Lanto Griffin said it was a different kind of pressure than winning on the PGA Tour, and certainly not easier — all evidence to the contrary with the 63 he threw up on Sunday at the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley.
But the Jacksonville Beach resident, by way of Mount Shasta, Calif., and Virginia Commonwealth University, is breathing easy knowing he has full status on the Tour for 2025 after winning the PGA Tour Q-School by three shots over Hayden Buckley at 9-under-par 271.
”It was not a money thing,” he said, referring to the difference in the $50,000 he earned for winning the 72-hole final-stage qualifier and the $1,350,000 for winning the 2019 Houston Open. “It’s so hard. It seemed like a cliff you’re going over and now, all of a sudden, you have a life jacket. Q-School is the hardest thing in the world because it’s either pass or fail.”
Griffin was joined in the post-round card ceremony by two other Tour veterans who needed that life jacket, Buckley (67) at 6-under and former Florida Gator Alejandro Tosti (66) at 4-under.
Takumi Kanaya, the Japan Tour money leader and MVP last season, shot 69 to finish alone in third at 5-under. Kanaya held no. 1 on the World Amateur rankings for 55 weeks in 2019 and 2020 and made the cut in the 2019 Masters after qualifying with a victory in the Asia-Pacific Amateur.
Two former SEC players who had only mini tour and Korn Ferry Tour experience prior to this week, Will Chandler (66) from Georgia and Matthew Riedel (72) from Vanderbilt snapped up the other two cards when they joined Tosti at 4-under.
They will experience life on the PGA Tour for the first time.
Griffin finished 171st on the PGA Tour FedEx Cup points list to lose full status (he needed to be among the top-125 after the Tour’s FedEx Cup Fall schedule), Buckley was 139th and Tosti 129th.
They would have started the season with conditional PGA Tour status but their cards solidify that.
”It’s a stressful day just knowing what’s on the line,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, who gave out the treasured cards in a ceremony in the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse. “It’s the beauty of the game. To see these players … with the chance to get their card today, watching them compete in that environment, is awesome.”
Griffin took charge early
Griffin began the day 2-under and one shot off the top-five bubble to get a Tour card. But he made the charge as early as he could with an eagle at the par-5 first hole and in an oddity, birdied every other odd-numbered hole on the front nine of the Valley: Nos. 3, 5, 7 and 9.
He had a four shot lead by that point and made six pars in a row on the back, birdied the par-5 16th and parred the last two.
”It was nerve-wracking,” said Griffin, who hit 15 greens and needed only 27 putts.
Griffin, who has lived on the First Coast since 2017, is having a pretty good fall. He and his wife Maya recently welcomed their daughter Navy to the world.
”My new daughter here … it’s really special for me,” he said.
Chandler stages dramatic rally
There have been 11 former Georgia Bulldogs who have won on the PGA Tour and the way Will Chandler played, an even dozen may be in the offing.
Chandler was 1-over on the front and five shots off the top-five bubble. But he birdied Nos. 10, 13 and 13, then eagled the 16th on a 60-foot putt.
“I was pretty frustrated with how I finished [Saturday],” Chandler said, referring to an otherwise solid 67 at the Sawgrass Country Club. “I had some good looks on 16 and 17 and a pretty straight-forward up and down at 18 and didn’t get it. I was playing well and it should have been lower. So I came out here, did some putting and it paid off today.”
Tosti shot at 17 secures card
Tosti, a native of Argentina who won the SEC individual championship for the Gators in 2017, made one of the clutch shots of the tournament when he carved his approach the the 17th green out of heavy rough, on the side of a bank, to within 4 feet. He made the birdie putt to punch his ticket back to the Tour.
He shot 65 in the third round after going 4-over the first two days.
”It’s been the challenge for me, my whole life, dealing with myself,” said the fiery Tosti. “It’s super-hard, super-competitive and just about every decision and thought you have might have an impact on your result, on your shots. It’s crazy how quick it can turn around one way and it’s really hard to turn it around the other way. I was able to do it and how I’m going to be happy for the holidays.”
The players from seventh (Alistair Docherty) to 10 tied for 26th, will earn 12 guaranteed Korn Ferry Tour starts through the first three reshuffles.
Those tied for 36th through seven players tied for 43rd will get eight starts, through the first two reshuffles.
All other players who finished 72 holes will have conditional Korn Ferry Tour status and are guaranteed starts on the Latin American Swing of PGA Tour Americas.
The downside of Q-School
For every success story at Q-School there are heartbreakers. Here are three of them:
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Docherty, the native Canadian who has worked as a caddie and played mini-tours, made his only birdie of the day at No. 17 to come within one shot of the cut line for a Tour card. He spliced the fairway at No. 18 and flushed an 8-iron over the flag and into the thick rough behind the green. Needing a birdie for his card, he pitched out to 4 feet. Docherty quickly departed the scoring area and declined comment.
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Nick Gabrelcik, a three-time ASUN Player of the Year at the University of North Florida, started the day five shots off the Tour card bubble and with seven pars and birdies at Nos. 7 and 8, got within three. But he double-bogeyed the par-3 11th hole, birdied No. 13, bogeyed the 17th and then hit a nifty 9-iron into the 18th green and dropped a 4-foot birdie putt.
”The goal was top five on two of my home courses,” said Gabrelcik, who has won three college tournaments at both the Valley and the Sawgrass Country Club. “But the end goal is to regain some sort of status that wasn’t conditional and we accomplished that. Overall, I’m happy with where my game’s at. Just wasn’t quite where it needed to be but it was solid enough.”
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Jin Chung, a 36-year-old native of Korea and a teaching pro at Chateau Elan Resort in Braselton, Ga., has attempted the qualifying process 12 times. This was the first time he he made it to the final stage and after shooting 5-under on the front nine Sunday, he was tied at 4-under and on the number to get a card.
But he played the back nine 2-over with no more bogeys, and finished solo eighth.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: PGA Tour Q-School: Lanto Griffin fires 63, Will Chandler stages late rally
