Under Pressure

What is it like waiting for scores to come in at a Monday Q with your season on the line? 

"Brutal," Josh Creel said as he recalled the agonizing wait back in January at the first Korn Ferry Tour Monday Q of the season.

A few weeks earlier, Creel received a call from the Tour that changed the entire outlook of the season. There was some confusion about his category for the 2025 season. Creel's win on the KFT came in 2020, which he thought put him in a category to gain starts for 2025. The call from the Tour around Christmas delivered the bad news: Creel was in a worse past champions category than he thought, and he wouldn't be getting into any tournaments for the entire season. Creel had been mistaken and the confusion meant he was in the 5-10 year Past Champions category. He’d now have to Monday qualify or face the possible end of his career. 

"I was researching driving jobs, working with members of the club to see if they had any side jobs," Creel said. Anything to bring in some money and keep his career alive. 

The season's first Korn Ferry Tour Monday Q was held in early January. The qualifier was for the Latin American swing and the field had well over 200 players at two sites. Each site had just two spots available – a long shot to say the least. 

Creel had an 8:20 tee time and despite the pressure of playing with almost no status, he came to the last hole seven-under par. With the harsh conditions that day, he thought a par at the last would be enough. Creel’s drive on the last hole went into a fairway bunker and settled into a footprint. His approach went into the water, and he failed to get up and down. Double bogey. 

Creel signed for a five-under 67, which was still the best score of the day at that moment. However, with nearly 100 scores left to come in, Creel would have to wait to see if the score held. 

Creel and his caddie Ray spent most of the day in Creel’s truck. Ray would run back and forth to the scoring area and watch players come in. The pair didn’t think five-under would be good enough, but as more scores were posted, the duo became increasingly optimistic.

“We knew how important this was. We didn’t need to talk about it,” Ray told me. Finally the last group came in and Ray hustled out to the parking lot to inform his player. 

“He could tell how quickly I was hustling towards the truck that he was in,” Ray said. 

A few weeks later, Creel was in The Panama Championship and the weight of his season was again on his shoulders. Making the cut on the difficult golf course would be vital to earning more KFT starts.

"You know what is at stake," Creel said. A solid opening score of one-under par had him in a good position. In Round 2, Creel played well in tough conditions and was even for the day, one shot inside the cut line through 15 holes when darkness fell. 

Three holes in the morning would likely decide Creel’s season: make the cut and earn multiple starts, miss the cut and return to an uncertain future.

On Saturday morning, Creel hit two great shots on the par-four 16th and rolled in a 15-footer for birdie. He then parred both the 17th and 18th hole. Cut made, more starts secured.

A pair of one-over 71s in the final two rounds in Panama resulted in a T27 finish. The finish moved him up the priority list after the reshuffle, and Creel has been in every field since. 

Last week, however, he was 111th in points and again in danger of falling out of some fields. Again, the pressure was on. Again, Creel delivered. 

After opening with two great rounds of 64 and 65 on the (very easy) Texas Rangers Golf Club, Creel capped off his week with a 10-under 61, rocketing him to a T2 finish. His 27-under total was three strokes back of runner-up Johnny Keefer. 

The finish moved the Central Oklahoma alum to 38th in points and secured his playing privileges for the rest of the regular season.

At Christmas, Josh Creel was looking for a delivery job to keep his career alive. A few weeks later, he successfully Monday qualified and saved his season. Now he has a chance at a PGA Tour card. 

It all started on a Monday. 

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