Winter Garden, FL – December 7, 2009 – The final stage of the PGA TOUR’s Qualifying Tournament is complete, with 12 eGolf Professional Tour players earning their 2011 PGA TOUR cards and 43 earning either full or conditional status on the Nationwide Tour next season. Q-School was conducted in Winter Garden, FL at Orange County National Golf Club, on both the Crooked Cat and Panther Lake courses.

     

A total of 162 players ventured to central Florida in hopes of solidifying their 2011 PGA TOUR cards, with the top 27 players and ties earning their spot among the game’s elite (top 25 players expanded to 27 after two current 2011 PGA TOUR members bettered their status number at Q-School). After the top 27 and ties, the next nearest number to 50 earned full exempt status for the 2011 Nationwide Tour. The remaining players in the field have conditional status for next season, and will be ranked in the order in which they finished. All of the players from Q-School will be subject to a re-shuffle after the first 12 tournaments next year.

 

William McGirt, Ben Martin, Cameron Tringale, Scott Stallings, Nate Smith, Michael Thompson, Matt McQuillan, Andres Gonzales, Jim Renner, Justin Hicks, Billy Horschel and Will Strickler are the 12 eGolf Professional Tour players who secured 2011 PGA TOUR cards.

 

McGirt and Martin led the 12 players with matching T2 finishes at the grueling 108-hole pressure cooker that rewards dreams and crushes hope each year.

 

For McGirt, successfully qualifying for the PGA TOUR is simply the culmination of years of hard work – the vast majority of which was spent on the eGolf Professional Tour. McGirt, who played his college golf at tiny Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC, played top-level amateur golf after school before turning professional, and from there went to compete on the eGolf Tour full time. McGirt was a member of the tour from 2004-2009 before earning his Nationwide Tour card for the 2010 season. During his six full seasons on the eGolf Professional Tour, McGirt was a veritable ATM machine – making over 80 percent of his cuts and finishing as high as No. 2 on the money list in 2007. During that magical year, the Fairmont, NC native collected his first tour title at the Cabarrus Classic following rounds of 67-68-71—206.

 

On Monday, McGirt made it quite clear that a return trip to the Nationwide Tour was not in the cards. A birdie-par-bogey-eagle start on the arduous Crooked Cat course would give way to back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 6 and 7, in turn putting McGirt at even-par 36 on the turn. On the closing nine, he would rally with an impressive five consecutive birdies from Nos. 10-14 to vault into contention for medalist honors, let alone his PGA TOUR card. A bogey at the par-4 16^th would drop him behind eventual medalist Billy Mayfair, and closing pars at 17 and 18 would be more than enough to wrap up his status on golf’s grand stage for the 2011 season.

 

“I've dreamed about this my whole life. You stand on the putting green and dream about winning the U.S. Open or the Masters, but to dream about having your PGA TOUR card your whole life and finally do it, it's tough to put into words,” McGirt told the Spartanburg Herald Journal. “It's the goal of every pro golfer to get to the PGA TOUR and now in about five weeks I'll be going to Hawaii to start my season at the Sony Open. I can't even begin to say how happy I am and how proud I am of the way I played this week. Especially the way I hung in there (Monday).”

 

While McGirt grinded countless years on the developmental tours, Ben Martin grinded roughly four months on them. The former Clemson University standout finished runner-up in the 2009 U.S. Amateur, and opted to remain an amateur through the 2010 Masters Tournament and U.S. Open – both of which he was eligible to compete in. Following the U.S. Open, Martin joined the eGolf Professional Tour and won his second event – the Forest Oaks Classic in July. That early success provided Martin with vast amounts of confidence going into Q-School, and the Greenwood, SC native never flinched. Opening rounds of 66-67-68-69 gave Martin the outright lead at final stage, and closing rounds of 71-71 were more than enough to solidify his spot on the PGA TOUR.

