Blog - 2006
11/21/06. Season has wrapped up all around; now the "silly season".
Julieta Granada surprised many people to win the ADT Championship, winning $1M in the process. The win vaulted her into 4th place in overall earnings with a total of $1.6M for the year. Several other women qualifiers played in the tournament, with Ai Miyazoto finishing tied for 4th, Morgan Pressel tied for 9th (finishing 3 rounds), and Brittany Lang, Sun Young Yoo, and Seon-Hwa Lee finishing tied for 17th (finishing 2 rounds).
(Sorry - missed some late season LPGA tournaments in Asia. Statistics have been updated. These tournaments did not affect 2007 status.)
Brett Wetterich was the only qualifier to play in the men's Tour Championship, where he came in tied for 22nd. He finished with over $3M in earnings, and ended up 10th in earnings for the year - overall, an excellent year.
Qualifier results and year-end statistics have been updated to reflect final earnings.
Q-school finals are coming up soon - running from Nov 29-Dec 3. On the women's side, Meredith Duncan, Kate Golden, Diana Ramage, Jessica Reese-Quayle, Angie Rizzo, and Libby Smith, all 2006 Q-School graduates, will all be trying to qualify for 2007 status in this year's final. On the men's side, Michael Allen, Matt Hansen, D.A. Points, and Vance Veazey all made it into the final tournament.
10/30/06. Year-end statistics for the qualifiers are now available.
10/30/06. In the final PGA week for qualifying for 2007, the Chrysler Championship saw a mix of disappointments and successes. Brett Wetterich came in 2nd, and Troy Matteson, the hottest player on the tour, came in 9th. The biggest disappointment we felt by Bubba Dickerson, who missed the cut to drop from 125th to 127th; Brian Bateman also missed the cut and fell from 126th to 128th. Maybe they'll be back on this site next year.
10/28/06. (Out of town last weekend and week, so this posting is late - sorry!).
Two excellent PGA rounds this week - Frank Lickliter and Troy Matteson tied for 2nd in the Funai Disney tournament. The results moved both players into the top 50 - Matteson into 42nd place and Lickliter into 43rd. Marco Dawson and Nick Watney tied for 5th. Dawson's first top 10 probably came too late, as he was able to move only into 139th place.
Brian Bateman, in 125th place last week, missed the cut and dropped to 126th. Bubba Dickerson moved up to 125th.
10/16/06. Continuing his hot streak, Troy Matteson became the 7th qualifier to win a tournament this year, with his win at the Frys.com Open. Matteson, who had struggled until the end of September, jumped to 71st in earnings for the year. A number of other qualifiers did well in the tournament, and several others did well for the first part of the tourney before falling off at the end. Frank Lickliter finished 4th, Charley Hoffman 5th, Bubba Dickerson 7th, and Ron Whittaker 9th (his first top 10 of the year). Dickerson's finish moved him up near the bubble, at 127th; Whittaker only moved to 174th. Matthew Goggin and Bill Haas finished 11th to complete the top 20. D.A. Points led after two rounds, and was 6th after three, only to slip to 31st place, losing a great opportunity to move up in earnings. Brian Batemen missed the cut and slipped to 125th in earnings.
In the LPGA, Seon-Hwa Lee was the only qualifier to play in the limited-field Samsung World Championship. Starting with a 68 and third place, she slipped to an 8th place finish by the end.
10/9/06. The LPGA returned to action this week, and Julieta Granada had her second 2nd place finish of the year. Morgan Pressel finished 6th, Brittany Lang and Karin Sjodin finished 12th, and Nicole Castrale and Sun Young Yoo finished 16th. For the most part, though, women who were in line to make the top 90 did OK, while those below the magic line struggled. Alena Sharp made the cut, but dropped in total earnings from 90th to 91st place.
On the mens' side, Eric Axley continued his hot play, coming in 3rd. Nick Watney and Troy Matteson each finished 6th (consecutive top 10 finishes for each of them), and Hunter Mahan (with a final round 64) and Chris Couch finished 12th. Not much changing near the bubble, with Jerry Smith dropping a slot to 132nd, and Robert Garrigus slipping to 136th. Matteson's second good finished moved him to 143rd place - still a ways to go.
10/2/06. The men had two tournaments last weekend. In England, Brett Wetterich, who struggled in the Ryder Cup, finished 6th in the WGC event, climbing to 15th in earnings for the year. Brett was the only qualifier to play in England.
