Yesterday, 4 June, the application for PGA Tour Q-School dropped. As in previous years (including 2013-19, 2021 and 2022, when Q-school only granted Korn Ferry Tour privileges at best), there are set criteria for byes to the last three stages. This post concerns differences between this year's exemption criteria and last year's, as well as changes to the incentives for various finishes at Q-school. While most of them stayed the same, there were some differences enacted this year.
PGA Tour University
As with last year, four of the top five college seniors (excluding No 1 Christo Lamprecht of Georgia Tech, who is exempt on the PGA Tour through next year on that count, a la Ludvig Aberg a year ago) according to this program's rankings will be exempt to Final Stage, again held at the Sawgrass golf complex in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida near PGA Tour headquarters. The difference lies in Second Stage, where an additional six college graduates will participate if not exempt to Final Stage otherwise. Those six are Nos 21-25 on the final ranking and the NCAA Division II Jack Nicklaus Award winner. Last year, only Nos 6-20 were exempt to Second Stage, no matter what. The two years before at KFT Q-School, spots were limited to Nos 6-15, and the top finisher was only awarded KFT membership for the rest of the year and Final Stage exemption if needed. This evolution, to me, represents the growing importance of college golf. Surely my interest has grown!
PGA Tour Americas
This tour, of course, represents the merger of the PGA Tour pyramid's two lesser developmental circuits after last year. Instead of the top five on each circuit being exempt to Q-school finals and the rest of both top 25s being exempt to Second Stage, the top two on the Latin American segment (Canada's Matthew Anderson and New Zealand's Harry Hillier) will join with the top three on the North American segment in being exempt to Final Stage. Of course, those who finish in the top ten are promoted to the Korn Ferry Tour for 2025, whereas their high-finishing predecessors only received conditional KFT status without Q-school. The remaining top ten from each segment will be exempt to Second Stage, but only the combined list of top-25 finishers on the year will be used for the tour's remaining Second Stage exemptions. In the last two years of KFT Q-School, the top ten on each of the two tours that combined to form the PGA Tour Americas this year got into Final Stage. I guess restoring PGA Tour cards had consequences down the pyramid. Speaking of which...
At the End of the Q-School Rainbow
An additional $6000 will be distributed to each of Nos 41-45 at the end of Final Stage, ostensibly due to the fact that at least 45 will earn PGA Tour or KFT membership. Last year, only forty top finishers were to be paid, although 41 earned a check for their efforts. Of the more substantive rewards, PGA Tour cards are still limited to the top five and ties. The next forty and ties will still receive KFT starts, and these will still be broken down such that the top 25 and ties among those receive two reprieves from the reshuffle and the rest one. The remaining participants at Final Stage who post 72 holes' scores will earn some PGA Tour Americas membership.
The main difference is, again, in Second Stage. Again, all medallists at Second Stage (including ties) will receive KFT membership with one reprieve from the reshuffle. But those who come oh-so-close but fall short of Final Stage still have some reason to hope for starts on the PGA Tour Americas, as the top ten and ties among those not advancing to Final Stage from each site will receive conditional status on the Latin American segment in 2025. Of course, with fifty or more such consolations, it may be difficult for some to be allotted starts, especially with First Stage medallists having full exemption to the segment.
I hope this post helps you understand the evolution of Q-school from last year to this year. Who knows what next year's Q-school will look like?
Edward the Scop
No comments:
Post a Comment