Pro Golf Qualifiers

Caught Up!

2007-06-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

After having gotten way behind in updating stats, I'm now caught up! Sorry - will try to keep from this happening again.

Too many weeks have passed to provide week-by-week updates. Check the web site for details.

So-So Week for Qualifiers

2007-05-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

Both men and women were active the last weekend of April, but the qualifiers didn't too real.

On the women's side, Meaghan Francella continued her good start by coming in 6th in the Corona Championship. Her 3rd top 10 of the season leads the LPGA qualifiers. Hye Jung Choi came in 13th and Erica Blasberg finished 18th for the other top 20 finishers.

On the men's side, Ken Duke came in 7th and Steve Marino 10th. John Merrick (13th) and Steve Allan and Mike Allen (19th) represented the other top 20s.

(Sorry for the late post - 5/5.)

Men Do Well in New Orleans

2007-04-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

The PGA played at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last week, and it was a great week for a number of men qualifiers. Ken Duke led the way, with a 2nd place finish, with Anthony Kim and John Mallinger tied for 3rd (Mallinger's second 3rd place finish of the year). Chris Stroud came in 5th - his first cut of the season, good enough to jump him into 118th place in earnings. Alex Cejka came in 8th, John Merrick 18th, and Michael Sim 18th. Sim was making his first appearance of the season, recovering from a serious injury.

And it could have been even better! Kyle Reifers was the first round leader and was in 5th place after 3 rounds, only to end up in 24th place. Paul Stankowski entered the final round in 6th place, ending up in 56th.

The LPGA was off last weekend.

Boo Weekley is Victorious!

2007-04-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

Boo Weekley became the third qualifier this year to win a tournament, coming in first place in the weather-delayed Verizon Heritage tournament in Hilton Head. Weekley came from behind to upset Ernie Els. Ken Duke came in 10th for his best finish of the season. Brandt Snedeker came in 16th, as the only top 20 finisher.

On the women's side, this year's qualifiers struggled a bit at the Ginn Open. Hye Jung Choi came in 10th for the best finish, with no one else making the top 20.

Nothing Much Last Week

2007-04-09T17:12:00.000-07:00

With the Masters on the PGA side, and the LPGA having the week off, all of this year's qualifiers had the week off! There will be adjustments in the rankings for the men, but I won't mess with them until after next week.

Francella Does Well in First Major

2007-04-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

A little late this week - sorry!

The LPGA has their first major of the season, and only two qualifiers did well enough to get invited. Meaghan Francella made good use of her opportunity, though, to come in 5th place. Angela Park, the other qualifying qualifier, played four solid rounds and came in 27th.

On the men's side, lots of qualifiers were able to play with many big names getting ready for the Masters. Robert Garrigus and Anthony Kim tied for 5th, with Garrigus shooting a final round 65 to move up. Johnson Wagner opened the final round in 2nd place, but ended up in 9th. Paul Stankowski came in 14th to wrap up the top 20 finishes for the men qualifiers.

Quiet Couple of Weeks

2007-03-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

I was on vacation the last couple weeks, but for the most part, the pro qualifiers were as well.

For the weekend ending March 18, the LPGA was off altogether. On the PGA, Kyle Reifers was the best finisher at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, with a 12th place finish.

Last weekend, the PGA tournament was a WGC event, and none of this year's qualifiers participated. On the LPGA side, Irene Cho led the qualifiers with a forgettable 23rd place finish.

Not surprisingly, a number of qualifiers dropped out of the top 125/90 for the year over the last few weeks, with Reifers being the only one who moved up. The worst group so far this year has been the LPGA Futures group, where Meaghan Francella has been the only one to play well. Ironic, since last year, all the Futures qualifiers did well throughout the year.

Francella Wins Master Card Classic

2007-03-14T00:10:00.000-07:00

For the second week in a row, a qualifier has won a pro tournament. This time it was on the LPGA Tour, where Futures qualifier Meaghan Francella beat Annika Sorenstrom in a four-hole playoff to win the Master Card Classic. Hye Jung Choi came in 6th as the only other LPGA qualifier to break the top 20.

On the men's side, things were quite a bit tougher. Anthony Kim finished 14th as the only men's qualifier to break the top 20. Cliff Kresge led after the first round, shooting a 65, but had trouble breaking par after that and ended up in 34th place.

I may not be able to update the web site this week (or next), since I'm traveling. We'll see...