 

Former eGolf Tour player and United States Walker Cup team member Cameron Tringale carded only one round in the 70s all week en route to a solo fourth place finish at 16-under 413. Tringale, who competed on the eGolf Tour in 2009, spent all of 2010 on the PGA TOUR, but finished No. 179 on the money list and was forced to return to Q-School in order to regain the status he lost.

 

Scott Stallings (T11) and Nate Smith (T11) rounded out the tour’s representation inside the top 15. Stallings, a 2009 eGolf Tour member, earned his 2010 Nationwide Tour card at Q-School last year after missing out on his PGA TOUR card by a single shot. That jump to golf’s second-best tour certainly paid off, as the former Tennessee Tech golfer notched three top-10 finishes and finished 53^rd on the season-ending money list.

 

Former player Michael Thompson and longtime eGolf Tour member Matt McQuillan each finished in a tie for 16^th at 11-under on the week. For McQuillan, an up-and-down 2010 season likely provided ample training for the roller coaster sensation of Q-School. The former University of Georgia golfer posted only one top-10 finish on the year – a T10 at the season-opening Palmetto Hall Championship. As the 36-hole leader in the year’s first event, McQuillan was making an early statement for what would be a memorable season, even if those memories would be put off until December.

Matt McQuillan

 

While only notching one top-10, McQuillan did collect an impressive eight top-25 finishes in 15 starts on the 2010 eGolf Professional Tour. His penchant for going low (three rounds of 65 or better on the year) certainly gave notice to his vast talent, which was on display at final stage. After opening with rounds of 70-67 at final stage, McQuillan somewhat slipped up with back-to-back rounds of 72 to fall into a tie for 40^th – on the outside looking in. On Sunday, McQuillan posted a seven-birdie round of 66 to vault into a tie for 16^th with just one round to play. During Monday’s final round, the steely-eye nature that McQuillan projects was on full display, with a workmanlike round of 1-under 71 highlighted by two birdies, one bogey and 15 pars.

 

Andres Gonzales, Jim Renner and Justin Hicks each posted T22 finishes to secure their status on the PGA TOUR next year. For Hicks, Q-School was more of a chance to improve on his TOUR number than a chance to earn a TOUR card. The two-time eGolf Tour winner finished No. 25 on the 2010 Nationwide Tour money list, but opted to put himself through the horrors of final stage in hopes of bettering his number. Amazingly, Hicks posted five of his six rounds at final stage in the 70s, but his fourth-round 65 on Crooked Cat pushed him inside the number.

 

Without doubt, the story of the day involved former University of Florida teammates and eGolf Tour players Will Strickler and Billy Horschel.

 

Strickler entered the final round in a tie for fourth and needing to only avoid disaster in order to secure his TOUR card. Unfortunately, disaster struck early and often. Bogeys on three of his first seven holes led to an outward nine of 2-over 38 on Crooked Cat, and Strickler was immediately the subject of Golf Channel’s final-round coverage.

Billy Horschel

 

Additional bogeys at 12 and 13 were slightly offset by a birdie at the par-5 14^th, and Strickler was all of a sudden on the number 10-under for the event. With every shot being scrutinized, he would record pars at 15, 16 and 17 to set up a dramatic finish at the par-4 18^th.

 

With 27 spots available due to the two Nationwide Tour graduates bettering their status, Strickler actually held Horschel’s fate in the palm of his hand.

 

In the clubhouse at 9-under 420, Horschel was outside the number as Strickler stood on the tee of the 18^th. A par for Strickler would put him in and Horschel out, while a mere bogey would keep Strickler in and put his good friend Horschel in as well. The best part of the whole scenario was that Strickler was unaware of his standing – only his caddie knew that he needed a bogey to get in.

 

A poor tee shot would lead to a lackluster second shot, and all of a sudden Strickler was scrambling for his livelihood. When his pitch shot wound up 15 feet behind the hole, Horschel was seen approaching the greenside area to get a better look at his fate.

