It’s one of golf’s most gruelling weeks – where dreams are realised and dashed.
The players at Ponte Vedra who lined up at PGA Tour Q-School faced everything, not least a weather delay that made the 24-hour wait for Monday’s final round all the more nerve-wracking.
But Harrison Endycott, Trace Crowe, Blaine Hale Jr, Raul Pereda, and Hayden Springer all came through at TPC Sawgrass’s Dye Valley course to win their 2024 cards.
Endycott’s final round 67 secured him medallist honours, and the 27-year-old, who narrowly missed out in the FedEx Cup’s top 125 last season, topped up the conditional status he had already secured in fine style.
The Australian, who missed 20 of 33 cuts in his first tour year, will now get another chance and was one of the quartet of players followed by the cameras on PGA Tour documentary ‘The Turn’ during the Fall Series.
Trace Crowe also shot a 67 as he finished second, four shots adrift of Endycott. The 27-year-old had challenged at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship before fading out of contention at the weekend but was one of only four players to shoot a round in the 60s during a testing final day at Dye Valley.
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Blaine Hale Jr started the tournament languishing outside of the world’s top 4,000. Finishing up at nine-under, after posting a one-over-par final round 71, the former Oklahoma college player will now make his first PGA Tour start next year.
PGA Tour Q-School: ‘She’s so special’
Raul Pereda’s one-under 69, and eight-under total, saw him secure the fourth spot and he will be the only active PGA Tour player of Mexican descent in 2024. “I’ve always dreamed about putting Mexico back on the PGA Tour,” the 27-year-old told pgatour.com.
He had hit the headlines with a first round 65 on his only PGA Tour start at the Mexican Open in April, a round that told him he could mix it with the world’s best.
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Perhaps the most emotional story from Q-School came from the final qualifier as Hayden Springer took the last spot with an eight under total and a final round 69.
Springer topped the PGA Tour Canada points list to grab Korn Ferry Tour status and showed plenty of courage after finding the water on the penultimate hole.
Springer’s three-year-old daughter, Sage, passed away last month from Trisomy 18 – a development disorder that stems for an extra chromosome.
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“She’s special,” he told pgatour.com. “She’s very special. She’s so special and we’re going to miss her forever. There’s no way around that, but she was strong. She was a fighter.
“We always said she had strength in heart, and that will stay with us forever.”
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