Five PGA Tour cards (plus ties) are available this week in the PGA Tour Q-School, presented by Korn Ferry.
As many as 166 players will leave empty-handed from the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley and Sawgrass Country Club.
The field of 171 players will begin at the two courses on Thursday for four rounds of no-cut, high-stress golf, with their jobs for 2025 on the line.
Even the No. 171 player in the final standings on Sunday will come away with conditional Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas status. But the higher the finish, the more potential for starts, and the more starts, the more chances of moving up.
Here is what to know about the second year of the Q-School held in the backyard of PGA Tour headquarters:
Who’s playing in PGA Tour Q-School?
A mix of youth and veterans, ranging from multiple PGA Tour winners such as Nick Watney, Sean O’Hair and Martin Laird to the top college players of the past several years. All have one thing in common: they need the qualifier to gain PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour status.
PGA Tour Q-School first and second round groups, tee times
Some of the players had automatic berths in the finals. Others had to go through a qualifying process that could have involved as many as three tournaments: a pre-qualifier, then first- and second-stage qualifiers.
Where is PGA Tour Q-School being played?
The field will take two turns each at Dye’s Valley and the Sawgrass Country Club. There is no cut.
Dye’s Valley was designed by Pete Dye, Bobby Weed and player consultant Jerry Pate, and named for Dye, the architect of The Players Stadium Course. The Valley has hosted the Senior Players Championship, the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, PGA Champions qualifiers and numerous college events.
The Sawgrass County Club, originally designed by Ed Seay, with a 2015 renovation by Robert Walker, was the home of The Players Championship from 1977-1981.
Is there a purse for PGA Tour Q-School?
It’s not life-changing money but the winner will get $50,000 from a total purse of $510,000. For comparison, Pate earned $60,000 for winning the first Players Championship held at the Stadium Course in 1982.
Are there tickets available for PGA Tour Q-School?
Yes, and they’re free … but only for rounds at Dye’s Valley, since Sawgrass is a private course. Fans must register at the tournament’s ticketmaster.com site for the tickets. Enter one of the two gates to the TPC Sawgrass, tell the attendant you are going to Q-School and you will be directed to parking.
Is PGA Tour Q-School televised?
Yes, on the weekend. The NBC Sports App will air portions of the Saturday rounds from 1-3 p.m. and Sunday from Noon-2 p.m. Golf Channel will be on the air Saturday from 3-5 p.m. and Sunday from 2-4 p.m.
What are the rewards for Q-School?
-
The top-five, plus, ties, earn PGA Tour cards for the 2025 season.
-
The next 40, plus ties, earn Korn Ferry Tour status for 2025 with a guaranteed number of starts.
-
The next 20, plus ties, earn full PGA Tour Americas for 2025, with a guaranteed number of starts.
-
All other players who finish 72 holes will earn conditional Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas status for 2025.
What happened to last year’s top five?
None of them kept their PGA Tour status. Q-School medalist Harrison Endycott, Blaine Hale Jr., and Jacksonville University graduate Raul Pereda finished outside the top-200 on the FedEx Cup Fall points list and had to return to second-stage qualifying. Hale and Pereda made it back to Q-School.
Hadyn Spring and Trace Crowe earned a berth directly to Q-School by finishing inside the top 165 in FedEx Cup points. Springer nearly kept his card. He finished 127th, two spots out, after making three bogeys on the back nine in the final round of the RSM Classic at Sea Island and posting an even-par 70 to tie for 30th.
PGA Tour Q-School field, how they qualified
Top 40 applicants below top-125 on FedEx Cup Fall standings
Tyson Alexander, Paul Barjon, Erik Barnes, Joseph Bramlett. Ryan Brehm, Hayden Buckley, Pierceson Coody, Austin Cook, Trace Crowe, Kevin Dougherty, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Tyler Duncan, Wilson Furr, Lanto Griffin, Garrick Higgo, S.H. Kim, Martin Laird, Ryan McCormick, Matt NeSmith, Seungyul Noh, Sean O’Hair, Scott Piercy, Chez Reavie, Robby Shelton, Roger Sloan, Austin Smotherman, Hayden Springer, Justin Suh, Callum Tarren, Ben Taylor, Alejandro Tosti, Nick Watney, Tom Whitney, Brandon Wu, Norman Xiong, Carl Yuan.
