The primary stage of PGA Tour Q-Faculty continued with 5 qualifiers that wrapped up on Friday.
Taylor Funk, the 28-year-old son of Fred Funk who made it to closing stage final 12 months however has but to earn his full Korn Ferry Tour card, co-medaled with Notre Dame alum Davis Lamb on the Bermuda Run, North Carolina, qualifier at Bermuda Run Nation Membership’s East Course. They was joined by 4 different medalists:
• Christian Salzer, a 26-year-old North Carolina State alum who turned professional in 2021 and has but to have full standing on a significant tour (The Protect at Ironhorse in West Palm Seaside, Florida)
• John Greco, a 30-year-old from D-II William Jessup College (Lake Carolina Golf Membership, Madison, Mississippi)
• Jake Staiano, the 27-year-old Colorado State product who was suspended for 3 months final fall for betting on golf (UNM Championship Course, Albuquerque, New Mexico)
• Jacob Harper, a 30-year-old mini-tour legend from Alabama who has earned over $60,000 on the Emerald Coast Tour this 12 months, main the cash listing by over $50,000 (Rockwall Golf Membership, Rockwall, Texas)
Staiano was suspended three months final fall for violating the PGA Tour’s integrity program and missed Q-Faculty. This week, he gained the first-stage website in Albuquerque by seven.
Different notables to advance to second stage on Friday: Brett Stegmaier, a 41-year-old with 223 PGA Tour and KFT begins to his identify; APGA legend Willie Mack III, who misplaced his KFT card final 12 months; former AJGA standout and Texas participant Gavin Corridor; Cristian DiMarco, son of Chris DiMarco; amateurs Jake Corridor and Peter Fountain, who lately graduated school (from Tennessee and North Carolina, respectively); John Augenstein, former All-American at Vanderbilt and the 2019 U.S. Novice runner-up; George Bryan IV, standard YouTube golfer and brother of PGA Tour winner Wesley Bryan; one other notable YouTube golfer, Gonzaga product Sean Walsh; Connor Black, a former blue-chip recruit and up to date of Scottie Scheffler who went to Texas A&M however misplaced his sport and received into instructing and caddying (one other enjoyable reality about Black is when he turned down Texas, the Longhorns used that cash to supply Doug Ghim); South African bomber James Hart du Preez; Turk Pettit, the 2021 NCAA particular person champion from Clemson who performed LIV’s inaugural season; former nationwide newbie champions Yuxin Lin (Asia-Pacific Novice, twice) and Abel Gallegos (Latin America Novice).
Notables failing to advance embody hotshot high-schooler Blades Brown, who wasn’t anticipated to show professional and must be making his verbal school dedication quickly; Fred Biondi, the 2023 NCAA particular person champion from Florida; 2015 U.S. Junior winner Philip Barbaree; former Aussie prodigy Ryan Ruffels; Mickey DeMorat, the nephew of comic Daniel Tosh; and a number of other former PGA Tour gamers, together with Andrew Loupe, John Chin and Andrew Yun.
Listed here are some extra notes alongside the minimize strains:
• 4 of the 5 gamers who advance by a shot out of the Madison website shot 4-under 66 or higher within the closing spherical – Mark Lawrence (65), Jeremy Gandon (65), Evan Brown (66) and Bryce Emory (66). Lawrence performed at U.S. Novice and is probably most identified for making the semifinals of the 2017 U.S. Novice at Riviera and profitable the 2020 Virginia Open previous to his fifth 12 months, although he’s recorded only one world-ranked begin, on the 2022 Stay and Work in Maine Open on the KFT, the place he missed the minimize. Gandon is a Kansas State product by the use of France. He’s performed occasions on 5 totally different PGA Tour-sanctioned excursions since turning professional in 2019. This 12 months, he notched 5 top-12s in the course of the Latin swing of PGA Tour Americas. Brown, who turned professional in 2022 out of Loyola (Md.), missed 10 of 15 cuts on PGA Tour Americas this 12 months, however he additionally had three top-10s. Emory is a 33-year-old from Northern Illinois who had restricted standing on PGA Tour Americas this 12 months. Previous to that, he labored for just a few months in the course of the pandemic as a membership bender for Membership Champion.
