Australasians miss out at USPGA Tour School
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2005 USPGA Tour Q-School - Final Stage | Wrap | 06 Dec 2005
There were fifteen Australasians who started the final qualifying stage of USPGA Tour School, but by the time the sixth and final round was played this morning, none had finished inside the required top thirty and ties to either gain or regain PGA Tour access. As is often the case there were some hard luck stories amongst them.
Queenslander Scott Hend, who carried the tag of the longest hitter on the PGA Tour this year, discovered further that there is much more to the game than brawn when he fell apart over the closing round to miss by just two. Hend was in sixth place starting the day but he dropped four shots in the first three holes and despite a mid-round recovery he played the back nine in 41 to fall out of the top thirty. He eventually finished 42nd.
New Zealander Grant Waite is another who suffered the agony of a late collapse. When he turned in two under 32 in today’s final round, Waite was at fourteen under and apparently cruising towards regaining full USPGA Tour status for the first time since 2001. A back nine of 40 however saw him slip one shot outside the mark and he will now be back playing the Nationwide Tour in 2006.
Brendan Jones needed a birdie at the par five last to move to eleven under and safety. With his length from the tee it appeared likely he would do so but he took bogey and his quest to regain his full status was gone. He does have partial USPGA Tour exemption in 2006 after finishing 144th on the money list in 2005, but he will not have the luxury of being as selective of his starts as he otherwise would. He has status on the Japan Golf Tour and is now likely to play events there in 2006 in addition to the occasional start on the PGA Tour.
Andrew Buckle needed a birdie at one of his last two holes but he took bogey at the 17th hole to miss by two. He has full status on the Asian Tour and now full status on the Nationwide Tour so after a couple of seasons prior to 2005 without status anywhere, he at least has playing options in 2006.
Bradley Hughes, who was so far out of it after a poor start to the week, eventually worked his way back with rounds of 70, 68 and 69 to finish in 48th place and he will again have Nationwide Tour status in 2006. Hughes last played with full status on the PGA Tour in 2000 and he will have yet another year on the Nationwide Tour in 2006.
When New Zealand’s Michael Long began with an eagle and a birdie today he had all of a sudden given himself a chance and was only just outside the likely cut line but he would struggle in the middle of his round to slip back. He eventually finished 54th.
Nick Flanagan and Gavin Coles were 79th, Steve Collins 91st, Steve Allan 102nd, Steve Alker 108th, Tim Wilkinson 127th, Melbourne’s Andrew Getson 148th, Euan Walters 155th and Kim Felton withdrew after a fifth round of 66 for reasons unknown at this stage.
Waite, Jones, Buckle, Hend and Long will have full status on the Nationwide Tour in 2006 while the others have non-exempt status. Jones also has non-exempt status on the PGA Tour.
