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Compton in, Villegas out in last Q School

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 00:14:00 GMT

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- This was the last day of the last Q School, so maybe it was appropriate that Mac O'Grady was there to pay homage. A local resident, O'Grady was the standard bearer of Q School futility and an example the requisite perseverance.

None has persevered to the degree that Erik Compton has. Compton, 32, retained his PGA Tour exemption on Monday, even threatening the lead at one point, 4 1/2 years following his second heart transplant.

"Six rounds of tour school is hell week," said Compton, who played the PGA Tour this year, but finished 165th on the money list to precipitate a return to Q School, as the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament is called. "For me to be able to have a chance to win tour school, six rounds, four years after what I went through, you can't even dream a story like that. Maybe I made it look easy, but it's not."

Related: Tales from Q School

Compton shot 67 on the Stadium Course at PGA West in the last of six rounds and eventually finished tied for seventh, three strokes behind medalist Dong-hwan Lee. The top 25 and ties from a field of 172 earned PGA Tour exemptions for 2013.

Among them was Lee, one of three South Koreans to qualify, but not the most notable. That distinction goes to Si Woo Kim, 17, the youngest player in the field, who won't be eligible for PGA Tour membership until his 18th birthday, June 28, 2013.

Kim, who tied for 20th, can play as many as 12 tour events as a non-member (via sponsor exemptions or top 10s).

Si Woo Kim became the youngest Q School qualifier ever on Monday. Photo: Victor Decolongon/Getty

As is often the case, this Q School was at least as noteworthy for who failed to qualify as who succeeded. Included in the former group is three-time PGA Tour winner Camilo Villegas, who closed with a 69 on the Stadium Course, but came up two strokes short and tied for 32nd. He will have to rely on sponsor exemptions to play the tour in 2013.

"I still have conditional status, so hopefully I'll get in some tournaments next year," he said. "I've always tried to be very polite and good with sponsors, and if that's the case it'll be good. I'm going to need a little love from them. At the end of the day if you're good enough to be on the PGA Tour you'll be on the PGA Tour."

He called it a reality check, as it was as well for Patrick Cantlay, 20, once the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world. Cantlay tied for 95th here, which gives him conditional status on the Web.com Tour next year.

"It is disappointing," Cantlay said. "But it's just one week of golf. I just played badly."

England's Ross Fisher, meanwhile, tied for second, the difference a tee shot in the water at 18. Fisher is a four-time winner on the European Tour, who drew inspiration Monday from his playing partner, Compton.

"It's absolutely a privilege to play with such an inspirational player as Erik Compton," Fisher said. "When you think that times are hard or you're down you have to look at a guy like Erik."

To a lesser degree, one might want to draw as well on the example of O'Grady, who went to Q School 16 times before earning PGA Tour membership on his 17th attempt.

Heath Slocum, who has played the tour full time every year since 2002 and has won four times and more than $15 million, understands the equation, even if he failed to produce the correct answer here. He tied for 32nd, two strokes short.

"The best players find their way out there," he said pragmatically. "If I'm in that class, I'll be back out there soon."

The 26 players who earned exemptions:
Dong-hwon Lee
Ross Fisher
Steve LeBrun
Richard H. Lee
Billy Horschel
Kris Blanks
Erik Compton
Brad Fritsch
Jin Park
Fabian Gomez
Michael Letzig
Jeff Gove
Steve Bowditch
Matt Jones
Robert Karlsson
Eric Meierdierks
Scott Langley
Aaron Watkins
Derek Ernst
Si Woo Kim
Tad Ridings
Donald Constable
Bobby Gates
Patrick Reed
Henrik Norlander
Chez Reavie

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Q School: Villegas on verge of losing tour exemption

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 19:34:00 GMT

By John Strege

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- The PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, otherwise known as Q School, often generates more significant news for failures than successes, as might be the case in the final round on the Stadium and Nicklaus Tournament courses at PGA West Monday.

Camilo Villegas, once a rock star of sorts in golf, is on the outside looking in 11 holes into his final round on the Stadium Course. A three-time PGA Tour winner who once was No. 7 in the World Ranking, was tied for 39th. The top 25 plus ties at the end of play today will earn PGA Tour exemptions for 2013. Villegas stands at 13-under par. The cutoff number currently stands at 16-under par.

Photo by Getty Images

Meanwhile, Patrick Cantlay, once the most heralded amateur in the world, won't earn his PGA Tour membership. Cantlay, 20, the college player of the year in 2011 while at UCLA, is tied for 116th and will have only conditional status on the Web.com Tour in 2013. Cantlay holds the PGA Tour record for lowest round by an amateur, a 60 in the Travelers Championship in 2011.

