University of Georgia alum Will Chandler, 27, sipped an ice-cold Michelob Ultra with awe on his face as he waited quietly on the back lawn at TPC Sawgrass between getting his PGA TOUR card and posing for a group shot with his fellow Q-School alumni.
Hayden Buckley had just moments before laid his head on his wife Feleysa’s shoulder in the clubhouse, expressing shock at what had happened. Later, Takumi Kanaya had to postpone an interview with Japanese media for a short time in order to cry. In a FaceTime conversation with his college coach Scott Limbaugh, Matthew Riedel acknowledged that his 5-footer to earn his first TOUR card felt a lot longer.
The scenes are endless. With five PGA TOUR cards (and ties) up for grabs, the last afternoon of Korn Ferry’s Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School has a habit of leaving battle wounds that last a lifetime. The emotion of Sunday night was the delightful afterglow of a demanding week that athletes characterise as nerve-racking right away.
The six players who earned or improved their PGA TOUR status at Final Stage of Q-School each left the venue with a physical TOUR card, one of golf’s most sought-after trophies, and the emotion that goes along with it. In professional golf, it’s rare for any finish other than a victory to be considered a success.
With a final score of 63 at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course, where he scored eagle on the par-5 opening hole and never looked back, Lanto Griffin earned medallist honours at 9-under 271. Alejandro Tosti (4-under), Will Chandler (4-under), Matthew Riedel (4-under), Hayden Buckley (6-under), and Takumi Kanaya (5-under) joined Griffin. Tosti, Buckley, and Griffin all participated in the 2024 TOUR and were awarded return tickets; the other three will be joining the TOUR for the first time in 2025. 170 players competed for five PGA TOUR cards (and ties) in the Final Stage, which was held over 72 holes in northeast Florida (two rounds each at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course and Sawgrass Country Club). The Q-School gauntlet began with pre-qualifying in September and progressed through First Stage (October) and Second Stage (November and early December). With a wide range of heartwarming emotional moments during the afternoon, the following 40 and ties received guaranteed starts on the Korn Ferry Tour, marking a significant career accomplishment for many in the field. However, only the six players who merited those prized moments were eligible for the Mount Rushmore-level accomplishments.
As a former champion, Griffin will always have limited TOUR eligibility; nevertheless, he finished No. 158 on the FedExCup Fall standings and went into the week without a guaranteed spot on the PGA TOUR or Korn Ferry Tour.
His mental motivation to play his best golf this week was stoked when he received an email on Wednesday night informing him that he was not assured of starting in the first segment of the Korn Ferry Tour events (via the 151-200 conditional category). Q-Griffin, 36, had school pressure all week long, and it doesn’t go away with age. It increased the level of satisfaction with the outcome.
After finishing No. 156 on the FedExCup Fall, Buckley, 28, who had no remaining PGA TOUR status and was on the verge of returning entirely to the Korn Ferry Tour, shared Griffin’s uncertainty about making an early-season appearance on the Korn Ferry Tour. After Steve Marino withdrew on Thursday morning, the University of Missouri alumnus, who was not much recruited out of high school, won the 2021 LECOM Suncoast Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour as the final man standing. He has a history of delivering when things go tough. He’s always had something up his sleeves, and it showed in his rugged performance at Final Stage.
In the dangerous circumstances at Sawgrass Country Club on Friday, when no players broke par on the course, Tosti also showed tenacity after finishing the first round with a triple bogey for a 1-over 71 and then finishing with a 4-over 74. He finished tied for fourth place on the number, shooting 65-66 over the weekend.
Knowing what they might have lost and having worked hard to keep from being demoted, the veterans grinned as they got their cards. 3 new players will join them on the TOUR next season: Chandler (who started 2024 without a ranking on any PGA TOUR-sanctioned circuit, qualified on Monday into multiple Korn Ferry Tour events, and eventually earned Special Temporary Membership), Kanaya (a former world No. 1 amateur who has won 7 times on the Japan Golf Tour), and the newcomer Riedel (who finished No. 4 on the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking to advance directly to the Final Stage of Q-School).
The importance of #TOURBound was evident even though Riedel did not yet have those battle wounds. He reminisced about other high-stress circumstances, including the Korn Ferry Tour three months ago, when he just missed finishing in the top 75 to earn a seat in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. However, Sunday’s last putt was unprecedented.
When asked what is the most pressure he has experienced in golf ?
With a smile on his face and his freshly acquired white hat bearing the #TOURBound emblem, he remarked, “That was probably it.” Then he received a FaceTime from his college coach that neither of them will ever forget.
Alistair Docherty, on the other hand, finished the week with a 3-over 73 closing score, one stroke beyond the top-5 cut line. At the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance, Docherty finished in a 3-way T3, when a two-way T2 would have won him a card on the PGA TOUR. This was the second time this autumn that he was within one shot of earning a card.
At the Final Stage, he was tied for the 54-hole lead, but he was unable to recover after making double bogey on the par-5 opening hole, which required 5 strokes to get down from a greenside bunker. He nailed a 7-foot birdie at the par-4 17th hole, but he hit the green long at the par-4 final hole and was unable to chip in, as he needed a birdie-birdie finish to get into the top 5.
He made double bogey on the par-5 opening hole, requiring five strokes to escape a greenside bunker, and was unable to recover, even though he shared the 54-hole lead at the Final Stage. He nailed a 7-foot birdie at the par-4 17th hole, needed a birdie-birdie finish to get into the top five, but was unable to chip in at the par-4 final hole after missing the green long.
Docherty signed his scorecard and was in the parking lot five minutes later. He will have another opportunity to obtain his card through the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour, but he is aware that it will be more difficult than before because only 20 cards will be available for the 2025 season and beyond after the top 30 finishers on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season-long standings were granted 2025 PGA TOUR membership. The conflicting emotions on the last day of Q-School serve as an example of how ruthless things are becoming out here.