Mark Wilson Wins Honda Classic

2007-03-06T19:35:00.000-08:00

Mark Wilson became the first qualifier to win a tournament this year, winning the Honda Classic in a playoff extending into Monday. The win jumped Wilson over $1M in earnings into 7th place overall, and into first place among this year's qualifiers. Boo Weekley also made it into playoff, ending up with a 2nd place finish - the next best finish of any qualifier this year.

Several other qualifiers did well. Tripp Isenhour finished 5th, Doug LaBelle, Jason Dufner, and Charlie Wi finished 13th, and Stephen Marino 20th. Wi was the fist round leader.

The LPGA was off this week.

I'm going to be on vacation the next couple weeks, so I may not be able to update the web site or this blog until I return. Will see...

Angela Park Takes Third

2007-02-28T18:54:00.000-08:00

A pretty good week for qualifiers!

On the women's side, we had the first two qualifiers to break into the top 10, at the Fields Open. Angela Park came in 3rd, and Aram Cho came in 10th. Meaghan Francella also finished in the top 20, in 14th place. After two tournaments, we are now showing the players in the top 90.

With most of the big stars playing in the WGC Match Play event, there were lots of slots and opportunities in the new PGA event in Mexico. And they took advantage of it! Ryan Armour led the way in 4th place, with Boo Weekley in 6th, Cameron Beckman in 7th, Steve Marino in 8th, and Gavin Coles and Brendon DeJonge in 9th - and that was just the top 10! An additional 5 players were in the top 20. In addition, several players made their first cuts of the season. However, with big bucks being served up in the other tournament, it was hard for qualifiers in the middle of the pack to keep pace.

LPGA Gets Into Action

2007-02-18T21:11:00.000-08:00

After watching the men play for six weeks, the LPGA season finally got underway. Overall, the qualifiers did OK - all 20 played, and 13 of the 20 made the cut in the tournament. None did really well - three (In-Kyung Kim, Katherine Hull, and Paige MacKenzie) came in tied for 17th. MacKenzie was one of the first round leaders, with a 67, but fell off in later rounds.

On the men's side, qualifiers did a little better. Jeff Quinney continued his hot streak with a tie for 9th, while Anthony Kim had his best tournament also finished in a tie for 9th. Cliff Kresge was the only other top 20 finisher, coming in 18th place.

Quinney has also become the first qualifier this year to likely guarantee his card for next year. His earnings of $941,300 would have given him 96th place in last year's rankings.

I decided to stop tracking the PGA's new "Fedex Cup Points". It was hard to keep these straight from the earnings, and for the most part, there wasn't much difference in ranking between those two measures. This might change as the season progresses, particularly after some majors, but for now it doesn't seem so hot. As far as I know, earnings still are what qualifier a player for the next season.

Mallinger Breaks Through

2007-02-13T20:58:00.000-08:00

The AT&T Pebble Beach tournament finished last weekend, with Q-School graduate John Mallinger finishing 3rd; the best tournament this year by any Q-School rep. Matt Kuchar finished 6th, Ryan Armour 9th, and Craig Kanada 20th to finish out top qualifier records for the week. Mallinger and Armour both jumped into the top 125; Mallinger jumping into 23rd place in overall earnings.

Overall, the week was good for Q-School graduates, who managed to keep 14 players in the top 125 - no change from last week. Nationwide graduates saw a few members drop off. Some of the top Nationwide grads skipped the tournament, and several Q-School graduates made their first cuts of the season.

This coming week will see the LPGA (finally) starting their season, with the SBS Open in Hawaii.

Another Good Week for Jeff Quinney

2007-02-06T18:34:00.000-08:00

For the third week in a row, rookie Jeff Quinney challenged for a PGA Tour win, but once again fell back in the final round. This week, at the FBR Open, he held on to take 3rd place, his best finish of the year. Otherwise, it was a pretty tough week for qualifiers, with Robert Garrigus's 11th place and Cliff Kresge's 20th place the only other decent showings.

Nationwide qualifiers continued to show their dominance over Q-School qualifiers. Despite having only half as many members (21 vs. 40), there are 16 Nationwide qualifiers in the top 125, compared to only 14 Q-School. And the latter include players at precarious positions: 115, 120, 121, 124, and 125. In fact, there are more Q-School qualifiers who have yet to make a cut (15) than in the top 125 (14). Could be a long season...

