PGA Tour Qualifier challenges

The new schedule for 2007 will make life a lot harder for the qualifiers this year. Not only are there are lot of qualifiers, there will be fewer tournaments, especially for qualifying for the new FedEx Cup. Golfweek has an article that discusses the low priority with which qualifiers get into tournaments, and their new challenges in 2007.

Steven Bowditch's trials

Golfweek's Dec 9-16 issue carried an article on Steven Bowditch, one of the qualifiers we followed in the 2006 season. Bowditch struggled last year, earning only $11,160, but the article (not apparently available on-line) explains that Bowditch had significant problems with depression during the year, culminating in a suicide attempt. He's now getting help - medication and therapy - and qualified for the Nationwide Tour in 2007 (with a minor medical exemption for the PGA Tour). Wish him luck this year!

Q-School Results

Both Q-schools are now over.

The womens' tournament, which ended Sunday, saw 15 players qualify for the LPGA tour (a number reduced from last year). Hye-Jung Choi and In-Kyung Kim ended up tying for first, at -13, followed by Maru Martinez at -10. None of the 15 players were qualifiers last year. Meredith Duncan did best, finishing at +4, while Louise Stahle ended up at +5.

The mens' tournament was a different story. The scoring worked out such that 40 players qualified for next year - compared to the 30 targeted cards for the tournament. George McNeill won easily, with a -23, good for a 5-shot victory. Robert Garrigus, a qualifier in 2006 who finished 144th in earnings last year, came in second at -18. Several other qualifiers from last year succeeded again - Alex Cejka (-10), Marco Dawson (-10), Michael Allen (-9), Jason Schultz (-8), and Brian Bateman (-8).

Now we have several weeks to go before the PGA season starts, and nearly another month before the LPGA starts in earnest.

Q-School Update - Sunday morning

Both Qualifying tournaments have completed 4 rounds.

On the mens' side, things are pretty tight with Michael Boyd and Rich Barcelo tied for first at -14. Among last year's qualifiers, Robert Garrigue is tied for 4th, Brian Batemen is tied for 6th, Tom Byrum is tied for 11th, Jason Schultz is tied for 24th, and Alex Cejka and Matt Hansen are tied for 31st. John Merrick, who I covered in an earlier article, is tied for 8th.

On the womens' side, In-Kyung Kim is -14, with an amazing 6 stroke lead. Last year's qualifiers aren't doing well, with Meredith Duncan (tied for 16th) the only one who appears to have a reasonable chance to return next year.