• Bryan Bigley birdied every of his closing three holes on the Bermuda Run qualifier to make the minimize on the quantity at 3 beneath. Bigley, 39, hasn’t performed a PGA Tour-sanctioned occasion since shedding his KFT card in 2019, his fourth straight season on the tour. Bigley began working in insurance coverage shortly after.
• Jake Sollon missed by a shot in West Palm Seaside after bogeying the par-4 seventeenth gap and double-bogeying the par-5 18th gap. Sollon was a standout at Rider earlier than transferring to Oregon as a graduate pupil. He made 5 begins for the Geese, posting a pair of top-20s, and missed match play by a shot on the 2021 U.S. Novice at Oakmont earlier than turning professional later that 12 months. He’s logged 9 begins between Canada and Latin America, all coming final 12 months or prior, although he’s but to make a minimize. Tying Sollon was Jorge Garcia, a former junior standout who performed at Florida earlier than transferring to D-II Barry. Garcia performed his closing 9 in 1 beneath with only one par. His double bogey on the penultimate gap was pricey.
• Spencer Oxendine birdied 4 of his final six holes in Bermuda Run however nonetheless missed by a shot. Oxendine, who graduated from N.C. State this summer time, was amongst these gamers in a playoff on the U.S. Open closing qualifier this summer time in Durham, North Carolina. Oxendine was eradicated together with a man by the identify of Matt McCarty, who went on to win 3 times on the KFT and lately on the PGA Tour.
• Jeevan Sihota, a 20-year-old Canadian who performed on PGA Tour Americas this 12 months, shot 7-over 78 within the closing spherical in New Mexico and missed by two pictures. Sihota skipped school golf, leaping straight to the professionals, and as a junior, he was partly chargeable for the PGA Tour implementing inside out of bounds left of the 18th gap at TPC Sawgrass earlier than the 2021 Gamers. Sihota hit drives into the ninth fairway in the course of the AJGA Junior Gamers the earlier 12 months, and with Bryson DeChambeau bashing it round Bay Hill en path to profitable the week prior, the Tour made the choice.
The primary three first-stage websites – Maricopa, Arizona; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Damaged Arrow, Oklahoma – had been accomplished final week with Patrick Flavin, Anthony Paolucci, Charlie Reiter, Spencer Cross, Bo Hoag, Luke Schniederjans, Curtis Thompson, Rayhan Thomas, Travis Smyth, Scott Stevens, Hazen Newman, Michael Sweeney and Grant Hirschman amongst these advancing out of these qualifiers.
There are nonetheless 5 first-stage tournaments on the calendar:
• Oct. 22-25, Magnolia Grove (Crossing), Semmes, Alabama (discipline consists of Ben Carr, a-Bartley Forrester, Tommy Kuhl, Julian Perico, Thomas Ponder, Chase Seiffert and Brett White)
• Oct. 22-25, Bear Creek GC, Murrieta, California (discipline consists of Devon Bling, Nicolo Galletti, Tain Lee, RJ Manke and Gunn Yang)
• Oct. 22-25, Champions Pointe GC, Henryville, Indiana (discipline consists of Derek Bard, Zack Fischer, Derek Hitchner, Vince India, Dylan Meyer and Tyler Strafaci)
• Oct. 22-25, Abilene CC, Abilene, Texas (discipline consists of Jonathan Brightwell, Nick Cantlay, Peter Kuest, Ethan Marcus and Brian Stark)
• Oct. 29-Nov. 1, CC of Ocala, Ocala, Florida (discipline consists of a-Derek Busby, John Dubois, Luis Gagne, Jimmy Jones, Patrick Newcomb, Andy Pope, Spencer Ralston and Brett Roberts)
