HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Another piece of the 2013-2014 PGA Tour puzzle appears to have been settled.

The current Fall Finish events that will move to the beginning of a split-calendar season in 2013 are likely to be worth full FedEx Cup points. The PGA Tour Policy Board still has to vote on the measure, but that was the recommendation the board received from Player Advisory Council, which met Tuesday at the RBC Heritage.

The tournaments in question are the Justin Timberlake Shriner's Hospital for Children Open, Fry's.com Open, The McGladrey Classic and the Children's Miracle Network Classic. Additional co-sanctioned events in Asia like the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic also would be worth full FedEx Cup points.

Photo by Getty Images

"The thinking was that if we're going to go through all this trouble to change the schedule and incorporate the fall events into the regular season, the points should be equal to the other events on the schedule," said Jim Furyk, one of four players on the Policy Board.

From the Dec. 12 issue of Golf World Monday:

For all the angst it has caused since it began in 1965, PGA Tour Qualifying School has also been a gateway of dreams and an on-ramp to bigger things. Survive the stress, earn a card -- the rest was up to you. It's no surprise, then, that news of the potential demise of this enduring institution after 2012 has created a lot of chatter.

Brendon Todd was recently medalist at Q School.

The PGA Tour is considering changes that would stop Q school from being a direct path to the PGA Tour. Currently, cards go to the top 25 on the Nationwide Tour money list (the class of 2011 is shown) and 25 from Q school.

Instead, all 50 PGA Tour cards would be determined through a three-tournament series comprised of Nos. 1-75 on the Nationwide Tour money list and 75 players (Nos. 126-200) who didn't qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs. Q school would be only for earning status on the Nationwide Tour.

Several factors are behind the potential shake-up, including the PGA Tour's attempt to obtain a new sponsor for the developmental circuit after Nationwide departs next year and the fact that players with Nationwide Tour experience have retained their PGA Tour cards at a much higher percentage than those without it (87 percent vs. 13 percent in the last six years).

Related: Five historic Q School grads

Still, during that same period J.B. Holmes, Anthony Kim, Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson and Rickie Fowler (among others) went from college to Q school to PGA Tour success. The success of those young stars, a couple of whom the tour utilizes in its marketing, will make it difficult to completely end Q school as we know it.

-- Bill Fields

(Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Brendon Todd, who played the PGA Tour in 2009, shot a second consecutive 68 on Monday to earn medalist honors and $50,000 at the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament at PGA West here.

Among those who earned PGA Tour cards for 2012 were Seung-yul Noh, a 20-year-old from South Korea and former PGA Tour winners Bob Estes, Jeff Maggert and Vaughn Taylor. Among those who missed were Arnold Palmer's grandson, Sam Saunders, who finished T109; David Duval (T72); Lee Janzen (T38) and Ty Tryon (158th).

Twenty-nine PGA Tour cards were issued. Here is the class of 2011:

BRENDON TODD: 26...Played the PGA Tour in 2009 and finished 186th on the money list...Won once on the Nationwide Tour...Was on an NCAA championship team at the University of Georgia.

STEPHEN GANGLUFF: 36...Member of the PGA Tour in 2002 and the Nationwide Tour in four of the ensuing nine years...Played at Ohio State.

BOBBY GATES: 25...Three-putted his final hole of 2011 tour season to finish 126th on the money list, forcing a return to Q School...A Texas A&M graduate.

SEUNG-YUL NOH: 20...from South Korea...Won the 2010 Maybank Malaysian Open at 18 years, 282 days to become the second youngest winner in European Tour history at the time(Danny Lee, 18 years, 212 days held the record that has since been broken by Matteo Manassero).

TOMMY BIERSHENK: 38...Will be a PGA Tour rookie in 2012...Played five years on the Nationwide Tour, most recently in 2011, when he finished 33rd on the money list.

VAUGHN TAYLOR: 35...A two-time winner on the PGA Tour (the Reno-Tahoe Open in 2004 and '05)...Has earned more than $10 million, but lost his card in 2011 after seven straight seasons of earning $1 million or more.

JARROD LYLE: 30...Native Australian...Has played the PGA Tour the last three years without retaining his card...Won twice on the Nationwide Tour in 2008.

BOB ESTES: 45...Joined the PGA Tour in 1989...Won four tournaments and nearly $20 million.

BRIAN HARMAN: 24...2003 U.S. Junior Amateur champion...Won two tournaments at the University of Georgia...Played on two U.S. Walker Cup teams.

MARCO DAWSON: 48...Has played 13 seasons on the PGA Tour, the first in 1991...Best finish was second in the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1995...Won once on the Nationwide Tour.

SONG-MOON BAE: 25...From South Korea...Won three times on the Japan Golf Tour in 2011...Has three Asian Tour victories.

KEVIN KISNER: 27...PGA Tour member in 2011 and finished 181st on the money list...Played on Georgia's NCAA championship team in 2005...Won the Mylan Classic on the Nationwide Tour in 2010.

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Former U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Public Links champion Colt Knost went from an emotional high to an emotional low and finally just relief that the Q School ordeal was over.

Knost, who finished 174th on the PGA Tour money list necessitating a return to the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, was 10-under par through 17 holes on Monday and safely inside the top 25 when he hit his tee shot on 18 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course into the water. It led to a double-bogey.

"I thought I was done," Knost said. "I thought I had no chance."

When he got to the scoring trailer, he discovered that eight-under par was the number and that he had retained his PGA Tour card. Rather than celebrating, he was more relieved.