In the US, the Southern Farm Bureau Classic attracted a number of qualifiers, but none did particularly well. Nick Watney and Troy Matteson finished 8th (Matteson's first top 10), Marco Dawson 14th, and Robert Garrigus 16th. The week wasn't good for those near the bubble. Jeff Overton missed the cut and dropped to 127th. Brian Bateman also missed the cut, and 7 spots to a dangerous 122nd. Garrigus's finish moved him to 133rd.
The LPGA was again off this week.
9/25/06. Eric Axley became the 6th qualifier this year to win a pro tournament, with a strong showing to win the Valero Texas Open by 3 strokes. Several other qualifiers did well, with Frank Lickliter finishing 5th, David McKenzie 7th, Charlie Hoffman 8th, Daisuke Maruyama 12th, and D.A. Points and Danny Ellis 15th. Oddly, while many Q-School grads made the cut, few Nationwide grads did so (Axley and Hoffman being key exceptions). Axley's finish jumped him from 183rd to 87th place, guaranteeing him a card for next year. Jerry Smith slipped to 130th place, and Jeff Overton slipping to 124th place.
Brett Wetterich played in the Ryder Cup this weekend, but unfortunately was the only player not to win any points.
In the LPGA, Morgan Pressel finished 3rd for her best finish of the year - her 7th top 10 finish. Meredith Duncan finished 10th, her best finish of the year, Brittany Lang 13th, and Nicole Castrale 16th. Duncan's finished moved her up tp 125th place, still well out of the top 90. Alena Sharp finished 33rd, but earned enough to move her back into 90th place - right on the bubble.
9/17/06. With a lot of big names getting ready for the Ryder Cup, lots of men's qualifiers played in and did well in the first few rounds of the 84 Lumber Classic, but then faltered a bit on Sunday. Robert Garrigus finished 4th for his first top 10 of the season (moving him into 136th place, nearer the bubble), and Hunter Mahan and Jeff Overton finished 9th; Overton's top 10 (his first of the season) moving him into 116th place in earnings for the year. Several other qualifiers finished in the top 20, but the results must have disappointing for most. Jerry Smith missed the cut this week, and dropped out of the top 125 as a result.
The LPGA was off this week.
9/11/06. Sun Young Yoo led the women's qualifiers in the Hammond Open, with a 5th place finish. Karin Sjodin and Allison Hanna finished tied for 7th, Julieta Granada finished 12th, and Becky Iverson finished in 17th place. Granada's finish moved her into 18th place, ahead of Ai Miyazoto for the Q-School Qualifiers lead. Alena Sharp missed the cut and dropped from 90th to 92nd place.
In the men's Canadian Open, a number of qualifiers made the cut, with Camilo Villegas leading the way with a 5th place finish, good enough to move him back ahead of Nathan Green for the Nationwide qualifiers lead. Bubba Watson finished 14th, and Nathan Green 20th. Jerry Smith moved right on top of the bubble, dropping to 125th place.
9/4/06. Brian Batemen had his best finish, a 3rd behind Woods and Singh; this moved Batemen into 115th place in earnings. Frank Lickliter tied for 7th, moving into 95th place. Bubba Watson, Nathan Green, Bill Haas, and Matt Hansen finished in the top 20. Green's finish moved him into 34th place, ahead of Camilo Villegas for the lead among Nationwide Qualifiers.
Seon-Hwa Lee had her 5th top 3 finish of the year in the State Farm Classic behind Sorenstam and Kerr. Brittany Lang and Kyeong Bae finished in 6th, Nina Reis in 9th, Julieta Granada in 11th, and Alena Sharp in 19th to mark a good week for women's qualifiers. Sharp's finished moved her on the bubble - in 90th place in earnings.
8/28/06. With a WGC event drawing most of the big name men players, the Reno-Tahoe Open left the window open for a new winner, and Will MacKenzie came through for his first PGA title. The win jumped him into 93rd place for the year, pretty much clinching a card for next year. Several other qualifiers finished in the top 20: Nick Watney (5th), Alex Cejka (9th), Jeff Overton (15th), Bill Haas (15th), Marco Dawson (18th), and Troy Matteson (18th). And Steven Bowditch made a cut for the first time this year (in his 15th tournament).
A few qualifiers played in the WGC tournament, but didn't do particularly well. Brett Wetterich's tie for 36th was the best showing.
On the women's side, Ai Miyazoto led the way with a 4th place finish, with a 9th place for Morgan Pressel (her 6th top 10 of the year), and while Kyeong Bae finished 12th. Diana Ramage's streak of cuts made ended at one...
8/25/06. Web site just updated - LPGA statistics were off-line most of the week.
8/23/06. A couple women qualifiers - Becky Iverson and Morgan Pressel - finished tied for 7th in the Safeway Classic, with a few others finishing in the top 20. Diana Ramage finished 14th - this was the first time this season she made a cut (in her 15th tournament).
For those of you who followed the last "Big Break" on The Golf Channel, this was the tournament that the winner got to play in. Unfortunately, Ashley Prang didn't take advantage of her big opportunity, shooting 77-77 and missing the cut by 8 strokes. Oh well... She is doing OK in the Futures tour, though, and is currently in 4th place and two wins. If she can hang on, she'll be on this web site next year!
On the men's side, only two qualifiers made it into the PGA Championship. Both finished in the money - J.B.Holmes finishing 37th and Nathan Green finishing 49th. Bubba Dickerson, who didn't play, dropped from 125th to 126th as a result to others who were in the tournament.
8/15/06. The International tournament attracted a large number of mens' qualifiers, and several did well, probably locking in cards for 2007 in the process. Daisuke Maruyama led the way with a 3rd place finish, with three others - Bubba Watson, Ian Leggatt, and Nathan Green - finishing in the top 10. Maruyama's performance jumped him from 115th (near the bubble) to 71st for the season; Watson jumped from 106th to 84th.
The women didn't have quite as good a showing in Canada, but several players did well. Sun Young Yoo got her first top 10 with a 6th place finish, and Nicole Castrale finished 10th.
For most of the season, there have been fewer men players who exceeded last year's #125 winnings (90 for women), than who are in this year's top 125 (top 90 for women). We're starting to reach a point on both tours where this will change, so that exceeding last year's total won't be enough to guarantee a card for next year. The color coding used here will change accordingly when that occurs, where we just will use red to indicate players in the top 125/90.
8/6/06. Several women qualifiers had a good weekend at the Weetabix British Open, with Julieta Granada (8th), Ai Miyazoto (9th), and Nina Reis (10th) all finishing in the top 10. Reis's 10th was her best finish of the year, and jumped her into the top 90 for the year. Reis, Lee Ann Walker-Cooper, and Sun Young Yoo all earned enough to exceed the 90th place earnings for 2005. (Yoo's feat means that all five Futures Tour Qualifiers have now hit this mark.)
The men's Buick Open had a full field of players, with most of the top players participating and playing well. While a few qualifiers hung in for several rounds, only Camilo Villegas (tied for 11th), David McKenzie and Charlie Hoffman (tied for 20th) finished in the top 20. David Branshaw and Shane Bertsch did well enough to boost their earning in excess of the 125th place earnings in 2005.
7/30/06. This being the week after a major, there were lots of qualifiers playing in Milwaukee. Frank Lickliter, Jr, led the way with a 4th place finish, and Nathan Green tied for 9th, his 5th top ten of the season.
The LPGA played the Evian Master's this weekend, with a small and limited set of players. The handful of qualifiers didn't do real well, with Morgan Pressell leading the way with a 25th place finish.
7/23/06. Weekend with two men's tournaments - British Open and the B.C. Open. Several qualifiers played in England, but only Hunter Mahan made the cut, finishing tied for 26th. Meanwhile, back in New York, several qualifiers took advantage of the big players being gone to do well in the B.C. Open. David Branshaw finished tied for 4th, with Nicholas Thompson and Daisuke Maruyama tying for 6th place. A number of other qualifiers made the cut as well, including Bill Glasson for the first time in 2006.
The LPGA had the week off.
7/16/06. A good weekend for PGA Q-School qualifiers, with a 4th (Alex Cejka), and two 9ths (Daisuke Maruyama and B.J. Staten). It was the best finish of the year for all three of them, with Maruyama climbing into the top 125. Another Q-School qualifier, Michael Connell, made his first cut of the season and tied for 11th place. Nationwide finishers did OK, with Kris Cox leading the way with an 11th place tie (he as in 2nd place at the end of round 3).
On the women's side, two players (Brittany Lang and Nicole Castrale) had top 10 finishes for the week.
7/9/06. Matthew Goggin had his best PGA finishing, tying Tiger Woods for 2nd place in the Cialis Western Open. This finish qualified him for the British Open (as did Hunter Mahan's 2nd place finish last week). Robert Garrigus tied for 15th place, and Daisuke Maruyama for 19th place. Generally, though, the mens' qualifiers had a tough week in a tournament that attracts many big players.
The LPGA tournament this week was the match play event, and a number of women qualified. Dropping matches in the first round included Ai Miyazato (to Kyeong Bae), Julieta Granada, Virada Nirapathpongporn, and Nicole Castrale. One qualifiers lost in the second round included: Seon Hwa Lee (to Brittany Lang). The remaining three, Kyeong Bae, Brittany Lang, and Morgan Pressel, lost in the third round. (All entrants won money, so are considered to have made the cut for the tournament. The three making it into the third round are considered to have earned top 10s.)
7/3/06. A good week for mens' qualifiers, with 6 finishing in the top 10, including Hunter Mahan with a 2nd place finish good enough to jump him into 71st place. Others included Nathan Green, Bubba Dickerson, Nick Watney, David McKenzie, and Steve Flesch.
With a major tournament on the womens' side, success was a little tougher to be had. Ai Miyazoto and Morgan Pressel did best, finishing tied for 28th place (at +14!).
6/27/06. The Men's Booz Allen tournament finally finished. Jeff Gove finished 6th, his second top 10 finish that jumped him up to 100th place. Several other qualifiers finished in the 20s, and Charley Hoffman earned enough money to put him ahead of 2005's qualifying income for the year.
6/26/06. Julieta Granada and Brittany Lang both challenged for the title of the Wegmans LPGA tournament this week, but both ultimately fell short of Jeong Jang. Both were able to use their success to jump into the top 20 in earnings, with Granada moving ahead of Ai Miyazoto as the top winner among the Q-School qualifiers. Not to be completely outdone, Seon-Hwa Lee picked up her 5th top 10 finish of the year to remain #5 overall. Becky Iverson and Alena Sharp had solid tournaments, moving both into the top 90.
As of this writing (Monday night), the men's tournament had yet to finish. At this point Jeff Gove, who had been right on the bubble at #125, appears to have had his second top-10 finish, but we'll see...
6/19/06. With a major tournament on the men's side, and the LPGA off this week, not many qualifiers had an opportunity to play this weekend. About 7-8 men qualifiers played at Winged Foot, and only three - J.B. Holmes, Charley Hoffman, and Camilo Villegas - made the cut. Holmes and Hoffman each tied for 40th, while Villegas tied for 59th.
The US Open results did knock Frank Lickliter out of the top 125, meaning that only 6 of the 32 Q-School qualifiers are currently in line to qualify for next year's tour - just 19%.
6/16/06. Late posting this week, since I was on a trip to Japan and just returned. Very fitting, though, since the top qualifier this week was Japan's Ai Miyazoto. I watched the end of the final round in Tokyo, which was the US feed of the tournament. Whenever they broke for commercials, the Japanese station showed a photo and scorecard of Miyazoto, who ended up just a stroke out of the playoff. Otherwise, most of the other women qualifiers struggled in the tournament, most missing the cut.
On the men's side, results were pretty mediocre. Matthew Goggin had the best performance of all the men qualifiers, coming in 9th to pick up his second top 10 finish of the year.
(Actually, Nicholas Thompson did best among the men - finishing 6th in the Nationwide Tour event that weekend. Several other qualifiers played in that tournament as well, with Michael Connel and David McKenzie also finishing in the money.)
6/5/06. Seon-Hwa Lee continued her great rookie year by winning her first tournament, after already getting three second place finishes. Her victory at the Shoprite LPGA Classic moves her into 4th place in total winnings this year. Seon-Hwa became the first woman qualifier to win a tournament, after 3 men had already done so.
Several other qualifiers did well in the same event - Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada got top 10s, and Ai Miyazoto led after three rounds and came in tied for 13th. But otherwise, just about everyone else from Q-School missed the cut.
On the men's side, few qualifiers participated in the Memorial Tournament, but one of them, Brett Wetterich, ended up in a tie for 2nd. The win moved Wetterich into the top 10 in earnings and in Ryder Cup points.
