Second Stage Preview

The second stage of KFT/PGA Tour Q-School tees off Tuesday at five different sites around the country – and honestly, it’s the stage everyone dreads the most. The pressure is real: advance and you’ve got at least conditional KFT status locked up no matter what happens at Final Stage; come up short and you’re staring at another year grinding on the mini-tours.

That’s changed a little this year with a few exempt KFT guys and some conditional PGA Tour players starting at Second Stage, but for most of the field, the old reality still applies.

Below is a quick breakdown of each site, along with the leaderboards.

Savannah, Georgia

Course: The Landings – Deer Creek
Par: 72
Yards: 7,185
Rating: 75.2
Slope: 243

PGA Tour winners in the field:

Jim Herman – The 48-year-old, three-time PGA Tour winner played three Tour events last season.

Austin Cook – When Cook turned pro in 2014, he basically lived at Monday Q’s — and crushed them. In ’14 he Monday Q’d and finished T13. In ’15 he Monday Q’d his way to a T11, then a T6, which got him into the next week, where he finished T7. That run earned him status, and in 2017 he picked up his win at the RSM.

SY Noh – The veteran of nearly 250 PGA Tour starts won the 2014 Zurich Classic (back when it wasn’t a team event).

Ted Potter Jr. – One of the wildest, most under-discussed careers out there. Potter dominated the Hooters Tour for years before having one of the strangest starts to a career you’ll ever see: in his first year on the Nationwide (KFT), he missed every cut — 0-for-24. Three years later he got back, made 3 of 20 cuts… then disappeared again. After another stint on mini-tours, he returned, made 3 of 14 cuts… and then Monday Q’d into a Nationwide event and won. In 2012, ten years after turning pro, he finally made it to the PGA Tour. He won The Greenbrier that year, then Pebble in 2018, taking down DJ, Phil, and Jason Day.

Others to keep an eye on:

Luke Gutschewski – Son of longtime Tour pro Scott Gutschewski. Luke Monday Q’d his way into conditional Americas Tour status this year. He turned pro, Monday Q’d, finished T14, earned his way into the next week… and ended up going 5-for-5 in cuts. Pretty wild for someone who played less than a third of the season and still finished 71st in points.

Jeff Overton – The former Ryder Cupper is still grinding after a scary infection during back surgery that nearly took his life.

Kevin Hall – The 41-year-old OSU standout has spent years on the mini-tour circuit. Hall is deaf and travels with his mom, who helps him on the road. Easy guy to root for.

Sam Bennett – The former U.S. Amateur champ missed earning his card by one spot in 2024, then struggled badly this year and lost it. Needs to get through here just to have status next season.

Derek Bard – We’ve written about Bard before — he lost to Bryson in the finals of the 2010 U.S. Amateur. You can find that story here.

Leaderboard

Alabama

Course: Robert Trent Jones – Highlands/Marshwood
Par: 72
Yards: 7,632
Rating: 75.5
Slope: 144

PGA Tour winners in the field:

Sung Kang – The 2019 Byron Nelson champ mostly played on the Korean Tour this year. In 2024 he split time between KFT and DP World Tour but struggled and lost most of his status.

Others to keep an eye on:

Fred Biondi – I wrote about the 2023 NCAA champ last week — you can read that here.

Blades Brown – The teenager already has full KFT status next season after finishing 75th in points. He’s here strictly chasing one of the five PGA Tour cards.

Cougar Collins – An all-time great name.

MJ Daffue – A Monday Q legend who’s struggled the last few seasons and is back at second stage trying to rebuild status.

Spencer Levin – The GOAT. That’s all.

Dylan Meyer – The former Illinois standout stepped away from full-time golf and now runs the course he grew up on. But he made a big late push at the first stage to get through and now he’s trying to revive his playing career.

Marcus Plunkett – West Point grad and Army veteran who had KFT status last year but struggled. He’s trying to get back to Final Stage.

Leaderboard

Valdosta, Georgia

Course: Kinderlou Forest
Par: 72
Yards: 7,780 (!!)
Rating: 76.5
Slope: 110

PGA Tour winners in the field:

Jimmy Walker – The 48-year-old major winner played five events in 2025 and missed all five cuts. He hasn’t won since the 2016 PGA and sits 73 starts away from 500 career Tour starts. If he wants any chance to get there, he needs full status again.

Robert Streb – Two-time PGA Tour winner who played 20 KFT events this season, making eight cuts and finishing 142nd in points.

