he had been misinformed. Luckily for Rumford, he had forgotten to withdraw from the Monday Q. On top of that, the tee times were delayed for a few hours because of morning rain. Rumford got in his car, drove across town to Gainey Ranch C.C., and fired a 63 to get back into the Waste Management. 

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• That same year, Steve Allan, who estimates he’s played in 15 to 18 WM Monday Q’s, fired a 63 to earn a spot. On Thursday, he was eating in player dining and started to choke on his lunch. Major winner Ben Curtis noticed and asked Allan if he was choking. Allan, unable to breathe, vigorously nodded his head and Curtis performed the Heimlich maneuver, dislodging the food. Allan was sitting with a few players and their wives, and was embarrassed. He headed to the first tee later, still flustered, and shot 42 on the opening nine. 

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• The 2012 Monday Q had a field of 128 players and included Kevin Kisner, who earned the final spot in a four-for-one playoff against Billy Horschel, Jason Gore, and Mark Anderson

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• The list of players that missed at the WMO Monday Q is a great look into how strong these Monday Q’s have been in the past. The list of players that missed in 2014 included Max Homa, Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin, Tony Finau, and Mark Hubbard. 

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• Max Homa had missed six of his first seven starts to start the 2019 season. He then fired a 65 at the WMO Monday Q. That week, he finished T26 and it turned his season around. It started a stretch where he made 10-of-12 cuts and won his first PGA Tour event. 

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• Tom Kim was a teenager from Korea and not well-known when he played in the 2021 WMO Monday Q. Early in the round at McCormick Ranch, he hit his ball onto a bridge. While waiting for a ruling, a lady was walking her dogs on the course and across the same bridge. It produced perhaps my favorite Monday Q moment ever. Watch the video here. 

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• The 2023 Monday Q was so good that it resulted in me writing an open letter to the PGA Tour Commissioner. Jim Knous retired from pro golf in 2024, but wanted to give a few more Monday qualifiers a run before taking a job at Ping. Of course, he shot 64 and made it through. He then went on to make the cut at the WMO and started his job at Ping the following week. 

And today, 93 players will vie for the final three spots in the WM Open (we have to change the name, right?). Leaderboard here. Lets have a day!