Out of 521 participants, just two made it to the Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry from pre-qualification.
That amounts to less than 38%, or four-tenths of a percent.
They are 39-year-old Wes Homan and 23-year-old Caleb Hicks. They want to be the top five finishers (and ties) at Q-School’s Final Stage in order to win PGA TOUR cards, which would be the ultimate lottery ticket.
Think of them as dreamers. Think of them as having the potential to qualify for the PGA TOUR this week, when 165 players will compete over 72 holes, 36 of which will be played at Sawgrass Country Club and TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course. You cannot just walk into the Final Stage of Q-School.
Hicks is a rookie at Q-School; he became a pro earlier this year. Homan battled the putting yips, which pushed him away from the game when he first played Q-School in 2007, and has since recovered.
Despite the fact that they each progressed through three different Q-School phases to get here, their viewpoints on the program are very different. For more than ten years, Homan has been exposed to the all-or-nothing nature of the event. Hicks may be fortunate to be naive.
“You truly have nothing if you fail to pass the second stage. There is a lot of energy, fear, and the plain unknown to deal with,” Homan said
“I’m enjoying myself immensely. It’s enjoyable. It’s just enjoyable since it doesn’t change who I am whether I make it or not.” Hicks said.
Hicks and Homan, two professionals in the field, started Q-School during pre-qualifying in September. While some started in October at the First Stage, others did so in November at the Second Stage. A few went straight to the Final Stage. A chance to play professional golf and earn a PGA TOUR card is available to every one of them.
“Once you arrive, you have a chance,” Homan said.
When they take the field on Thursday, every player earns at least conditional status on the PGA TOUR Americas and the Korn Ferry Tour. The following forty finishers and ties, behind the top five and ties, will have guaranteed starts on the Korn Ferry Tour. Starts on the PGA TOUR Americas are guaranteed for the next 20 players and ties.
Here are some of the players to look out for as the competition commences.
Wes Homan
Perhaps the most interesting man in golf is Homan. There are other projects that make up his “real job.” He’s getting ready to kickstart a video game. He works in the cannabis industry. He works with a car dealership.
He progressed through the First Stage, Second Stage, and Pre-qualifying in the meanwhile to be eligible for his first PGA TOUR card.
The native of Cincinnati went pro in 2008 and has since spent time on a number of route circuits. In 2014, he won the PGA TOUR Canada championship. In 2015, he received conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour after making it to the Final Stage of Q-School. Later that decade, however, Homan developed the putting yips, which turned him away from the professional game and into a more traditional job schedule. Homan and his spouse Libby are parents to three children, aged 4 to 7: Wally, Margo, and Dilly. He may play as long as it’s for money, Libby informs him.
Homan, who has made 11 career starts on the TOUR, might have a lot of financial opportunities this week, largely through Monday qualifiers.
Every summer, he enjoys traveling to a few qualifiers throughout the Midwest. He’s always had faith in his tee-to-green ability; it just needed some putting. After making it through 3 qualifying rounds, there’s good reason to think everything is coming together just right.
Adam Long and Scott Harrington, two seasoned pros who competed on the Tour in 2023, have been lifelong friends of Homan’s. This week, they are staying together. On Monday at the Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass and on Tuesday at Sawgrass Country Club, they played practice rounds together. They had a birdie game, and Homan was still excited about his final hole birdie when he met with the media on Tuesday afternoon. The rivalry fire rages.
It has great significance. I think I’m going to give up golf for a bit. Although I was at the bottom of the golf world, I put in a lot of effort. I’ve been on a journey of my own to see where I’m at and go back to playing with all these kids these days. I met a coach named Eric Kaplan who has really helped me get back on track.
Perhaps early in his career, Homan was afraid he would never play on the PGA TOUR. It almost seems like a benefit to be here now. He might benefit from it after all.
Caleb Hicks
Hicks’ time in college wasn’t particularly spectacular, and he wasn’t sure what to anticipate from his first experience in Q-School. But inspired by his mother Laurie, with whom he still resides to save money, and his late father Bobby, who died of cancer in 2017 at the age of 50, he has set out on a fantastic Q-School adventure to, at least, solidify provisional Korn Ferry Tour status. He looks at a TOUR card now.
Hicks turned professional in late spring after finishing his fifth year at the University of Texas-Arlington, where he averaged 73.3 for the 2022–2023 season, second-best on the team. He has only participated in “seven or eight tournaments, nearly half of which have been Q-School stages.”
When Hicks was around ten years old, his father introduced him to golf. Although he admits that his father was “a bit of a hard ass at times,” this experience helped him build a strong work ethic that has carried him through the demands of both life and Q-School.
“He laid the foundation for both my character and my golf game. That’s essentially what has gotten me through everything. My father, my upbringing, and everything. It’s quite amazing.” Hicks said on Tuesday.
Hicks was employed as a construction supervisor throughout his college summers. Office buildings, homes, and whatever the day demanded were among the projects.
“Everything from painting to sprinklers,” he remarked.
