On the Ground at the Monday Q

PPCC’s traditional layout with narrow, lush fairways, and dormant rough, felt distant from the desert surrounding the course. The greens were alarmingly fast and the chipping areas around them were tightly mown. Nearly 700 players started in the pre-qualifier, and by the end of the Monday qualifier, only three would remain. 

The qualifier was played in two dissimilar tee time waves producing an equal number of the lowest scores. Four players shot 7-under par – two players from the morning wave and two from the afternoon. The morning was blustery and cold, and the afternoon was warm with a gentle breeze. 

Smooth-swinging Patton Kizzire fought through the morning’s chilling wind, making two birdies and a bogey on his front nine, before heating up and playing the next six holes 6-under. A closing par on the par-5 18th meant Kizzire would have to wait until all the scores came in to learn if his 7-under was good enough.