McNeill Wins Torturous PGA Q-School Event

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McNeill Wins Torturous PGA Q-School Event
December 12, 2006

George McNeill, 31 years young, emerged as the medalist at the extraordinarily difficult PGA Q-School event, leading the group of qualifiers that carry exempt status to the Tour for 2007. For McNeill, his ninth attempt at qualifying proved to be the charm.

Each year, literally hundreds, if not thousands of golf pro wannabees take the plunge to compete for the coveted privilege of playing on the PGA Tour. It begins with various qualifying stages, then ends with the Final Q-School event where 140 players vie for a PGA exemption card, battling over six incredibly grueling rounds.

McNeill shot a 5-under 67 final round, pushing him five shots clear of the field. His 23-under-par 409 featured five consecutive rounds in the sixties and was the best Q-School performance since that of Scott Verplank in 1997. The current Tour regular Verplank coasted to a six-shot victory that year.

McNeill also earned $50,000 for his performance. The assistant pro at Forest Country Club in Fort Meyers had previously tried, and failed the Q-school, a total of eight times.

Forty players overall earned PGA Tour cards for next season. McNeill was one of 17 golfers who qualified for the exempt status for the very first time. The players with the lowest 30 scores, along with ties, over the six day tournament qualify for the big Tour. The remaining players received various options for play on the Nationwide Tour.

Robert Garrigus was runner-up to McNeill, with an 18-under 414 while Rich Barcelo was third with his 17-under 415.

Twelve players finished tied for 29th at 8 under par. That led to a number of amazing stories in one of golf's greatest pressure cookers.

Jonathan Kaye, twice a U.S. PGA Tour winner, manage to hole a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole to finish at 8 under. However, at the time the cutoff was 9 under so Kaye, thinking he had just missed, proceeded to fling his ball into the water.

Ten players who started the final day outside of the top 30 ended up earning their cards. Michael Allen, who began the day far down the list, tied for 61st starting out, managed a final round 66 to qualify. And former PGA Tour winner Paul Stankowski put aside his opening round 79 to play five solid rounds to earn his card as well.

But the biggest final move belonged to none other than Jaco Van Zyl. Starting the final round tied for 75th, the South African closed with a phenomenal final round of 64 that included holing a 20-25 foot birdie putt on the final hole that helped him earn his card right on the 8-under number. Van Zyl also birdied three of the last four holes in his push to earn a coveted card.

As part of the qualifying process, the next 49 players on the list earned full exemption status for the Nationwide Tour. In a sign as to just how competitive the Q-School event is, that group included a two-time U.S. Open champion in Lee Janzen and past PGA Tour winners Duffy Waldorf and Bob Burns.

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