PGA Tour Q-School Second Stage Recap

Three of the five Korn Ferry Tour second stage sites wrapped up Friday. The top-15 and ties from each site moved on to the final stage. The players advancing to final stage have earned:

• Conditional KFT status
• Conditional Americas Tour status
• Ability to skip Pre-Q for PGA Tour Monday qualifiers
• Use of TPC facilities for free

Medalists (and ties) at each 2nd stage site earned guaranteed KFT starts regardless of their finish at the final stage. 

The final stage will be played in Florida at Sawgrass Country Club and TPC Sawgrass December 14-17.

Below are the three sites with full leaderboards, clutch performances, heartbreaks, and surprise misses. 

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RTJ Trail at Highland Oaks

Dothan, Alabama

Medalists

Connor Burgess/Matt Goetz, -19

Burgess played college golf at Virginia Tech and won the Virginia State Open this year. 

Goetz played at West Virginia, where he holds the record for most career wins. 

‍Clutch Performances

Alex Schaake- The former Iowa Hawkeye opened with a 77 and his chances to advance looked bleak, but a pair of 66s in the third and fourth rounds punched his ticket to the final stage.

Michael Arnaud- The 42-year-old and former KFT winner shot a third round 64 to vault up the leaderboard. He then closed with a final round 68 to earn a trip to the final stage by two strokes. 

‍Heartbreak Hotel

Shawn Lu/Ian Holt/Julian Perico- All three players finished at 6-under par and had to wait hours to see if it was good enough. They were T-15 for most of the day until the third to last group. Mickey DeMorat, playing in that group, made a birdie on the 18th hole to move to -7 and knock Lu, Holt, and Perico out. Q-school can be so cruel. 

Most Surprising Misses

Blayne Barber- The KFT winner and veteran of 105 PGA Tour starts couldn't recover from an opening 82, and missed by six in what he says is his last attempt at Q-school. (side note: if I had a dollar for every time a player said, "This is my last attempt," I'd be able to buy the Range Goats)

Zack Fischer- Just one season ago, Fischer nearly earned his PGA Tour card. But this season has been a struggle and his struggles continued at Q-school, where a third-round 79 derailed any hope of getting through. 

Full Leaderboard

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Tesoro Club

Port St. Lucie, Florida

Medalists 

KK Limbhasut/Danny Walker, -11

Limbhasut, the former Cal All-American, played most of last season on the Asian Developmental Tour (Asian Tour's version of KFT) after struggling on the KFT in 2022. 

Walker played in 15 KFT events last season, making eight cuts.

Clutch Performances

Dylan Meyer- Meyer had a great summer and is super talented. He came into the final round T-26, but a closing 66 that included birdies on four of the last six holes was good enough to earn a trip to Sawgrass. The Illini alum made a closing birdie on the 400-yard par 4, knocking out six players, including two-time KFT winner Nelson Ledesma and KFT veteran Sebastian Vasquez. 

Heartbreak Hotel

Braden Bailey- The former 2x All-American at Baylor played the last five holes in 4-under par, including an eagle on the 16th hole, but fell one stroke short of getting through. 

Most Surprising Misses

Willie Mack III- Although Mack struggled on the KFT last season, there is no questioning his immense talent. He played steadily this week but missed by two strokes.

Bo Hoag- The veteran of 79 PGA Tour events and 99 KFT events (along with one career win) opened the week with 75-77 and couldn't recover, missing by seven. 

Full Leaderboard 

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The Landings, Deer Creek

Savannah, Georgia

Medalist

Bryson Nimmer- Nimmer was right on the number to begin the final round. His final round 62 included 10-birdies and no bogies and moved him up 13 spots, guaranteeing him KFT status. 

Clutch Performances

Luke Long- Long was in almost the same situation as Nimmer coming into the final round and did exactly the same thing. The former Arkansas Razorback fired a final round 62, vaulting him to second-place.

Andre Metzger- The mini-tour legend, who, as usual, won multiple mini-tour events this summer, shot 30 on the final nine holes to make it through to the final stage. 

Heartbreak Hotel

Christian Jalomo- Jalomo has overcome so much adversity, including a brain aneurysm in 2020, and made a double-bogey seven on the 14th hole to miss by one. 

Jared Sawada- A final round 75 caused the 2023 KFT member to fall 24 spots and miss by six. 

Most Surprising Misses

Patrick Flavin- His season-long struggles on the Korn Ferry Tour carried over to the second stage of Q-school. Despite a final round 65, Flavin missed advancing to the final stage by three strokes.

John Augenstein- The 2019 U.S. Amateur runner-up finished 74th last season on KFT, so he will have decent status, but his bid to improve his status fell three strokes short. 

Full leaderboard