5/28/06. Lots of good performances this week by qualifiers in both tours, but no one managed to win in the end.
On the men's side, Kris Cox shot a 63 on Saturday and was in contention most of Sunday, only to end up in 3rd place; his success moved him into the top 125. Daisuke Maruyama picked up his first top 10 finish as well. Lots of other Q-school qualifiers made the cut (few Nationwide qualifiers did), but just about all dropped in the standings.
On the LPGA tour, Virada Nirapathpongporn led after two rounds, and ended up tied for 5th. Morgan Pressel picked up her 2nd top 10 finish. Meredith Duncan made her first cut of the season (in her 11th try).
5/21/06. Kyeong Bae came in 2nd in the Sybase Classic this week; her best finish ever. Allis Hanna had a 4th and Julieta Granada came in 9th to wrap up an excellent week for women qualifiers. 9 of this year's 39 qualifiers have already exceeded last year's 90th place winnings - including 3 of the 5 Futures Tour qualifiers (with Virada Nirapathpongporn just over $1000 shy of the mark).
On the men's side, things didn't go as well. Several Nationwide qualifiers entered the final round of the Colonial in the top 10, but only Nathan Green was able to hang on, coming in tied (with many others) for 4th place. Charlie Hoffman and Henrik Bjornstad started Sunday tied for 6th, only to drop to 30th and 40th place, respectively. Only a few Q-School qualifiers played, and none did real well.
5/14/06. Brett Wetterich became the third qualifer to win a tournament this year, by taking the Byron Nelson PGA tournament by a stroker over Trevor Immelman. Moved Brett into 16th overall in earnings, and became the leading money winner among all qualifiers. Charley Hoffman finished 8th (his 3rd top ten) and Matthew Goggin ended up in 13th place.
Women had it tougher, with Alena Sharp and Sun Young Yoo tied for 17th in their tournament. Ai Miyazoto missed her first cut of the year (after making 8 straight). Yoo's winnings moved her to 81st on the LPGA list, putting all five of the Futures Tour qualifiers into the top 90 for the first time this year.
Camilo Villegas was on covers of two golf magazines - Golf Digest and Golf Week. Unfortunately, he missed the cut this week and dropped out of the top 20.
Nick Watney became the first PGA qualifier to make 10 cuts this year (out of 14 tournaments).
5/7/06. Not a particularly good week for qualifiers. The star of the week was Bill Haas, who finished 4th at the Wachovia Championship, moving him into 68th overall in the PGA tour standings. On the women's side, Karin Sjodin finished 16th, which was the best of the qualifiers. Angie Rizzo also made a cut for the first time this year.
5/1/06. Chris Couch took the honors this week by hanging on to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans - the second qualifier this year to win a title. Brett Wetterich and Danny Ellis also posted top 10s. On the LPGA, Ai Miyazato struggled in the 4th round and ended up tied for 5th; several other qualifiers finished in the top 20. Couch, Miyazato, and Nicole Castrale each increased their earnings by enough to pass the 2005 qualifying line for their tours.
Ryan Hietala and Jessica Reese-Quayle each made a cut for the first time this year. Meanwhile, Julieta Granada and Morgan Pressel each missed the cut for the first time this year.
4/24/06. This section will include a discussion of the previous week's results, and other information pertinent to qualifiers on the pro tour. I may replace this by a more sophisticated blog, but rather than procrastinate longer, I thought I'd start with a simple layout. If you have comments, send me e-mail, to "golfblog @ prigsbee.com".
This week's tournaments included a number of men qualifiers at the Shell Houston Open, with several appearing on the leader board and the TV broadcast during the tournament. Mathias Gronbert took honors with a 4th place finish. Qualifiers didn't do that well in the LPGA tournament, but Julieta Granada and Brittany Lang earned enough to pass last year's #90 entry on money list. (This is no guarantee they'll qualify this year, but is a good sign - particularly to do so in April!)
Notes...
- GolfWeek has reported that Virada Nirapathpongporn (LPGA - Futures) has suffered an eye injury that has sidelined her for the last several weeks (hasn't played since March 19).
- The April 22nd issue highlights Louise Stahle (LPGA - Q-School) as "Who's Not [Hot]".
- Minneapolis Star Tribune annual golf section had a nice article on Angie Rizzo (LPGA - Q-School).
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PGA Tour - Q-School qualifiers