Others to keep an eye on:

Blayne Barber – Hasn’t played since the 2023 KFT season and went into the business world. Says he won’t play KFT even if he gets status (we’ve heard that line before), but he’s playing well enough that he wanted to give it a shot.

Andre Chi – After Monday Q’ing into the Valspar, his interview with Monday Q intern Ed Loar Tracker went viral, and people raised over $50,000 for him.

Great Scott – Three Scotts at this site — Alex, Calum, and Sandy (who is of course Scottish). How they didn’t get paired together is beyond me.

Cole Hammer – Has full KFT status next year after finishing 71st in points, but he’s trying to get to Final and chase a PGA Tour card.

Willie Mack III – The Flint, Mich., legend trying to get back to the KFT.

JJ Grey – We’ve written about the family that sponsors him and a friend he lost too soon.

Curtis Thompson – Lexi’s brother and a former KFT winner. He’s struggled since losing his PGA Tour card in 2022.

Braden Thornberry – Former NCAA champ who nearly kept his PGA Tour card in Bermuda, but a final-round 80 ended that hope. He’ll have full KFT status next year regardless thanks to his 2024 win.

Leaderboard

Arizona

Course: Star Pass
Par: 70
Yards: 6,951
Rating: 73.6
Slope: 141

Star Pass is unlike any other Q-school site — Mark Baldwin wrote a piece on why it’s built for drama. Read it here.

PGA Tour winners in the field:

Sang Moon Bae – Two-time PGA Tour winner who played just two PGA Tour events and four KFT events this year while focusing mostly on Korea.

Sean O’Hair – One of golf’s great grinders. Played multiple Asher Tour events this year. Now in year 26 as a pro at age 43. He needs to get back to the final stage to improve his status. He’s also creeping toward 500 career starts (currently at 437).

Kyle Stanley – Wild career: blew a tournament with a triple on 18… then won the very next week. Lost his card, got it back, won again… then injuries derailed things. This year his only made cut came on the Mexican Tour.

Martin Trainer – One of the strangest résumés in professional golf. Just 42-for-155 on the PGA Tour and 13-for-37 on KFT… yet he owns a PGA Tour win and two KFT wins.

Nick Watney – The 44-year-old just passed 500 career starts. His last season with full status came in 2023. Five-time winner but hasn’t won since 2012.

Scott Piercy – Four-time PGA Tour winner. Made 9 of 14 KFT cuts this year but only posted one top 25.

Chez Reavie – A “major” champion (the Cuda) from three years ago… and yep, still has to go back to Q-school.

Others to keep an eye on:

Ryo Ishikawa – Criminally underrated career. Won on the Japan Tour at 15, cracked top 100 at 16, top 50 at 17, and won eight times as a teenager. Has 20 Japan Tour wins and is still only 34.

Corey Pereira – Lost his wife Leah to cancer at just 26 earlier this year. A few months later he qualified for Napa despite barely playing while he was caring for her.

Preston Summerhays – Former ASU standout who made 7 of 11 cuts on the KFT this year through PGA Tour U status.

Johnny Travale – Fresh off maybe the greatest par-3 round ever last week. Read it here.

Leaderboard

Florida

Course: Hammock Beach
Par: 72
Yards: 7,659
Rating: 77.5
Slope: 144

PGA Tour winners in the field:

Satoshi Kodaira – The 2018 Heritage winner (and eight-time winner in Japan) once shot a closing 63 at second stage in 2014 — best round of the day by five, beat the field average by eleven, and won by thirteen. Absurd stuff.

Adam Long – The 38-year-old John Deere winner played 22 KFT events this year, made seven cuts, and finished 137th in points.

Others to keep an eye on:

Jimmy Jones – Son of LPGA legend Dawn Coe-Jones. He birdied the final three holes at first stage to get through on the number, with his wife on the bag.

Luis Gagne – Former LSU standout and low amateur at the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock (T48).

Shunyat Hak – Once the top junior in the world. Played a season at Georgia Tech, turned pro at 18, and has mostly struggled, but has found success recently on the China Tour.

Frank Kennedy – Talented young Englishman with a Challenge Tour win. If you're on site, look for the dad storming around — that's him.

Paul Barjon – Despite taking heat from a fourth-rate Twitter Spaces show called “The Takesmen,” the guy has had a very solid career: three KFT wins in 93 starts, plus 62 PGA Tour starts. Tough scene for the Tuesday-night keyboard warriors.

Leaderboard

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