Dream deferred: PGA Tour Q-School final round postponed to Monday due to rain
17/12/2023 14:51
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The final round of PGA Tour Q-School has been postponed to Monday.
More than four inches of rain pounded the area on Saturday night into Sunday morning and left Dye’s Valley at TPC Sawgrass and Sawgrass Country Club, the two host courses, unplayable.
“Unfortunately, both golf courses are currently unplayable and require extensive maintenance work due to overnight rainfall,” a PGA Tour spokesman said. “The forecast for today now includes additional rainfall. All starting times are officially delayed until Monday, December 18 at their original posted times (first tee time at 8:45 a.m. ET).”
Mother Nature has played a big role all week, first serving up high winds and cool temperatures. On Saturday, the game plan to move tee times up one hour worked to perfection as the last group finished as the rain started to fall. According to the Tour’s meteorologist, 4.3 inches of rain fell since 3 p.m. ET on Saturday with levels closer to 4 inches at Sawgrass, which is known for its good drainage, and closer to 5 inches in some areas of the Dye Course, where the drainage at the former swampland isn’t as good.
After a decade of solely awarding varying levels of Korn Ferry Tour membership, final stage of PGA Tour Q-School marks the first time since 2012 there are PGA Tour cards on the line. Upon conclusion of the 72-hole tournament, which will see the field play two 18-hole rounds – at both Valley and Sawgrass – the top five finishers and ties will earn PGA Tour membership for 2024.
The next 40 finishers and ties are exempt for multiple reshuffles of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season, guaranteeing them between eight to 12 starts depending on their finish. The next 20 finishers and ties earn exempt status for the Latin America Swing of the 2024 PGA Tour Americas season in addition to conditional Korn Ferry Tour status. All remaining finishers outside the aforementioned categories earn conditional Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas membership for 2024. Several players who already have secured some level of status for next season and realized their hopes of improving it were doubtful withdrew. There were 16 withdrawals as of Sunday morning out of a 165-man field that started on Thursday. Now, the waiting game begins for players whose future hangs in the balance — at least for next year.
“You have a full year to look back on what could've been,” said Ryan Gerard on what’s at stake. “Someone's going to miss their card by a shot and have to live with it forever and someone is going to make it because they did something ridiculous coming down the stretch and they could make a ton of money next year and change their life forever because of 72 holes in December.”
But the field will have to wait until Monday to find out who is headed to the PGA Tour and who will have to spend another year on the Korn Ferry Tour.