"I really thought I was fine, all day," he said. "I thought I had a shot or two to play with on 18. I hit a tee shot I didn't really expect to hit. That was kind of the pressure, I guess. I didn't really know where I stood. I kind of had an idea. If I'd known I had a couple to play with I probably would have blown it way left. I'd been hitting it pretty good all day. That shot came out of nowhere. I made my worst swing of the day at the wrong time. I tried to hit a little cut there and totally whiffed it.

"A tough finish, but it looks like I'm going to make it through."

-- John Strege

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- South Korea is likely to send two more players to the PGA Tour next year, which would run its number of exports to four in two years.

Last year, Bio Kim and Sunghoon Kang finished in the top 25 in the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament to earn PGA Tour membership.

Now Seung-yul Noh and Sang-Moon Bae are tied for fourth and tied for seventh, respectively in the midst of their final rounds at PGA West. Neither appearing on the leaderboard is particularly surprising.

Last year, while still 18, Noh became the second youngest winner in European Tour history when he won the Maybank Malaysian Open. Bae is ranked 30th in the world.

-- John Strege

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Jason Gore, who has not played the PGA Tour full time since 2009, is playing himself into contention for a 2012 tour card.

Gore is four-under par through seven holes of the final round on the Nicklaus Tournament Course to move from a tie for 63rd to a tie for 38th in the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament at PGA West. Gore is two shots from moving into the top 25.

In 2005, Gore, 37, introduced himself to the golf world at large by holding a share of the lead through 36 holes of the U.S. Open, only to falter on Sunday and finish in a tie for 49th. Later that year he won three straight starts on the Nationwide Tour to earn a promotion to the PGA Tour, then won the 84 Lumber Classic in his fourth start as a member of the PGA Tour.

-- John Strege

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- It has not been a good week for a group of PGA Tour veterans and tournament winners at the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament at PGA West.

Three former major champions -- David Duval, Rich Beem, Lee Janzen and Shaun Micheel -- are not going to earn PGA Tour exemptions for 2012. Duval is T70, Beem T115 and Micheel T109 early in final-round play. A fourth major winner, Lee Janzen, is T43 and still contending for one of the 25 tour cards available.

Another group -- Scott McCarron, Carlos Franco and Robert Gamez, all PGA Tour winners -- also will fail to earn playing priveleges next year. McCarron, now a resident of La Quinta, is T143, Franco T134, and Gamez T127.

A threesome of former tour winners are in position to return to the PGA Tour -- Vaughn Taylor (T9) and Bob Estes and Jeff Maggert (both T23).

-- John Strege

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- The best early move in the final round of PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament at PGA West here has been made by a career mini-tour player.

Brian Anderson, 29, is three-under par through his first five holes on the Nicklaus Tournament Course to move up to a tie for 26th.

Anderson played the eGOLF Professional Tour this year and has played the Gateway and Hooters tours in past years. He is a former Missouri Valley Conference champion from Illinois State.

South Korean Sang-Moon Bae is two-under par through two holes on the Nicklaus course to move to a T19. Bae won three times on the Japan Golf Tour this year.

-- John Strege

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- The players in the final round of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament here will have more than pressure with which to concern themselves. The wind has returned to the desert after a one-day hiatus.

The forecast from on-site meteorologist Jeff Kendra calls for temperatures to reach the mid 60s, accompanied by 10 to 20 mile-per-hour winds with gusts to 25 mph.

Marco Dawson, 48, holds a three-stroke lead and is scheduled to tee off at 9:55 a.m. on the Nicklaus Tournament Course (PST), with Stephen Gangluff and Harris English. The Nicklaus is the easier of the two courses, with a scoring average of 71.578 through five rounds. The Stadium Course has played to a scoring average of 72.682.

The top 25 and ties (among those who haven't already qualified) will receive full exemptions for the 2012 PGA Tour season.

-- John Strege

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- The final stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament is not for the feint of heart, given its proclivity for inducing heartburn. Or heartbreak.

Adam Hadwin, a native of suburban Vancouver and a Canadian Tour player, proved his ability to compete at the game's highest level, the PGA Tour, by virtue of his tie for fourth in the Canadian Open and tie for seventh in the Frys.com Open. He also tied for 39th in the U.S. Open and earned $432,753 in four PGA Tour starts.

He was impressive enough that the PGA Tour granted him an exemption into the final stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament at PGA West here. He only needs to finish in the top 25 to earn his PGA Tour membership for 2012.

Through three rounds, Hadwin was tied for 19th, but what followed is why the tournament better known as Q School is capable of turning a good year into bad year. Hadwin, 23, had rounds of 76 and 75, the latter including a bogey, bogey finish on Sunday that left him demoralized and facing an uncertain future.

"If I continue to bring this game I'm not going to have any status next year," he said. Hadwin is now tied for 92nd with a one round remaining, on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West here.

"If i want any chance of playing on the PGA Tour next year I have to shoot low 60s," he said. "I don't know how far off I am from a Nationwide Tour card, but after this round today that's pretty much all I've got."

Another poor round would limit his Nationwide Tour status and relegate him to more time on the Canadian Tour. What are his chances of avoiding that? Probably not good, given his response to a question as to how he might put Sunday's round behind him.

"Get drunk?" he said. "I don't know. I've been trying to find it all week. I haven't had anything all week, really. Besides good finishes each of the first few days i've played like (expletive) this week."

-- John Strege