By Joel Beall
The nightmares suffered at Q-School are too frightful for even the most sadistic of “American Horror Story” episodes. While some players are able to escape from such hell—including Cody Blick, who bounced back from having his clubs stolen to shoot a final-round 63—for others, they are victims of inexorable fates.

Case in point: the plight of Patrick Sullivan.

Sullivan, a 35-year-old journeyman who missed 20 of 23 cuts on the Web.com Tour last season, looked to be in fine standing to retain Web status for 2019, in 23rd place heading into the final round of Q-School at Whirlwind G.C. in Chandler, Ariz. Unfortunately for Sullivan, on a day when the field went low, he hovered around par for 13 holes, and then had the bad fortune of finding the water on the 14th hole.

From the green:

We’ve heard all the QSchool horror stories over the years. I was wondering if anyone had ever putted it into the water on the back nine to miss by one? If not…..dibs. ?‍

— Patrick Sullivan (@sullivangolf) December 9, 2018

Sullivan ultimately made a double, and followed with a bogey on the 15th. And while he did mount a commendable charge, answering with a birdie on the 16th and eagle on the 17th, Sullivan missed a four-footer on the final hole:

The fine line can be cruel.

Patrick Sullivan (@sullivangolf) went birdie-eagle on holes 16 and 17 Sunday to move within a shot of the current projected top-40.

This was his birdie try at the last. pic.twitter.com/jSlnrf55ni

— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) December 9, 2018

As Sullivan’s Tweet alluded to, he finished with a final-round 70, 17 under for the tournament…and one shot out of the top 40, which would have bestowed guaranteed starts on the Web.com circuit.

It’s not a total lost cause for Sullivan; he does have conditional status for next season. But there will be a lot of Monday qualifiers in his future. Let’s hope it’s a future that doesn’t serve as another Q-School cautionary tale.

The post Pro putts ball into water at Q-School, misses four-footer on the 18th hole to lose status by one shot appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.