As evidenced by his performance over the last three months of Q-School, where he navigated a variety of courses and conditions to continue his advancement, Hicks isn’t hesitant to roll up his sleeves. Despite never having won a college competition, he has proven his competitiveness by thriving in the Q-School environment. He thought of his father last month, after making it through Second Stage.
“He would be going crazy at this point. It’s absurd. He would be overjoyed.” Hicks grinned and said.
Taylor Funk
Since turning pro in 2017, Taylor Funk has often shown resilience to maintain his spot on the PGA TOUR Canada.
Funk wrote a story that almost defied reality at Q-School’s Second Stage, upping the ante. With 11 holes remaining at the challenging Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, he was seven strokes behind the final cut line and 2 over for the week on one of the tougher Q-School venues. With seven birdies and four pars in the final holes, including back-to-back closing birdies, he then guaranteed his first trip to the Final Stage. He made history as the only player to move across five Second Stage locations when he began the final round on the back nine, in the back half of the field, and finished on the number at 5 under.
Among them was a chip-in birdie on the 17th hole, which he had not made all season on the PGA TOUR Canada.
“Words cannot express it. An actualized dream. There at the conclusion of today was something really remarkable. Man, it’s hard. You only get one chance a year to make it there, and as a 28-year-old, it feels like you’re losing out on the opportunity when you watch your former friends competing on the Tour. It’s quite special to even have the opportunity.” said a shaken Funk after getting his final round card.
Funk is no stranger to pressure-filled moments in the world of professional golf. His father, Fred Funk, is an eight-time champion of the Tour, having won the PLAYERS Championship at the PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in 2005. Raised in Ponte Vedra Beach, he believes he has played Dye’s Valley Course over a thousand times. Even though Funk is in his sixth year as a professional, a TOUR card would signal an accelerated timeline in the family—his dad didn’t receive one until he was 32. In either case, the younger Funk’s mind-bending last stretch in Valdosta shows that the Funks aren’t scared to grind.
Funk has made 21 career starts on the 2023 PGA TOUR Canada, his best finish being a T6 at the CRMC Championship presented by Gertens. Funk finished No. 47 in the season-long standings. Having played on a highly respected Texas Longhorns collegiate team with guys like Doug Ghim and Scottie Scheffler, he has missed some games in Q-School.
He will be going on TOUR with them in four days.
“Last year, I needed to make two of my final three birdies to maintain my card on the PGA TOUR Canada. This year, I needed to shoot 60 and have a strong round on the last day of the season. I believe there is something there, sometimes I just can’t figure it out, but it came out today once more, and I’m glad it did.” Following his victory in the second stage final round, Funk commented.
James Swash
One week prior to the registration deadline, James Swash registered for Q-School.
Although he had gotten some GoFundMe donations, he wasn’t sure if he had enough money to cover the registration fee. Then Lindsay Manning, his girlfriend, insisted on using her savings to make up the difference.
Swash declared, “If it weren’t for my girlfriend, I wouldn’t be here this week.”
The investment has yielded substantial returns. Swash made his way through the First Stage and Second Stage, with one stroke remaining to secure a tee time at Final Stage this week in his debut Q-School expedition. This included a closing birdie at Second Stage in Alabama.
Swash attended Louisiana Tech as a collegiate player, finishing his fifth year of eligibility in 2022–2023; he was born and raised in Middlesbrough, England. He became acquaintances with TOUR winner Sam Burns, who plays out of Squire Creek Country Club, Louisiana Tech’s home course, while he was a student there. Burns achieved a T10 place at the Q-School Final Stage in 2017 to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour. Swash could go on tour with Burns if he can put up a show like that.
Swash is appreciative of his parents’ assistance on the trip in addition to that of his fiancée. While his father Craig puts in hard hours at an Audi dealership, frequently working six-day workweeks, his mother Annette worked many jobs to pay for junior activities.
“My parents have exerted every effort to provide me with every chance to pursue a career in professional golf. To support me in pursuing my dream, they have both put me above themselves. I hope to be able to look after them one day.” Swash said.
Michael Feuerstein
Hugging and hoisting his caddie into the air, Michael Feuerstein celebrated hitting the 72nd hole at Q-School’s Second Stage in California.
It stood for uncontrolled excitement and eagerness for the chance that lay ahead. Feuerstein, 40, has only taken part in one Korn Ferry Tour competition. In 24 starts across the PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, he has only made 6 cuts. He’d never made it to the Final Stage before.
I have always dreamed of anything like this. I would like to play at a Korn Ferry Tour event; I had a taste of it last summer. Next year, I’d like to spend a year touring with Korn Ferry, work on some parts of my game, and then see the show. This year, I became a father. My daughter motivates me to put forth as much effort as I can.” Feuerstein remarked following his passage through Stage 2.
Four days away from a PGA TOUR card, he now gets the chance of a lifetime. At the very least, he is a conditional member of the Korn Ferry Tour, with the chance to be removed and receive further starts through the reorganization. He’ll be on the leaderboard this week with interesting rising players and TOUR champs. In northeast Florida, he has earned his tee times just like them.
That is the main focus of the last stage of Q-School.
