Kingston, Ont. native joins Chris Baryla in securing tour card on final day of Q-School
Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:09:00
by Golf Canada
Matt McQuillan shot a 1-under 71 to finish in a tie for 16th to earn his 2011 PGA Tour card on the final day of q-school.
The Kingston, Ont., native, who spent 2010 playing on the eGolf Professional Tour and the Canadian Tour, had just one bogey to go with two birdies on the Crooked Cat course at the Orange County National Golf Center in Orlando.
McQuillan will become the sixth Canadian on the PGA Tour next year, joining Mike Weir, Stephen Ames, Graham DeLaet, David Hearn and Chris Baryla, who also secured full time playing privileges on Monday.
Baryla once again took advantage of the Crooked Cat course to fire a 6-under 66, carding seven birdies - including a stretch of five in a row on his back nine - to put himself well inside the top 25 needed to secure their tour card for 2011.
Baryla previously shot a course record 61 on day two of q-School on the Crooked Cat course.
Baryla was set to play on the PGA Tour under a major medical exemption after undergoing hip surgery earlier this year. Under those terms, he would have needed to make around $700,000 in 15 tournaments in order to keep his card for the remainder of the year. This way, he has earned his full status and doesn't need to rely on the medical exemption.
Jon Mills of Belleville, Ont., just missed out on getting his PGA Tour card by three strokes, shooting 69 on the Panther Lake course. He finished in a tie for 41st and will return to the Nationwide Tour next year.
Vancouver's Richard T. Lee and Matthew Richardson of Woodbridge, Ont., finished in a tie for 74th and 93rd respecively, missing out on finishing in the top 50 which would have given them full status on the Nationwide Tour for the first 10 events in 2011.
Instead, they will join Ted Brown of Peterborough, Ont., who shot a final round 74 today, and David McKenzie of Victoria, who closed with a 77, in having conditional status on the developmental tour next year.
Billy Mayfair, a PGA Tour veteran with five wins, took top honours at 18-under par. He managed to shoot under 70 in five of the six rounds this past week. He earns $50,000 for finishing first.
Another player who managed to earn his tour card this week was Jospeh Bramlett. He became the first African American in 25 years to successfully make it through the final stage of q-school. Bramlett attended Stanford University, like another famous golfer, Tiger Woods.
"Congrats to Joe Bramlett for making it through q-school," wrote Woods on his Twitter account. "Amazing feat considering he sat out a whole year with wrist injury. Can't wait to play with him next season."