 

Horschel graduated from the University of Florida in 2009 as one of the most decorated college players of the last decade. While in Gainesville, Horschel was named a three-time, first-team All-American; a two-time SEC Player of the Year; a four-time, first-team All-SEC selection, as well as being a selected member of the Walker Cup, Palmer Cup and United States World Amateur teams.

 

After turning professional in June of 2009, Horschel claimed his first pro title at the eGolf Tour’s Columbia Championship with a convincing three-shot victory. With three top-10 efforts under his belt, Horschel earned $68,566 on the eGolf Tour that season and finished No. 12 on the season-ending money list.

 

The former Gator star would earn his 2010 PGA TOUR card at Q-School that fall, but would suffer a tendon injury in February that would severely curtail his season. With a major medical extension for 2011 in his back pocket, Horschel knew his only hope of getting a multitude of starts would be to return to Q-School and try and earn full status all over again.

 

And yet here he was, on the 18^th green, following 108 holes of golf, watching his former teammate try and earn a PGA TOUR card himself. When Strickler’s putt slid past the hole, Horschel broke out into the kind of wry smile that is hard to contain on camera. A bogey for Strickler but both men on TOUR next season, and Horschel was the first one to greet him as he walked off the green.

 

The 12 eGolf Tour players who earned their PGA TOUR cards represent a record number for the tour, as more and more players head to the Southeast to compete on the country’s de facto No. 3 tour. While the vast focus of Q-School is on the PGA TOUR, there are still a number of Nationwide Tour cards to be awarded, and the eGolf Tour more than held it’s own in that category as well.

           

A total of 13 past and present eGolf Professional Tour players earned full status on the 2011 Nationwide Tour, meaning they finished within the next number closest to 50 after the 29 PGA TOUR qualifiers – which this year was all players finishing between T30 and T74.

 

Leading the way was three-time eGolf Tour champion Tommy Biershenk of Boiling Springs, SC. Biershenk, who won the tour’s Bolle Classic in June of this year, posted a final-round 70 to finish T30, narrowly missing his PGA TOUR card by a single shot. He returns to the Nationwide Tour, where he played full time from 2000-2003, finishing as high as 29^th on the money list (in 2000). Biershenk has 118 career Nationwide Tour starts, including four in 2010. He was four-for-four in Nationwide Tour cuts made this year, with his best finish being a T20 at the Chattanooga Classic.

 

Tommy Biershenk

One of the best non-PGA TOUR stories of the day was that of 2010 eGolf Tour member James Sacheck. The Fort Worth, TX native entered the final round in a tie for 117^th, and did little to improve that number at 1-over through his first 12 holes. At that point, the former TCU “All America” selection put on the afterburners. Birdies at 13, 15, 16 and 17 moved Sacheck to a sudden 3-under on his round and 1-under for 107 of the 108 holes, just one shot behind the magic Nationwide Tour number. With destiny on his side, Sacheck mustered one final birdie at the par-5 18^th on the Panther Lake course to finish at 2-under 427 to secure full status for the 2011 Nationwide Tour.

 

Other notable eGolf Tour players to secure full Nationwide Tour status include two-time PGA TOUR winner Will MacKenzie, 2010 PGA TOUR member James Nitties and 2005 eGolf Tour Southern Open winner Elliot Gealy.

 

Thirty eGolf Tour players earned conditional status on the Nationwide Tour next year. Included in those 30 are past champions Scott Brown, David Lutterus, Scott Weatherly, Michael Sims, Matt Davidson, Andy Bare, Ted Brown, Jason Kokrak, Roberto Castro, David Robinson and Chris Baker. In addition to being past champions, David Robinson and Scott Brown are also former leading money winners – 2008 and 2009, respectively.

 

The vast majority of eGolf Tour players were well prepared for final stage and the unique two-course setup that is involved each December. Since the start of the 2009 season, the eGolf Professional Tour has conducted 78 percent of it’s events in similar fashion, in turn utilizing two golf courses to host the tournament. This setup allows players to prepare for multiple venues each week – a balance of time management and preparation that is vital when Q-School rolls around each year. In addition, this format also prepares players for the rigors of early-season PGA TOUR play, where three of the first five full-field events are conducted on multiple golf courses. In 2011, the eGolf Professional Tour will continue the highly-successful two-course format, with 13 of the 18 tournaments hosted on multiple courses.

