PGA Q-School is history, Nationwide Tour is the only way to qualify
The Professional Golf Association Qualifying tournament (PGA Q-School) is history. All the junior players, desiring to play the PGA Tour season, now have to go through a different route.
It is confirmed that the Qualifying School tournament is no more in the PGA schedule list. This step has been taken to make the Nationwide Tour, a successful organiser in the US.
Now the policy states that all the low-ranked players have to perform on the Nationwide Tour events first.
Their victories and results will help them earn a full season tour card of the PGA-staged events.
Tim Finchem, the PGA Tour Commissioner, shared that this policy had been in process for a long time and now it has been implemented. He announced the news last Tuesday.
Davis Love III, a Policy Board Member, also agreed with the changes and said, "Well, a lot of work needs to be done, a lot of decisions need to be made. But we're heading in the right direction".
"It will certainly strengthen the Nationwide Tour and the Fall Series and the FedEx Cup. Change is hard. But to get where you need to be, I think this will all be good," Love added.
All the board members are in favour of the change, as it will support the expansion of the sport and now players can also enjoy both the Tour’s luxuries.
Brandt Snedeker, a 31-year-old professional golfer, criticised the change, saying that more support is required for the Nationwide Tour.
"The Tour thinks the changes will bring more stability, more stature, to the fall events, and that will be a good thing. It will be a completely different Tour season, a new product, but Tim Finchem has done an unbelievable job during his tenure and he sees
this is a way to make our Tour better," he said.
However, Finchem replied that changes are part of life, some accept them and some do not. Snedeker's criticism will not be making any reversals in the changed policies.
From 2012 onwards, all the low-ranked players will have to perform on the Nationwide Tour first and then, if they perform well, they can earn a PGA Tour card.
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