PGA Final Qualifying Stage

It may not be as star-studded as a Major but some notables like David Duval, Rickie Fowler, Jason Gore and Arjun Atwal will be trying to collect their card for the 2010 Season.

I'll be goin there to try and catch a glimpse of the former World No. 1. Also to give some support to the young talent Rickie.

Its a gruelling 108 hole tournament that may guarantee riches for the hopefuls.

Will be going down to watch it on Thurs. Good thing is that admission is free and its a 10min drive from where I stay. Will be going whenever my schedule allows.

http://pgatq.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/pgatq9/event/pgatq928/index.htm

wow !!

Do they allow photo-taking ?

if possible, please share with us some of the excitment there with photos..

looking forward..

snowman

I will think they will be quite lax but I wun wanna cost anyone there who are fighting for a chance to play in the big league becos of a click.

My friend is headin there tmr. Will ask him about the crowd size (if there's any) and the rules of the tournament.

Will keep you guys updated.

Rex, can try to capture frame by frame shots and post them?

Damn jealous!!

Hey DGman

I din know Chris Rogers is taking part in this? Is it the same person?

http://www.pgatour.com/qschool/leaderboard/

165th.

Not a good score. The winds today were gusty though so that might have contributed to the scoring.

Anywayz, I will be goin tmr so hope to clarify. Its 2 different courses in use so there's alot of ground to cover.

different roger...our friend is rodgers.....

Thanks.

Okay, just follow Duval and Fowler then.

Its deserted.

2nd day of the Q school that is.

No ropes, nothing. Spectators walk along side the players. Very rare experience as we get to chat and wish them luck as we walk side by side.

I din bring out the camera with me initially as I din want my clicks to disturb anyone's 'ricebowl'. I succumbed to foto-taking with the iphone as it was silent.

We followed Duval, Joe Ogilvie and Tim 'Lumpy' Heron's group initially who probably commanded the 'most number' of spectators (ard 25-30). Duval started off the back nine with a horrendous 40 but came back strong to shoot 1 over 73. Very cool, calm guy. Doesn't talk much but acknowledges ur applause and encouragement. Lumpy was sponsored by M&Ms on his shirt. How appropriate. He and Joe Ogilvie were pretty good with the GIRs but the putting was not entirely super. Still decent though.

Standing with them. No jostling of crowds, people holding 'Quiet Please' signs or watever. Just pure golf-spectating. Very rare these days.


Joe Ogilvie out of a fairway bunker from 178yds. He put it to pin high 15ft to the right but missed the putt. I was looking ard for a sprinkler head for the yardage as I forgot to bring my rangefinder. Thats how spectators follow them.


Went over to the other course to look for Rickie Fowler. He was on the 15th and surprisingly, no spectators following:




His clubs in full view for everyone. Pity the lousy iphone couldn't pick up the detail of the stampings on his vokeys.


Getting ready for the putt on the 15th. He lipped out from 10ft for a tap in par



He fought back well today. 4 under 68 and 2 under for the tournament. Could have been 1 stroke better but he lipped out from 1 ft doing a 1 handed tap in but missed. If he misses to get his tour card by 1 stroke, that stroke will haunt him.

A typical PGA Tour Scoreboard. It was the same at the 2008 US Open:


Big story of the Q school is of course...Tiger's Transgressions. Who better to ask than Jesper himself. He din mince his words though. Something about losing respect for the guy and feeling sorry for Elin. I feel for him, nobody bothered asking him how he played.



Jesper Clubs up close. Nice nameless blades which I couldn't make out.



Overall, very quiet. I guess its cos its a weekday and oni the 2nd day of the tournament. The Finale on Monday could be very different.

I love it when we walked past groups of players and recognise them from their past glories. Saying good luck to Shaun Micheel who gave us a smile and tried to hao lian to us that he hit a good 2nd shot in. Going 'Wazzup!' to Jason Gore who was munching on a sandwich and making small talk w us during his walk after his tee shot along the fairway. It was cool. These guys r good and they are the ones who are trying to live out their dreams of playing on the big tour. Very real and very friendly.

Oh, Golf Channel's Inga Hammond....

Very 'Man' in person with her actions and the way she speaks

Hey Rex,

Thx for FR. Cool. The putting green looks very challenging. What's the index like?

Its Nicklaus Designed.

The Lakes course is very Parkland. Wide, flat fairways with lotsa water esp near the greens. Greens have gentle undulation.

The Links course looks tougher visually although its not so on the scorecard. Less trees, Rolling, undulating terrain. Very sloppy greens. However, the par 5s look slightly easier. Fowler's 68 is pretty impressive given the fact the winds were still gusting at 30mph.

Both are >7300yds from the tips.

http://www.bearlakes.org/club/scripts/golf/view_course_scorecard.asp?GRP=6461&NS=PG&CID=304

Awesome shots, Rex

1 thing I forgot to mention.

With Rickie's length, I was surprised he carried 2 hybrids and 3 wedges. His longest iron starts from 5i and he was using the new 710mbs.

Shows us that us mortals shd consider replacing those long irons.

Isit the top 25 get the full card? NB....think my namesake finish liao

Yup top 25 get PGA card.

Next 50 get Full Nationwide status

All the rest get conditional Nationwide status.

Meaning whoever has qual for the final stage here will still get to play at least on the Nationwide.

No worries la. There are still 4 days to go. Anything can happen.

Wow... those shots are awesome. And the green is a killer!

Btw, how come you never join? I thought you will join them go try get a tour card? Hahahaha...

Rocky

Club Championships at private clubs here in FL are won with double digit under par scores.

U can get away with even par and win in Sg. Not here.

These guys are good. I respect their game and humbly continue to learn from them watching them plot their way ard the course.

Dem jealous!!

Pls continue with these wonderful FRs. Thanks.

S70B wrote:

1 thing I forgot to mention.

With Rickie's length, I was surprised he carried 2 hybrids and 3 wedges. His longest iron starts from 5i and he was using the new 710mbs.

Shows us that us mortals shd consider replacing those long irons.

Fully agree with your comment. I've succumbed to that painful reality that I am no golfing god but a mere mortal

Thanks for ur comments botak.

Duval had a disastrous day today before play was halted. It has been a wet, windy and rain-delayed 2 days of comp so far. Unfortunately, I will not be going to watch the culmination of those who succeed in this pressure cooker of a tournament.

Rickie Fowler looks set to make it with 2 1/2 days of play left. I will be following his scores online and hope he will continue to play well and have a successful PGA Tour career next yr on.

Thanks for the update, Rex. Please let us know how things work out. I'm keen to see DD back on Tour. It's a real pity if he loses his card.

S70B wrote:

Thanks for ur comments botak.

I should be thanking you for allowing us to experience it through your eyes. Keep it up, mate. Lots of us here appreciate your postings about the pro club fitting, PGA Q schools, swing changes, etc etc.