Few current PGA TOUR pros have experienced what it’s like to earn their TOUR cards at PGA TOUR Q-School, presented by Korn Ferry.
Over the past ten years, Q-School has not been a path to the PGA TOUR; rather, it has simply been a source of Korn Ferry Tour status.
But that was altered this year when, for the first time since 2012, the route to the PGA TOUR was reopened.
This week’s Final Stage marked the conclusion of PGA TOUR Q-School, presented by Korn Ferry. A golfer can transform their lives in four rounds. A PGA TOUR card and a dream come true were assured with a place in the top five and ties.
Harrison Endycott won medalist honours on Monday at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley after shooting a final-round 67 to win by four strokes. Due to heavy rain in northeast Florida on Sunday, the final round was cancelled.
Endycott played the last round entirely on cruise control, although he was the only one with that chance. Who will take up the remaining four seats following him was still up in the air. And the show did not disappoint.
Meet the five golfers who qualified for the PGA TOUR’s 2024 season with full status.
Harrison Endycott
Age: 27
Career PGA TOUR starts: 33
New PGA TOUR member? No
Endycott, a rookie on the PGA TOUR the previous year, just missed out on finishing in the top 125 in the FedExCup to guarantee full status for the next year. But he already had conditional status secured for 2024, so he could play this week knowing that he had a safety net in place.
That meant Endycott was under less pressure than most going into the week. In all likelihood, the Australian was going to participate in fifteen PGA TOUR events.
Endycott acknowledged he would be more competitive than normal on Thursday, saying, “A sixth-place finish does nothing for me.” That aggressiveness paid off, as they won handily. He had just three bogeys against his 16 birdies.
Endycott’s itinerary is now fully booked as he prepares for his second year on the TOUR. His first year was one of education. The Australian, who missed 20 of 33 cuts, struggled with consistency. His greatest result at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in 2022 was a solo 10th place finish. In the autumn of 2022, he carded two top-15s. In 2023, he just had one.
Endycott was featured in the PGA TOUR documentary series “The Turn,” which traced the travels of four golfers through the FedExCup Fall. Endycott disclosed on filming that he stopped drinking after winning the 2023 Wyndham Championship.
He declared, “I got tired of feeling like crap all the time.”
The highlight of Endycott’s 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season was his victory at the Huntsville Championship in Alabama, which helped him earn his first PGA TOUR card. Endycott was raised in Sydney, Australia, where he was born.
Together with players Curtis Luck of the Korn Ferry Tour and Cameron Davis of the PGA TOUR, he helped his native nation win the 2016 World Amateur Team Championship. Endycott started his professional career in late 2017 and spent two seasons on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica before making it to the Korn Ferry Tour (2018 and 2019).
Blaine Hale, Jr.
Age: 26
Career PGA TOUR starts: 0
New PGA TOUR member? Yes
PGA TOUR to micro tours and beyond.
Having participated in just one PGA TOUR-sanctioned event (2022 Veritex Bank Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour), Hale had no standing when he started Q-School. He was placed 4,120th in the Official World Golf Ranking as of this past week. With the greatest in the world, Hale will now match up every week.
His tale perfectly captures the spirit of Q-School; he emerged from a position of relative anonymity to seize this week’s opportunity.
As a sophomore, Hale competed for Oklahoma’s 2017 NCAA Championship team and defeated fellow upcoming TOUR rookie Norman Xiong in the championship match. Hale, who graduated in 2019, was among a group of young athletes whose vital playing season was destroyed by COVID-19. He often tried to obtain a status through Q-School in order to be eligible for the Korn Ferry Tour, but he was never successful. This year, he did well on the All Pro Tour, finishing in the top 10 of five of ten events.
“I just didn’t play very well that year because I put so much pressure on myself the second time I got to try Q-School. With COVID, I’ve had a strange start and have felt a little behind everyone else.” stated Hale.
He has caught up now. He tied for third place alone at 9 under, capping up his first productive week at Q-School just right.