Other notable players who won't earn PGA Tour exemptions are Shaun Micheel, who won the PGA Championship in 2003, and Todd Hamilton, the winner of the British Open in 2004.

There is a six-way tie for the lead at 22-under par: Billy Horschel, Steve LeBrun, Derek Ernst, Kris Blanks, Ross Fisher, Jin Park and Dong-hwan Lee.

Erik Compton, twice a heart transplant recipient, is tied for eighth in his bid to retain his PGA Tour exemption.

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September 2012 Table of Contents

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Swing Sequence: Patrick Cantlay

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Offbeat Equipment On Tour

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We found some clubs and gear on the PGA Tour that go against tradition.

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The Next Great American Golfer?

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Ryo Ishikawa seeking to be next breakthrough winner at the Travelers

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 18:04:00 GMT

CROMWELL, Conn. -- In a rare instance, Ryo Ishikawa won't be the youngest player in his group when he tees off Thursday morning at the Travelers Championship. Even rarer? He might not not even be the most-watched young gun in his pairing.

That honor probably will go to 20-year-old Patrick Cantlay, who is making his pro debut this week at TPC River Highlands a year after firing a second-round 60 here as an amateur. Ishikawa has never played with the former UCLA star or John Peterson, the third member of the group who made his own splash with a T-4 at last week's U.S. Open. But the Japanese phenom, who is still three months shy of his 21st birthday and seems to travel with a caravan of media from his home country, doesn't seem to mind sharing the spotlight.

"To have somebody like Patrick to play in the same group is fantastic, and I'm very honored to play with him," Ishikawa said. "I've been to the range and I have seen him swing. He has a nice swing, and I look forward to playing with him."

Amazingly, it's been more than two years since Ishikawa burst onto the world golf stage when he shot a final-round 58 to win a Japan Golf Tour event -- coincidentally, the same day Rory McIlroy won his first PGA Tour event at Quail Hollow. His best PGA Tour finish came earlier this year when he was runner-up in the Puerto Rico Open, and he recently finished T-9 at the Memorial. Ishikawa said putting is his main focus this week after four three-putts last Friday turned out to be the main culprit in him missing the cut at Olympic Club.

He also hopes to join a recent list of players, including Bubba Watson and Hunter Mahan, who have picked up their maiden PGA Tour titles at this tournament. Certainly, the Travelers seems fitting as the site of a breakthrough win for Ishikawa, who might lead professional golf in frequent flyer miles considering he splits his time between two tours on opposite sides of the globe. In fact, this will be the last tournament in a taxing stretch of five consecutive events in the U.S.

"I really want to play well before I go back to Japan, so I can earn my PGA Tour card for next year," he said.

For such a young player, Ishikawa is taking an old-school approach this week when it comes to who will carry his bag. Having never played TPC River Highlands before this week, he has employed local caddie Kevin Smith. It's a move he's done several times of late to help him deal with unfamiliar surroundings. So far, he likes what he sees.

"This course is a great place to play, especially with the pin placements," Ishikawa said. It's very aggressive. That's kind of the style I play."

-- Alex Myers
Follow @AlexMyers3

(Photo: Harry How/Getty Images)

A mature, confident Cantlay ready to start his professional career

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 20:20:00 GMT

CROMWELL, Conn. -- Just one year ago, Patrick Cantlay made PGA Tour history at this very venue.

A second-round 10-under par 60 -- the lowest round ever posted by an amateur in a pro event and the course record at TPC River Highlands -- made Cantlay the story of the tournament, proving his 21st-place finish at the U.S. Open the week before was no fluke.

That special week made it an easy decision for Cantlay to pick this week's Travelers Championship as the event to make his professional debut, he said Tuesday in a pre-tournament press conference.

"The timing makes sense, being able to start somewhere that I'm comfortable and have good memories," said Cantlay, who will forgo his final two years of eligibility at UCLA. Cantlay will tee it up with world phenom Ryo Ishikawa and recently-minted pro John Peterson, who made a boatload of cash with his T-4 at last week's U.S. Open in his first major championship.

"I'm ready and feel comfortable with being a pro and trying to be as good as I can be," Cantlay added.

PGA Tour: Fantasy Fix: Travelers Championship

Alex Myers — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:00:00 GMT

We discuss Webb Simpson's big win, the return of the cardigan, a MLB meteoric rise to fame, and of course, this week's PGA Tour stop.