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PGA Tour Sleepers To Watch In 2013

Alex Myers — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:45:00 GMT

Our bold list of 13 lesser-known PGA Tour players we expect big things from in 2013.

Video: Did Nick Flanagan get the luckiest bounce ever?

Mon, 21 May 2012 21:23:00 GMT

Jason Dufner's walk-off birdie on the 72nd hole at the HP Byron Nelson Championship rightfully received the most attention of any golf shot hit over the weekend. But what about a grandstand birdie on a tournament's final hole?

That's exactly what Nick Flanagan pulled off at the Nationwide Tour's BMW Charity Pro-Am. Trailing by a shot on the final hole, the 2003 U.S. Amateur champ blew his approach over the green and, well, you have to see what happened to believe it:

Following this stroke of luck, Flanagan converted the birdie and wound up winning in a playoff for his fourth career Nationwide Tour title. After winning the developmental tour's player of the year award in 2007, Flanagan was unable to stick on the PGA Tour, finishing 169th on the money list.

His big break, though, will go a long way towards him getting back to the big leagues. Despite this being just his second Nationwide event of 2012, the win propelled him to 11th on the money list that guarantees a PGA Tour card for the following season with a top-25 finish.

-- Alex Myers
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Lee Janzen makes an unusual tour stop

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:51:00 GMT

When the U.S. Open returns to the Olympic Club in June, it will be impossible for the name Lee Janzen to not come up. After all, it was Janzen who held off Payne Stewart by a shot at the San Francisco venue in 1998 to claim his second major championship, and the most recent major at Olympic.

Janzen, who hasn't won a PGA Tour event of any kind since, is unlikely to crack this year's Open field. But it won't be for lack of effort.

Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images

Now 47, Janzen is still grinding away, even if his grinding style of play -- which led to his two most famous wins -- isn't what it used to be. How determined is Janzen to recapture some of that old magic? This week, for the first time since 1990, he is teeing it up in a Nationwide Tour event.

Klauk to undergo first of three possible brain surgeries

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:30:00 GMT

You don't hear brain surgery associated with golf too often, but a second golfer on the PGA Tour will be forced to undergo brain surgery in less than a year's span.

Jeff Klauk will have one of three possible surgeries necessary to remove a "spot on the brain" that has caused epileptic seizures since 2006, as reported by the Florida Times-Union yesterday.

(Jeff Klauk with his wife Shanna after he won the Melwood Prince Georges County Open on the Nationwide Tour in 2008. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images)

Back in September, 2008 Ryder Cup and two-time PGA Tour winner J.B. Holmes underwent successful surgery to remove pressure on his brain. Holmes' recover was rather quick--the University of Kentucky grad has played in eight events in 2012, nine including this week's Valero Texas Open, and finished in the top 10 twice.

Klauk, who made $1.24 million in 2009, his rookie season on the PGA Tour with three top-10s and a T-14 at The Players Championship, told the newspaper that the first surgery taking place today will be more of an exploratory one, which will then be followed by at least one additional surgery to remove the brain tissue causing his seizures.

Another piece of PGA Tour puzzle appears to be settled

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:51:00 GMT

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.

Hey, Nobilo, you and the Tour got it wrong about Q-school! We need it.

Bob Carney — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:26:00 GMT

Yesterday the Tour officially ended what had become over decades the most excruciating week in golf: Q-school. Henceforth, the Nationwide "developmental" Tour will be the path to the big time. Golf Channel commentator Frank Nobilo...

Top 10 PGA Tour Sleepers To Watch In 2012

Alex Myers — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Our bold list of 10 lesser-known PGA Tour players we expect big things from in 2012.

GW Monday: Is Q School about to change?

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:32:00 GMT

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)

New venue for the Nationwide Tour Championship

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 16:34:00 GMT

While it may no longer carry the name of "Nationwide," the year-end championship of the PGA Tour's minor league will be played next year at the TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, TX, in suburban Dallas. The formal announcement will come on Monday.

Jason Kokrak has the final-round lead at the Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island Club. (Photo by Getty Images)

After a three-year run on the Ralston Creek course at the Daniel Island Club outside Charleston, SC, the event will move to avoid next year's PGA Championship to be played on the other side of the city of Charleston at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course. Though no agreement has been reached, both Daniel Island and the PGA Tour are interested in resuming the relationship in 2013.

--Jim Moriarty

New England Patriot: Keegan Bradley

Ron Kaspriske — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT

There's a lot more to PGA Tour rookie Keegan Bradley than his love for Boston-area sports teams.