2008 Q-School Updates
Michelle Wie gains LPGA card; Frazar runs away while Begay and Berganio roll in
Golf Digest Digital writers Ron Sirak and John Strege are on the scene at the final stage of LPGA Tour and PGA Tour Q school. Follow their reports throughout each day from Daytona Beach, Fla. and La Quinta, Calif. as players chase the card.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 8
LA QUINTA, Calif. (4 p.m. PST): Harrison Frazar was a landslide winner at Q school, coasting to an eight-stroke victory that had taken root with the 59 he recorded on the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Saturday.
Returning to the same venue on Monday, Frazar went out in 31 and birdied the first two holes on the back, putting him seven under par through 11 holes en route to a 67 and a 108-hole total of 32-under par 400. James Nitties and Derek Fathauer were second.
The drama came elsewhere, two veterans providing much of it. Notah Begay III and David Berganio, both of whom have battled debilitating back injuries that threatened their careers, delivered in the clutch and regained their PGA Tour exemptions.
Begay was two strokes off the number late in his round when he reeled off consecutive birdies on his 15th, 16th and 17th holes on the Stadium Course. A par on 18 gave him a 67 and tied him for 11th.
Berganio, meanwhile, began his round tied for 25th, then made seven birdies and no bogeys in a round of 65 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course to finish in a tie for seventh.
"It's been a long time," Berganio said. "Five-and-a-half years trying to fix my back. It's been a long journey."
LA QUINTA, Calif. (12:10 p.m. PST): It has become apparent that Harrison Frazar is going to win the final stage of Q school. The only question is his margin of victory.
Frazar, who vaulted to the lead with a 59 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Saturday, shot a five under par 31 on the front nine there today to open a seven-stroke lead.
Josh Teater, meanwhile, was at 19 under with four holes to play and probably needed only to par out to get his PGA Tour card. Instead, he hit two balls into the water that surrounds the green at the par-5 15th hole of the Nicklaus Tournament course and made a triple-bogey 8 to fall to a tie for 33rd.
LA QUINTA, Calif. (10:30 a.m. PST): Y.E. Yang of South Korea is five under par through nine holes on the Nicklaus Tournament Course to jump from a tie for 29th to a tie for seventh.
Josh Teater is four-under par through nine holes on the Nicklaus course to jump from a tie for 29th to a tie for 19th.
Garrett Willis is headed in the opposite direction. Willis is even through seven holes on the Nicklaus course to drop to a tie for 35th. He began the round tied for 21st.
LA QUINTA, Calif. (8:45 a.m. PST): All but four of the players in the top 37 entering the final round of Q school are playing the Nicklaus Tournament Course today, giving them a distinct advantage. The Nicklaus Tournament Course is playing almost two strokes easier through five rounds, (69.359 average to 71.321).
Notah Begay III (tied for 21st), Wil Collins (tied for 25th), Rich Barcelo and Hunter Haas (each tied for 29th) are the only players in the top 37 who will play the Stadium Course.
SUNDAY, DEC. 7
LA QUINTA, Calif. (3:45 p.m. PST): The drama isn't atop the leaderboard at a Q school, but down near 25th place in a tournament that rewards only the top 25 with PGA Tour cards. Entering Monday's final round, that precinct is crowded.
Four players are tied for 21st, one shot ahead of four players tied for 25th, who are one shot ahead of nine players tied for 29th. The number of players who still have a shot is incalculable given the vulnerability of the golf courses, as Notah Begay III demonstrated on Sunday.
Begay made the biggest move, shooting a nine-under par 63 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course to jump from a tie for 95th to a tie for 21st.
"I pulled a rabbit out of my hat there," he said. "I hit it great the last two days. Yesterday, I had 11 looks inside 15 feet and only made one. I was eventually going to start making them, but I didn't know whether it was going to happen today, tomorrow or next year."
LA QUINTA, Calif. (2:30 p.m. PST): David Berganio, 39, was beginning to forge a lucrative career that held the potential to deliver even more before a chronic disk problem in his back curtailed his productivity and threatened him with early retirement. Today, six years after he last played a full schedule, he's on the brink of resuming his PGA Tour career.