 

 

Orange County National Golf Club (Crooked Cat and Panther Lake)

Winter Garden, FL

 

 

FULL PGA TOUR STATUS

T2	William McGirt	69-72-68-66-69-68—412
T2	Ben Martin	66-68-67-69-71-71—412
4	Cameron Tringale	69-67-69-69-71-68—413
T11	Scott Stallings	71-71-67-65-72-71—417
T11	Nate Smith	73-69-66-67-70-72—417
T16	Michael Thompson	73-72-69-65-69-70—418
T16	Matt McQuillan	70-67-72-72-66-71—418
T22	Andres Gonzales	70-71-68-71-71-68—419
T22	Jim Renner	72-68-73-69-67-70—419
T22	Justin Hicks	72-71-70-65-70-71—419
T27	Billy Horschel	70-72-66-68-70-74—420
T27	Will Strickler	72-69-67-68-66-76—420

 

FULL NATIONWIDE TOUR STATUS

T30	Tommy Biershenk	71-70-71-68-71-70—421
T41	Will MacKenzie	72-73-70-66-71-71—423
T41	Stephen Gangluff	70-77-67-68-70-71—423
T50	Josh Geary	69-67-72-70-72-74—424
T50	James Nitties	72-75-69-68-69-71—424
T59	Elliot Gealy	69-74-75-72-65-70—425
T64	Shawn Jasper	70-72-72-69-67-76—426
T64	Martin Flores	76-73-71-70-67-69—426
T64	Jason Schultz	73-74-68-71-70-70—426
T74	James Sacheck	75-71-73-71-70-67—427
T74	Todd Bailey	71-69-72-70-72-73—427
T74	Travis Hampshire	74-72-74-71-65-71—427
T74	Stephen Dartnall	70-74-70-69-73-71—427

 

CONDITIONAL NATIONWIDE TOUR STATUS

T85	Scott Brown	73-73-71-69-71-71—428
T85	David Lutterus	74-72-69-68-72-73—428
T85	Dawie Van der Walt	71-75-69-70-71-72—428
T85	Scott Weatherly	67-72-69-76-73-71—428
T85	Clayton Rask	73-72-71-66-77-69—428
T93	Michael Sims	75-74-69-70-73-68—429
T93	Matt Davidson	73-70-70-70-75-71—429
T100	Zach Sucher	73-73-71-70-72-71—430
T100	Garth Mulroy	71-74-74-68-68-75—430
T109	Brent Delahoussaye	72-70-75-71-71-72—431
T109	Andy Bare	68-77-72-72-70-72—431
T109	Edward Loar	72-76-70-73-67-73—431
T114	Aaron Goldberg	75-71-72-72-70-73—433
T114	Dan Woltman	73-73-69-72-72-74—433
T114	Marc Turnesa	73-73-73-69-69-76—433
T114	Ty Tryon	73-70-71-73-69-77—433
T118	Travis Bertoni	75-72-70-74-67-76—434
T118	John Mallinger	74-72-71-72-69-76—434
T127	Billy Hurley	73-72-73-70-71-76—435
T127	Ted Brown	71-78-70-72-70-74—435
T127	Jason Kokrak	79-72-70-71-70-73—435
T132	Chris Epperson	74-76-67-69-74-76—436
T132	Roberto Castro	71-68-76-78-73-70—436
T137	Terry Pilkadaris	74-74-73-72-72-72—437
T139	Will Claxton	74-72-70-71-74-77—438
T139	Martin Ureta	77-73-72-71-74-71—438
T143	David Robinson	73-72-71-72-73-78—439
T143	Chris Baker	75-75-74-70-72-73—439
T146	Tyler Leon	74-74-73-72-71-77—441
T148	Eric Onesi	77-72-77-73-72-72—443