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PRE-QUALIFICATION
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FINAL QUALIFYING STAGE
Q-SCHOOL ON TVFinal Stage: Nov. 30-Dec. 5, 2011PGA West (Nicklaus Tournament & Stadium) TV Times: GOLF CHANNEL - all times ET Sat., Dec. 3: 3-6 p.m. Sun., Dec. 4: 3-6 p.m. Mon., Dec. 5: 3:30-7 p.m. | Q-school final stage: Round 4 notebookDec. 6, 2010 | By John Bush | PGATOUR.com 1,389 players sent in applications to participate in the 2010 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. Six pre-qualifiers, along with 13 first- and six second-stage regionals were held to reduce the field. A total of 166 players advanced to the final qualifying stage, which will consist of six rounds with no cut.  FINAL STAGE
The top 25 players and ties will receive PGA TOUR cards for 2011. The next nearest-number-to-50 will earn fully exempt Nationwide Tour cards for the first 10 events on the schedule and the remainder of the field will receive conditional Nationwide Tour status. After 10 Nationwide Tour events next year, the fully exempt members will be subjected to the re-order/conditional category. Nine players qualified by making it through all three stages -- Todd Bailey, Jimmy Brandt, Dustin Garza, Seath Lauer, Richard Lee, David Lingmerth, Eric Onesi, Blake Parks and Brett Waldman. A total of 496 players teed off in the six pre-qualifiers and competed for 248 spots (and ties). A total of 927 players teed off in the 13 first-stage qualifiers and competed for 277 spots (and ties). A total of 448 players teed off in the six second-stage qualifiers and competed for 116 spots (and ties). A total of 45 players were exempt into the final stage of the tournament. PURSE BREAKDOWN: Next nearest-number-to-50 all receive $5,000 each FOURTH-ROUND NOTES: Weather: Sunny skies. Highs in the upper 60s, with winds out of the WNW at 5-10 mph. • Ben Martin, runner-up at the 2009 U.S. Amateur, carded a 3-under 69 at Crooked Cat (CC) on Saturday to move to 16-under par and maintain his lead through four rounds of the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. He enters the fifth of six rounds with a one-shot lead over James Driscoll (66/CC). Zack Miller (68/CC) is three back, while Scott Stallings (66/CC), Bio Kim (68/CC), Billy Mayfair (68/CC) and Cameron Tringale (69/CC) are tied for fourth, four back. • Martin was tied for second after the opening round, second after round two and has been in solo first after rounds three and four. • Driscoll carded a 6-under 66 at Crooked Cat today and moved into second place at 15-under par, one stroke back of the leader. Driscoll made 13 of 26 cuts on the PGA TOUR this year and finished No. 157 on the money list. His lone top-10 was a T9 at the Valero Texas Open. • Duke's Nate Smith, winner of the 2010 WNB Golf Classic on the Nationwide Tour, has steadily moved up the leaderboard and is currently T8. Smith, who finished No. 27 on the Nationwide Tour money list and barely missed earning his TOUR card, was T65 after the first round, T40 after the second and T16 after the third. Smith has posted scores of 73-69-66-67. • Veteran Mayfair is in solid position to gain his TOUR card and stands T4 after 72 holes. Mayfair, a five-time TOUR winner, turned pro in 1988 and made it through the Qualifying Tournament on his first try that fall. He has not been back since then. Mayfair is 12-under and four strokes back of leader Martin. • Martin completed his degree at Clemson in December of 2009 but did post-graduate work in order to compete for the Tigers last spring. He is a three-time Atlantic Coast Conference selection. • Martin (1st) is joined in the field by five additional former Tigers -- Charles Warren (T14), Kyle Stanley (T27), Tommy Biershenk (T32), Brent Delahoussaye (T100) and Eliot Gealy (T121). • History is certainly on Martin's side at this point. Every fourth-round leader/co-leader has gone on to earn his PGA TOUR card for the past 18 years (qualifying tournament records are incomplete prior to 1992). The closest anyone has come to not gaining a TOUR card came in 2006 when 72-hole co-leader Michael Boyd posted scores of 71-78 over the final two days in California and finished T25. (Back in 1996 when more cards were handed out, Paul Claxton led by one after four days and shot a 78 in the fifth round and dropped into a tie for 37th place. Officials tried for two days to play the sixth round but heavy rains forced them to revert back to the standings after 90 holes. Claxton was the 49th, and last, player to earn a card that year.) • Four players who earned their PGA TOUR card for 2011 by graduating (top 25) from the Nationwide Tour are seeking to improve their position this week at q-school Final Stage: Jim Herman (No. 19), Joe Affrunti (No. 22), Michael Putnam (No. 24) and Justin Hicks (No. 25). These players will not count toward the top 25 and ties who will earn their PGA TOUR card through q-school, nor will they count against the next number nearest 50 to determine fully-exempt Nationwide Tour membership. Here is how they stand heading into round five: Affrunti T31, Herman T40, Hicks T21, Putnam T27 • Stallings moved up the leaderboard with a 7-under 65 at the Crooked Cat course and moved from a T27 to T4 heading into the final two rounds. Stallings ran off a string of seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch to put him closer to a TOUR card for next year. The 25-year-old from Tennessee Tech just completed his rookie season on the Nationwide Tour, making the cut in 19 of 28 starts and finishing No. 53 on the money list. Stallings had three top-10 finishes but none in his final 11 starts. • Martin and Joseph Bramlett lead the field with 24 birdies thus far. Martin is at 16-under and leading while Bramlett, a 2010 Stanford graduate, is at 8-under thanks to 14 bogeys and one double bogey. • Another Stanford grad, Zack Miller (2007) remained near the top of the leaderboard with a 4-under at Crooked Cat. Miller, a 2010 Nationwide Tour rookie, is at 13-under and solo third. Miller made the cut in 13 of 25 starts this year and had two top-10 finishes, including a T3 at the Fort Smith Classic. • Four players have posted all four rounds in the 60s this week: Martin (66-68-67-69), Driscoll (68-68-69-66), Tringale (69-67-69-69) and Mayfair (69-69-68-68). Bogey-free rounds:
• Scores of note: Erik Compton (T113/72/CC), Brett Waldman (T59/72/CC), Ty Tryon (T92/73/CC) • Two past q-school medalists teed it up this week at Orange County National: 2006 medalist George McNeill (WD after third round) and 1992 co-medalist Skip Kendall (T113/70/PL). • Best Rounds of the Day:
WD's on Saturday: none |
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