Interesting US PGA Tour qualification process change.....

[Imurg]

The US PGA are effectively doing away with Q-School as the means for getting onto the PGA Tour.
Q-School will still happen but the qualifiers get a card for the Nationwide Tour instead. Qualification for the main Tour is then solely from the Nationwide Tour........
The three final tournaments on the Nationwide Tour will consist of fields involving PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour players to determine who earns those 50 cards. The fields for the three final Nationwide Tour events will include the top 75 players on the Nationwide Tour's money list, the players ranked 126-200 on the PGA TOUR's FedExCup points list and non-members who meet certain eligibility standards. This all starts in October 2013.

To put this in context with the European Tour, qualifiying from Q-school would get you a card for the Challenge Tour. The last 3 Challenge Tour events would be played by the top 75 from that tour and those who have lost their main tour cards with the top 50 getting onto the main tour again.....

No sign yet of European Tour following but if it works I can see a similar process being adopted by the Tour.

 

[JustOne]

Sounds like a very good idea. I think we should adopt a similar process asap. Can you think of a fault with it? all I can think is that someone who is gifted would have to wait an extra year before making it onto the main tour.

 

[Tiger]

I like it. Places a greater emphasis on the Nationwide Tour as well.

 

[backwoodsman]

So, does this mean that in effect it's the best 50 scores over the last 12 rounds of the Nationwide season (3x4)?

Only modification I'd suggest as a possibilty is that a handful of players (5? 10?) on the main tour - those that come "very last" as it were - don't get a place. That way, there's something they have to fight for right up to the end of the main season

 

[Foxholer]

Sounds like a very good idea. I think we should adopt a similar process asap. Can you think of a fault with it? all I can think is that someone who is gifted would have to wait an extra year before making it onto the main tour.

So McIlroy would have had to have gone a year through the Nationwide Tour before getting onto the PGA Tour?! Ridiculous thought!

Seems entirely a decision made out of Protectionism to me - knee jerk reaction to them fading off the World Rankings and Nationwide event sponsorship declining.

 

[Imurg]

Of the current crop of Brits playing on the PGA Tour, only Luke got there through Q-School.
The rest must have been granted membership from Ryder Cup appearences or Tournament wins or World Ranking.
Casey, Rose, Gmac, Rory - none went through Q-School

 

[MashieNiblick]

Interesting.

Picking up on Foxholers point, will this make it harder for European (or Asian) Tour players to get onto the PGA Tour? Instead of qualifying directly via Q school seems they will either have to play the last 3 Challenge Tour events or spend a year on the Challenge Tour, or is there some other way that a well established European based player can qualify for the main PGA Tour?

 

[BoadieBroadus]

it sounds like fairer idea to spread out qualification a bit and not have an all or nothing 6 round event. anyone read the "tales from q school" book by feinstein (i think) - sounds pretty brutal, extending it to reward consistency a bit more sounds fairer...

 

[Mike_j_golf]

As far as i know anyone in the top 50 in the world can just apply for membership to the PGA tour so the top players won't have to go thru the nationwide tour. Or you could win enough money from your 7 invites and majors to get there.
Mike

 

[Mattyboy]

Sounds OK to me. As said above the top 50 WR are OK. So are the wonder kids who get enough points from their invites (e.g. Tiger).
For the rest its tough (no change there!) but at least it dosnt come down to playing a course, miles from home that dosnt suit you for some reason.

 

[Dodger]

So in essence you have to have money or a rich backer for you to even have a chance to get on tour?

Bollox.

There are no doubt many guys who's money is a tight commodity who will now never,ever have to opportunity to live the dream.

 

[Monty_Brown]

So a young player makes a name for himself as an amateur at a Major, or breaks every record going in US college golf. Then he has to disappear for a year to the Nationwide tour, losing any profile he had that would have earned him a bunch of sponsorship deals to fund his rookie season.

Seems daft to me. What was so wrong with it that meant it needed changing?

The present system still gave out about 20 tour cards to the Nationwide moneylist top 20, then the rest via Q school. What was wrong with having two entry streams onto the tour, that allowed a variety of players to earn rookie staus, from a journeymen pros who have blossomed late, to the latest college grad hotshot.

Why make talented young players rely on tournie invites, rather than let them play their way staright onto the tour while they are in the form of their lives?

Short sighted decision in my view that will result in less of a buzz about young players making it to the tour.

 

[Ethan]

Finchem wants to structure the qualification process more, and to a certain extent keep it favouring players from his side of the pond. They also like the idea of 'paying your dues'. Of course, there is no way the next Tiger will have to play in the Greater Punxsatawney Open to get his card - the real hotshots will still be fast-tracked in.

 

[JustOne]

Of course, there is no way the next Tiger will have to play in the Greater Punxsatawney Open to get his card - the real hotshots will still be fast-tracked in.

I'm not sure if it would make a difference or not... I'd never heard of Tiger before he got on the main tour, or Mcilroy. If both had spent a year on their lesser tours it wouldn't have made that much difference (apart from being a proving ground) would it?

Maybe if you win the first 3 events you could be fast-tracked onto the main tour or something like that... ?

 

[Ethan]

I'm not sure if it would make a difference or not... I'd never heard of Tiger before he got on the main tour, or Mcilroy. If both had spent a year on their lesser tours it wouldn't have made that much difference (apart from being a proving ground) would it?

Maybe if you win the first 3 events you could be fast-tracked onto the main tour or something like that... ?

Tiger and Rory were very well known in the game before turning pro. There was fevered speculation for some time about whether Tiger would go to college (he did for one year), and about when Rory would go over to the paid ranks, and both were covered well as amateurs in various events on TV.

There is currently a 'battlefield promotion' available, where Nationwide players who win 3 events (not necessarily in a row), get a promotion to the PGA Tour for the rest of that season and the whole season after. Then if they earn enough, or win again, they stay. Chad Campbell and Jason Gore are among a small group who have done this.

 

[JustOne]

There is currently a 'battlefield promotion' available, where Nationwide players who win 3 events (not necessarily in a row), get a promotion to the PGA Tour for the rest of that season and the whole season after. Then if they earn enough, or win again, they stay. Chad Campbell and Jason Gore are among a small group who have done this.

Didn't know that... thanks :thup:

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Just seems to be Fincham trying to pull up the drawbridge and protect the US tour from any more foreign invaders stealing the limelight, getting ranking points and pushing his precious US players further down the world pecking order. Can't see how it will benefit players from the Far East, etc that have to go and schlep across the US at huge cost compared to the prize money available. On the plus side I can see more and more of the up and coming players trying their luck in Europe now and that has to be better for our tour