No. 31-60, 2024 Korn Ferry Tour points list
Matt Atkins, Wil Bateman, Zach Bauchou, Sam Bennett, Davis Chatfield, Myles Creighton, Brandon Crick, Roberto Diaz, Alistair Docherty, Tommy Gainey, Emilio Gonzalez, Tano Goya, Austin Hitt, Nelson Ledesma, Pontus Nyholm, Alvaro Ortiz, Trent Phillips, Doc Redman, Seth Reeves, Ross Steelman, Thomas Walsh, Dalton Ward, Joe Weiler, Richy Werenski, Kyle Westmoreland.
Top five, 2024 PGA Tour University ranking
Matthew Riedel, Austin Greaser, Christo Lamprecht, Nick Gabrelcik.
Disability exemption
Shad Tuten.
Top 10 on PGA TOUR Americas 2024 Fortinet Cup points list
Barend Botha, Ryan Burnett, Will Cannon, Clay Feagler, Harry Hillier, Ian Holt, John Keefer, Sandy Scott.
2024 PGA TOUR Americas Segment 1 Points List
Matthew Anderson.
Japanese Golf Tour Order of Merit
Kensei Hirata.
Korean Tour points list
Yubin Jang.
Major and Minor Medical category
Bronson Burgoon, MJ Daffue, Tim Wilkinson.
Second-stage qualifiers
Savannah, Ga.
Marcelo Rozo, Zack Fischer, Cooper Musselman, Christopher Crawford, Tain Lee, Rhein Gibson, Zach James, Jake Scott, Spencer Ralston, Ryan Blaum, Charles Huntzinger, Rayhan Thomas, Ben Carr, Cameron Huss, Bryson Nimmer, Derek Bard, Grant Hirschman, Luis Garza Leon, Brandon Berry, Jake Hall (a).
Dothan, Ala.
Ashton Van Horne, Owen Stamper, John Augenstein, Marcus Plunkett, Chase Sienkiewicz, Evan Brown, John Houk, Jacob Bergeron, Blake McShea, Connor Howe, Jack Maguire, Callum McNeill, David Longmire, Billy Tom Sargent, Will Chandler, Jin Chung, Ryan Davis, David Perkins, Sam Choi, Gavin Cohen.
Hammock Beach
Luke Guthrie, Mateo Fernandez de Oliveir, Brandon Hoelzer, Andi Xu, Runchanapong Youprayong, Zecheng Dou, Dan McCarthy, Hank Lebioda, Cody Blick, Brendon Jelley, Drew Doyle, Dawson Jones, Lance Yates, Charles Reiter, Caleb VanArragon, Davis Shore, Jeremy Gandon, John Houchin.
Valdosta, Ga.
Samuel Anderson, Aman Gupta, Blaine Hale, Chris Korte, James Nicholas, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Dawson Armstrong, Bryce Lewis, Ryan Hall, Kyle Cottam, Brett White, Cole Sherwood, Steffen Smith, Derek Hitchner, Sebastian Szirmak, Luke Gifford, Travis Trace.
Valencia (Calif)
Petr Hruby, Takumi Kanaya, Raul Pereda, David Gazzolo, Corey Shaun, Riley Lewis, Nate Stember, Jonas Baumgartner, Sangmoon Bae, Thomas Longbella, Tanner Napier, Dylan Menante, Nicolo Galletti, Jeffrey Kang, SeungTaek Lee, Johnnie Greco.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: PGA Tour Q-School begins at TPC Dye’s Valley, Sawgrass. What to know
