Australian heartbreak at Q-School

The Australian summer of golf is well underway with several golf tournaments already played and many social golfers are starting to really fine tune their golf game. Keep in mind that while we’re all having fun, many professional Australian golfers have been battling it out on the tortuous Q-School in the US in order to qualify for next years PGA tour.

The PGA Tour Q-School is a scene of heartbreak and triumph each year. James Nitties finished second to get his card last year and Y.E. Yang manged to slip in the top 25 to get his card. Already pre-qualification and the first and second qualifying stages have been held which have seen many players miss their chance at the big time.

Only last weekend Australians Brad Kennedy and Jarrod Lyle missed their spot in the final qualification event by a single shot. Kennedy had three consecutive bogeys in his final nine holes and Lyle bogeyed the last hole to see them both blow their chances.

They weren’t the only Australians to miss out. Peter Lonard has lost his PGA tour card and failed to qualify and Stephen Leaney is now in the golfing wilderness after he too missed out on final qualification. It only seemed a short time ago when he was leading the US Open.

The final stage of qualifying will see 171 golfers play 108 holes of golf (six rounds) next week to try and finish in the top 25. If they do, they get a berth on the PGA Tour. Of these 171 there are 12 Australians:

Jamie Arnold Woo Jon Lee
Adam Bland David Lutterus
Andrew Buckle Alistair Presnall
Gavin Coles Aron Price
Mark Hensby Ewan Porter
Bronson La Cassie Ray Beaufils (a)

I notice green fees and practice balls are included with their entry fee into the tournament which is nice. These guys need all the help they can get, many careers depend upon it.

4 thoughts on “Australian heartbreak at Q-School

  • Michael, didn’t these guys get far enough along to qualify for the Nationwide Tour? I know it’s not the “big stage,” but at least it’s a place to play. Plus, they’ll have a chance at the Top25 on that tour, which gives them twice as many chances to get to the PGA next year.

    Jarrod’s been a fixture on the NT for a while now. I suspect it’s only a matter of time before he gets his card. And Lonard’s too good to be off the PGA Tour for long.

    Reply
  • Yes Mike, spot on. All players that make the final Q-School stage end up with some form of Nationwide Tour exemptions.

    Jarrod Lyle was actually on the PGA Tour last year thanks to his great 2008 year on the Nationwide but had some health issues.

    I’m just not sure how Lonard will get his card back now. His game is just not good enough at the moment.

    Reply
  • Two kiwis going to final stage. Phil Tataurangi and Brad Iles.

    Reply
  • I thought Jarrod had been on Tour before, but couldn’t remember when. Guess it was the health problems that threw me; I knew I hadn’t heard his name in a while.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *