By Joel Beall
Earning a PGA Tour card is a golfer’s dream come true. Unfortunately, that dream is often short-lived.

Since Q school’s overhaul in 2012, the PGA Tour has welcomed 50 new members every season from the Korn Ferry Tour: the top 25 point earners from the regular season and the top 25 from the circuit’s playoff series. (Until this year, it was money, not points, that determined the 50.) That gauntlet is not quite as cannibalistic as the old Q-school framework; if the past was the equivalent of climbing Kilimanjaro solo, the present is like scaling Everest with a team of sherpas with a luxury tent. Nevertheless, it’s still a challenging feat.

But coming down the mountain is an endeavour in itself. And as you will see, one that leads to its share of stumbles.

The 2019 Korn Ferry graduates are the seventh class under the tour’s “new” promotion system. If the past six classes are any indication, many will be back on the developmental tour come fall.

We ran the numbers for the 300 players who have earned their PGA Tour cards through the then-Web.com Tour regular season and its Finals. Here are the odds facing the tour’s 50 newest members, along with several other facts and figures.

For starters, you’re more likely to lose your card than keep it

As a refresher, the top 125 players in the FedEx Cup point standings at the end of the regular season don’t just make the playoffs, they keep their cards for next season. Out of those 300 players, only 42 per cent reached the tour’s postseason, and more important, avoided demotion. That means, on average, 21 players from the 50 get full status. (To clarify, the 50 Korn Ferry graduates don’t technically enjoy full status, as they are subject to a priority rank, which comes in play when trying to enter a tournament. Only one player—this year, Scottie Scheffler—is exempt for finishing atop the full-season and the Finals points list.)

This past season, 19 players were able to make the playoffs, although 20 kept their cards thanks to Martin Trainer’s win at the Puerto Rico Open. Of this 19, only two—Lucas Glover and Sungjae Im—reached East Lake, which comes with its own rewards. Speaking of which …

Reaching the Tour Championship is a difficult ask … but it can be done

Advancing to the season finale earns you an invitation to the Masters and U.S. Open, along with a guaranteed minimum $400,000 bonus … which is more than all but two players made for the entirety of the 2019 Korn Ferry season.

The odds of accomplishing this, however, aren’t great. Just nine players out of the 300—3 per cent—have made it to Atlanta. Though clearly, it can be done. The highest finisher for a first-year graduate is Xander Schauffele, who won the 2017 Tour Championship to finish third in the FedEx Cup standings.

Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

There are more wins among Korn Ferry grads than you think

On average, the number of PGA Tour events won in a given year by c grads from the previous season is nearly six (5.83, to be exact). This number is slightly inflated thanks to the class of 2016, which submitted 10 trophies from nine players (Schauffele as the two-time winner). Subtract that group the total, however, and the average remains a respectable five wins per year. Which matches the production of the 2018 class, with Trainer, Max Homa, Cameron Champ, Dylan Frittelli and Adam Long winning this past season.

This is a bigger deal than you think given that a PGA Tour win comes with a two-year exemption, regardless of your finish on the FedEx Cup points list.

It is especially rough for true rookies

The term “graduates” might be a tad misleading. A majority of players—60 per cent—who are moving on to the PGA Tour from the Korn Ferry Tour actually have had PGA Tour cards before. According to the numbers, these vets have a better shot at hanging on to their cards in their second (or third) go-around than during their first.

Here are the numbers to back that up: The tour welcomes, on average, 20 true rookies each season. However, an average of seven stays for a sophomore season. Just six made it to the FedEx Cup Playoffs this year, with seven (Trainer) keeping their card.

Of course, those who fail to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs do get a chance at the Korn Ferry Finals. How does that go?

A second, but slim, chance awaits

Out of the 150 players that grabbed their cards through the Korn Ferry Finals, 56 per cent of them were PGA Tour players who finished outside the FedEx Cup 125. That 56 per cent is all tour players, not just recent Korn Ferry graduates. For recent grads, the number is shockingly low: on average, two per year.

The 2019 Korn Ferry graduates begin their tour pushes this week at The Greenbrier. For many of them, it’s the fruition of a life-long dream. Here’s hoping that dream continues a little longer.

The post Most of the 50 new PGA Tour players this season won’t keep their cards. Our statistical analysis appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
Indiana’s Victoria National Golf Club, host of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, has the reputation of being a brute. Earlier in the week, a tweet from Cameron Percy made the social media rounds as the tour pro noted how the participants in his pro-am group had lost 27 balls … in nine holes. Another tweet showed a wooden box with a glass front filled with golf balls on the 18th tee with the word “EMERGENCY” written on it. In 2018, seven of Victoria National’s 18 holes were ranked among the 30 toughest on tour for the season, including the first, second and third hardest.

This was the stage for Monday’s final round of the final event of the three-tournament Korn Ferry Tour Finals Series, and the Golf Channel announcers had viewers bracing for the corresponding carnage that would determine who would get the 25 PGA Tour cards on the line.

If that’s what you spent your Labor Day looking for, however, you were probably disappointed. One by one, the players on the top-25 bubble starting the final 18 holes mostly held up to the pressure of knowing a good day meant they’d be playing for millions in 2020 and a bad day meant playing for, well, not millions.

It started when David Hearn, a 40-year-old PGA Tour veteran, made a par putt on the par-4 18th hole to finish tied for fourth in the event. That moved him up in the Playoff Points standings from 42nd at the start of the week to 13th.

Tyler Duncan was in a similar spot, finishing up with a closing 66 to get to T-4, and move from 41st to 12th in points.

Hank Lebioda made double bogey on the 14th hole, but four pars over the last four holes allowed him to stay at 19th on the points list and return to the PGA Tour.

Chris Baker, an Indiana native with more than a dozen friends and family in the gallery, had just made double bogey on the 17th hole, then hit his drive on 18 into a fairway bunker. But his approach found the green 30 feet from the hole, and his two-putt par meant earning PGA Tour membership for the first time.

Richy Werenski made birdies on the 15th and 16th to finish tied for seventh for the tournament and move from T-53 to T-24 in points.

D.J. Trahan, a 38-year-old who won twice on the PGA Tour but hadn’t had a full card in eight years, made bogeys on the 12th and 14th holes, only to birdie the 15th and 18th to shoot 70. He, too, was T-7 for the tournament but moved from T-53 to T-24 in points.

All told, just one player who started the day inside the projected number fell out of the top 25 (Jose de Jesus Rodriguez). Meanwhile, nine golfer who started the tournament outside the top 25 worked their way inside and earned PGA Tour cards, including tournament winner Tom Lewis.

Happily, then, instead of showing a video of utter despair from a player who missed a putt on the last hole to lose his card, let’s show one of sheer joy for coming through in the clutch to earn a card. The winner here is from Doug Ghim.

The 23-year-old, a former U.S. Amateur runner-up from outside of Chicago, played on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019 after graduating from the University of Texas in 2018. As he got to the 18th hole on Monday, Ghim had just bogeyed the 17th hole, meaning he had to make par on the last to earn his PGA Tour card. Ghim hit his tee shot in the fairway, but pulled his approach into the rough left of the green. His chip stopped 10 feet from the hole, leaving him with the biggest par putt of his young pro career.

“I have never felt nervous like that before and I’ve been in a lot of nervous situations,” Ghim said. “I [said] yesterday that the only way I’d be devastated is if I had a putt to make it [on the PGA Tour] and I didn’t make it. And that thought occurred when I got there.”

And yet Ghim didn’t flinch.

For a @PGATour card…. pic.twitter.com/x7wdT33Dqu

— GOLFTV (@GOLFTV) September 2, 2019

“To have it all come down to one putt is pretty surreal,” Ghim said. “It’s one of those things where if you make the putt, it does wonders for you and if you miss it, it could go the opposite way. Now that I’ve finally made the putt it feels like I have the opportunity to make some noise on the big tour and I’m just really, really excited.”

Join the club.

The post Watching the sheer joy of a young tour pro holing a putt to win his PGA Tour card doesn’t get old appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

A year ago the former U.S. Amateur champion rolled into Dubai to entrust his game to The Els Club, Dubai-based Northern Irishman Justin Parsons on the recommendation of Claude Harmon III.

The rest, thanks to a not insignificant swing change, is now glorious history after Uihlein fired a closing 65 to capture the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship by a shot from local favourite Ryan Armour at Ohio State University Golf Club.

ENTER THE GOLF DIGEST MIDDLE EAST AMATEUR SERIES TODAY!

Justin Parsons works with Peter Uihlein.

The win earns Uihlein exempt status on the PGA Tour for the 2017-18 season and is an understandably proud moment for Parsons, the Director of Instruction at the Butch Harmon School of Golf at The Els.

“It’s almost exactly a year since Peter made his first trip across to Dubai after we got started and it’s been an amazing ride to see him not only improve as a player and improve a lot of the areas of his game, but also take ownership of his dream to become a PGA Tour player,” said Parsons.

RELATED CONTENT: Peter Uihlein’s victory in Web.com Tour Finals opener gives him PGA Tour exemption … and options

Justin Parsons with Peter Uihlein at the 2017 U.S. PGA Championship

“So we’re absolutely thrilled for him this morning. I had a bit of a late night watching it and I’m over the moon for him and all the things it’s going to mean for him coming into the 2018 season.”

The feeling is obviously mutual as this tweet from Uihlein shows:

Thanks to my coach @JParsonsGolf caddy Ben and @team_FIP @liammcdougall84 @H_Bomb009 @BradFaxon for all their hard work and belief in me ??

— Peter Uihlein (@PeterUihlein) September 3, 2017

Uihlein, who turned 28 last Tuesday, has played in Europe since he turned professional in 2012 and looks likely to juggle his schedule between the European and PGA Tours next year even after his big Ohio win.

Thanks for all the messages! Thrilled to have gotten it done ?? looking forward to being a member of the PGA and European tour next year!!

— Peter Uihlein (@PeterUihlein) September 3, 2017

He got into the Web.com Tour Finals as a non-member courtesy of earning enough FedEx Cup points to qualify with three top-25 finishes in seven PGA Tour starts this season. His $180,000 winners’ cheque means he’s now a lock for one of the Web.com Tour’s 25 PGA Tour cards for next season.

More success in the Web.com Tour’s remaining finals events would improve his status although his end-of-season schedule remains uncertain beyond the European Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews and the Italian Open and the co-sanctioned WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China later in October.

Most importantly thanks to my family and my girl @ChelseaGatestv for the support and belief. Couldn't have done it without them pic.twitter.com/BcY5ahxnT0

— Peter Uihlein (@PeterUihlein) September 3, 2017

Parsons deserves a great deal of credit for what shapes as a career defining win in Ohio for the son of Wally Uihlein, longtime CEO of Acushnet, the parent company of Titleist.

After recovering from surgery for a ruptured ligament in his left wrist in May 2016, Parsons went to work on creating a power fade swing to replace the draw Uihlein had gone to most of his career.

RELATED CONTENT: My week working with Peter Uihlein at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth

Uihlein described his Ohio triumph as a “nice validation” of Parsons work.

“This year in particular, with the way I’ve tried to change my game, I’ve become a lot more consistent,” Uihlein said. “It’s a good feeling to know that I can play golf just hitting it in one direction and eliminate one side of the golf course, which is something I’ve been just absolutely hammering. I really like where my game is headed.”

So pleased for @peteruihlein on securing his @pgatour card with a victory @webdotcomtour in Ohio. 65 final round- baller!! @benhayes78 @chelseagatestv @team_fip #teamtitleist #titleist

A post shared by Justin Parsons (@jparsonsgolf) on Sep 3, 2017 at 2:03pm PDT

The post Uihlein credits Dubai coach for career-changing Web.com Tour victory appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
The final round of the final regular-season event on the Web.com Tour had all angst and agita you’d expect when PGA Tour cards are on the line, even if the final results didn’t necessarily reflect it. As it turned out, the top 25 on the Web.com money list entering the WinCo Foods Portland Open were the same 25 coming out on Sunday, only the order changing.

That said, somebody might want to check on Keith Mitchell come Monday morning. With back-to-back birdies on Nos. 14 and 15, he needed another coming in to move from 36th on the money list inside the top 25. After burning the left edge with a six-foot birdie try on the 16th hole, then leaving a 20-foot birdie attempt on the 17th hole one revolution short, the 25-year-old former Georgia All-American, who shot a Saturday 62 to get into Sunday’s final twosome, still had a chance on the par-5 18th at Pumpkin Ridge G.C.’s Witch Hollow course to bump out Roberto Diaz for the final PGA Tour card.

Mitchell, who led the tour in eagles this season, confidently blasted a driver 330-plus yards, but tugged his second shot left, missing the green on the short side as his ball game to rest in a shortly mowed area. Mitchell’s third shot surprisingly raced 20 feet by the hole and, despite the benefit of seeing playing partner (and eventual winner) Brice Garnett roll in an almost identical putt, Mitchell hit his too hard and too far right. He’d have to settle for a par, a closing 70, T-6 finish and, ultimately, the No. 26 on the money list.

Adding insult to insanity, Mitchell said afterward that he had been told on the 18th tee he needed to eagle the last hole rather than birdie to earn his card. It might explain the chip shot and his poor birdie putt.

“I only learned in the trailer what I really needed,” he said.

Mitchell, who started the week No. 36 on the money list, described the final few holes as “the most stressful I’ve ever been. … There were a couple shots out there I was almost numb. “It’s really, really, really disappointing.”

When you see this birdie miss on the 17th, you’ll understand why.

So, so close.@K_M_Mitchell can secure a @PGATOUR card with a closing birdie at the last.

Otherwise, @BobbyDiazz will earn the 25th card. pic.twitter.com/7ZG753qeDI

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) August 28, 2017

The fate of a pair other players on the “bubble” weren’t as dramatically painful, but still remained disappointing.

• Rob Oppenheim, No. 26 on the money list to start the week, closed with a 76 to finish T-65 in the tournament, falling back to No. 27.

RELATED: Somehow, Rob Oppenheim is on the bubble for a PGA Tour card, again

• After a 65-70 start, No. 27 Martin Piller, who skipped the second-to-last Web.com Tour event to watch his wife, Gerina, compete at the Solheim Cup, shot 74-75 on the weekend to finish T-60 and drop to No. 28.

And then there was the story of David Skinns, an Englishman who started the week 115th on the money list. His target wasn’t the top 25 so much as the top 75, which would secure him full Web.com Tour status in 2018 and a spot in the Web.com Tour Finals Series

Skinns started the week 115th on the money list, and started the day projected at 107th, but a closing 64 moved him into T-2 for the tournament and bumped him to 58th on the money list, securing his Web.com Tour status for 2018 and giving him a spot in the Web.com Tour Finals. He was one of two players to move inside the top 75, along with Ben Kohles. Brady Schnell fell from (75th to 77th) and Samuel Del Val (74th to 76th).

WEB.COM TOUR MONEY LIST (Top 25 earn PGA Tour cards for 2017-’18)
Brice Garnett, $368,761
Sam Ryder, $314,306
Abraham Ancer, $295,528
Andrew Landry, $292,939
Stephan Jaeger, $278,364
Talor Gooch, $271,316
Kyle Thompson, $266,312
Andrew Putnam, $266,296
Chesson Hadley, $264,350
Ben Silverman, $256,906
Nate Lashley, $252,160
Adam Schenk, $236,792
Andrew Yun, $222,856
Ted Potter, Jr., $207,368
Austin Cook, $206,515
Zecheng Dou, $203,630
Conrad Shindler, $203,483
Aaron Wise, $199,922
Matt Atkins, $192,029
Xinjun Zhang, $186,306
Brandon Harkins, $172,162
Lanto Griffin, $169,689
Beau Hossler, $164,326
Ethan Tracy, $161,211
Roberto Díaz, $157,823

The post Web.com Tour pro thinks he needs eagle for a PGA Tour card but only needs birdie, makes par and feels “almost numb” appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.