Trace Crowe
Age: 27
Career PGA TOUR starts: 3
New PGA TOUR member? Yes
At this year’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship, Crowe was in the running to win his PGA TOUR card. However, he scored 76-74 over the weekend to finish outside the top 30 on the season-long points list.
The former Auburn player said he got ahead of himself and let his feelings to control him. He promised that his ending be like that at Korn Ferry’s Q-School.
“Let’s avoid losing out twice,” he remarked.
That lesson was evident in his final round on Monday at Dye’s Valley. After shooting bogey-free on the front nine, Crowe finished at 11-under and tied for second place with four birdies on the back nine. In the 60s, he was one of 4 players to card 4 rounds. Crowe could have easily missed this tournament. His only status going into 2023 was conditional on the Korn Ferry Tour. Crowe replaced Chris Baker, who withdrew due to fog, in the HomeTown Lenders Championship in April, where he was not originally supposed to play. That week, Crowe placed eleventh, which helped him gain further starts and launch his season. He won the Old National Bank-sponsored NV5 Invitational three months later.
Although that stroke of luck helped him along, Crowe deserves all the credit for his success.
Hayden Springer
Age: 26
Career PGA TOUR starts: 4
New PGA TOUR member? Yes
After topping the PGA TOUR Canada points standings, Springer has already secured a full season on the Korn Ferry Tour. That is no longer necessary. He is headed directly for the PGA TOUR.
This season, the Nashville native has made seven starts on the PGA TOUR Canada, winning two of them and finishing in the top 10 in the other two. These were the first two wins that Springer had as a professional. Since going pro in 2019, he has mostly participated in micro tours and a few PGA TOUR Latinoamerica events.
Springer completed his education at Trophy Club, Texas’ Byron Nelson High School, which bears the name of the World Golf Hall of Famer who resided just two miles away from the campus. Springer defeated TCU to win the 2019 Big 12 Championship.
For Springer, this has been a very emotional month. Sage, his young daughter, suffered from Trisomy 18, a serious developmental disease caused by an extra chromosome, and died at the age of three last month. Although Sage’s survival after delivery was initially not anticipated, she survived and grew into a resilient and content young child.
“She is unique. She is truly unique. We will always miss her as she is so unique. She was strong, there’s no avoiding that. She fought hard. We shall always remember her for having a strong heart, as we always mentioned.” stated Springer.
After overcoming three bogeys on his final nine to tie for fourth place, Springer completed 8-under and received his card by a single stroke. On the challenging par-4 17th, his drive reached the water, but he prevented bogey and sealed his card with a par on 18.
Raul Pereda
Age: 27
Career PGA TOUR starts: 1
New PGA TOUR member? Yes
This spring, Pereda had a taste of life on the PGA TOUR. Desperate to return, he spent the remainder of the year trying to do so.
He is now the lone golfer of Mexican heritage on the PGA TOUR.
He declared, “I’ve always dreamed about getting Mexico back on the PGA TOUR.”
Pereda first gained recognition in the national open. In his maiden PGA TOUR debut, he scored a 65 in the opening round at the Mexico Open at Vidanta in April, propelling him up the leaderboard.
From then on, he struggled but was still very entertaining. During his final three rounds, he recorded 11 birdies, 13 bogeys, 2 eagles, and 2 double bogeys, filling the scorecard to the brim. It satisfied him that he fit in.
“It made me realise that I can play in the top leagues in the world, in challenging situations, and I performed admirably,” he remarked.
For Pereda, too, it was an amusing way to wrap up Q-School. On the back nine, he chipped in twice for birdies, earning his TOUR card by a single stroke.
Prior to turning pro, Pereda played for Jacksonville University for four years. He has played PGA TOUR Latinoamérica for the previous four seasons, twice placing 12th in the Totalplay Cup standings. Although he had no guaranteed starts on the tour prior to this week, he secured conditional eligibility on the Korn Ferry Tour by qualifying for the Final Stage. Rather, he will compete on the PGA TOUR as a full-status member.