Good Performances at Buick Invitational

2007-01-29T20:04:00.000-08:00

Last weekend's Buick Invitational PGA tournament (soon to be renamed the Tiger Woods Invitational) saw a number of qualifiers break through and gather national attention. Unfortunately, none was able to stand up to the Tiger Woods buzzsaw.

Brandt Snedeker led the way with a first round 61, and held the lead through the first three rounds. Snedeker finished 3rd; the best performance so far this year by a qualifier. Fellow qualifier Andrew Buckle also played well, tying Snedeker for the third round lead, before dropping into a tie for 4th place.

Two other qualifiers - Jeff Quinney and Charlie Wi - finished in the top 10, in 7th and 9th place, respectively. Quinney's finish was his second top 10 of the season; Wi made a cut for the first time. Craig Kanada and Stephen Marino finished tied for 20th.

Nationwide Tour qualifiers have jumped off to a big lead this over their Q-School counterparts. They have 7 top 10s and 1 top 3 (versus 1 top 10), and seven Nationwide alums have earned more than the top Q-School alum. But its early yet...

Qunney leads qualifiers at Bob Hope

2007-01-22T09:04:00.000-08:00

PGA Tour rookie Jeff Quinney led all men qualifiers in last week's tournament, coming in 4th at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. His performance moved him into the lead among qualifiers in both earnings and points. Others in the top 20 included Cliff Kresge in 6th, Johnson Wagner 13th, and Andrew Buckle 18th. Matt Kuchar started the final round in 6th, but shot a final round 77.

It was predicted at the start of the season that it would be hard for Q-School graduates to earn a lot of starts, and that's proven to be the case. After two full field tournaments, about half the Q-School qualifiers have yet to play.

LaBelle does well at Sony Open

2007-01-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

The first full-field tournament of the PGA Tour was held last weekend, with a number of 2007 qualifiers participating. As will likely become common this year, with large numbers of Q-school qualifiers, getting slots in much of the season will be tough. Most of the Nationwide qualifiers played, but only 24 of the 40 Q-School qualifiers did.

Doug LaBelle II had the best showing, coming in tied for 4th place. Craig Kanada tied for 10th, while Jason Dufner and George McNeill finished 13th and Boo Weekley in 20th. (All but McNeill are from the Nationwide tour).

A New Season Begins...

2007-01-06T08:44:00.000-08:00

The 2007 pro golf season has started, with the PGA Tour's Mercedes-Benz Championship. But as usual, this tournament is not open to this year's qualifiers. Several of last year's qualifiers are participating, however, with several in pretty good shape halfway through the event - Will MacKenzie, J.B. Holmes, Chris Couch, and Troy Matteson all in the top 10!

Next week will see the first full field PGA Tournament, with the Sony Open in Hawaii. The first full-field LPGA tournament doesn't start for another month, with the SBS Open, also in Hawaii.

PGA Tour Qualifier challenges

2006-12-12T17:13:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-12T17:08:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-04T20:20:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-03T07:24:00.000-08:00

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.

PGA Q-School repeats

2006-11-29T18:34:00.000-08:00

The final blog in the old format had an incomplete list of 2006 PGA Tour qualifiers who were entered in this year's final stage of the Q-School tournament. Here is a complete list:

Michael Allen
Brian Bateman
Steven Bowditch
Tom Byrum
Alex Cejka
Kris Cox
Marco Dawson
Bubba Dickerson
Robert Garrigus
Jeff Overton
D.A. Points
Jason Schultz
Jerry Smith
Vance Veazey

Steven Bowditch got off to the best start of the group, with a 71, good for a tie for 13th.

On the womens' side, Meredith Duncan had a first-round 70, good for a tie for 11th. Angie Rizzo and Libby Smith shot 85 and 92, respectively, and are the last two in the field.

John Merrick

2006-11-29T18:27:00.000-08:00

Golfweek points out that John Merrick, who has qualified for the 2007 PGA season thanks to his Nationwide Tour earnings, is unusual in that he is also playing in the Qualifying Tournament (where he shot a 2-over 74 in the first round), hoping to improve his status for entering tournaments next year.

Welcome!

2006-11-23T06:23:00.000-08:00

This blog and associated web site tracks the successes (and failures) of PGA and LPGA players who qualify each year for their tours. Earning a card is hard enough; keeping it is tougher. Enjoy!

The web site has been around for a year, and you can read the blogs for the 2006 season if you'd like.