12/10/18

Be the ball, Danny

Web.com Tour Q-School headlines the weekend action in golf

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Twenty-seven. Eighteen. Sixty-three. Zero

Web.com Tour Q-School finished up this weekend, and there was about as much excitement as there could possibly be in a non-televised golf tournament. Let’s find out what those numbers mean. Leaderboard

Twenty-seven

Danny Walker, a 23-year-old University of Virginia product, won the event with an astounding score of twenty-seven under par. After rounds of 67-65-66 to start the week, Walker saved his best for last and fired a final-round 63 to come out on top. He was six-under through 15 holes and then finished with three consecutive birdies.

As a collegiate player at Virginia, Walker was a very steady contributor to the Cavaliers’ lineup. He didn’t win a tournament during his career, but he did notch plenty of top 10s. After graduating, he decided to turn professional and went north to Canada and the Mackenzie Tour. He notched two top 10s in his first eleven starts and then broke through at the final event of the year and walked away the champion of the Freedom 55 Financial Championship. He will play his first career Web.com Tour events this year and look to continue his rise through the professional ranks.

Eighteen

There are different cutoff points for players at Q-School to earn different levels of guaranteed starts for next season. The top 10 are guaranteed twelve starts next season while the top 40 are guaranteed eight, and the rest only have conditional status. This year, the players had to shoot eighteen-under-par to be in the top 40 on the leaderboard and earn a little breathing room for next season. Here are some names you’ll want to be aware of from that top 40.

Norman Xiong – An NCAA star, everyone has been waiting to see the best of Norman Xiong. The 20-year-old turned professional this summer and has been dipping his toes into the professional space. This week he finished second place, one back of Walker, and showed he has the talent to compete with anyone in the professional ranks.

Doug Ghim – The low amateur at the 2018 Masters, Ghim is one of the most solid players you can find. He too turned professional this summer but is yet to reach his full potential. When he plays well, his driver is on autopilot and he putts the lights out.

Jimmy Stanger – The 54-hole leader this week fell to a tie for 3rd but will be in good shape for his second year on the Web. He and Danny Walker were teammates at Virginia.

Andy Zhang – You may remember Zhang from his appearance in the US Open as a 14-year-old. That was six years ago, but the new professional has a lot of game.

T.J. Vogel – Famous for his performances during Monday qualifiers last season, Vogel will have plenty of guaranteed starts on the Web this season. He shot two rounds of 66 on the weekend to finish in a tie for 16th.

Brandon Matthews – One of the few guys out there who can give Cam Champ a run for his money. He finished tied for 25th. SPEED

John Oda/Scottie Scheffler/Lee McCoy/Jordan Niebrugge – A bunch of former NCAA studs who have yet to completely find themselves professionally. Scheffler is the youngest of the bunch, but you can bet each one of them will be near the top of a leaderboard this year.

Sixty-three

The best story of the weekend BY FAR was Cody Blick. Blick woke up Sunday morning to find his clubs had been stolen and had to piecemeal a set together for the final round. He birdied his final three holes, shot 63, moved 49 spots up the leaderboard and earned himself eight starts next season. Good on ya Cody.

Zero

Not a single one of the 135 players in this field shot over par for the week. None.

Mattresses for Everyone!

Louis Oosthuizen ran away with the South African Open and won by six shots on Sunday. While he doesn’t play a ton, Louis is making the most of each event. He now has three top-5 finishes in his last four events and will move up to 25th in the world. Leaderboard

Shotgun Start: The Mattress King re-takes the throne, Q-School review, and a shocking breakup

Brendan and Andy return from the weekend to discuss King Louis’ win in South Africa, as well as the Open qualifiers that punched their tickets to Portrush. They then transition to the QBE Shootout for a quick analysis on some of the scoring yielded by those different formats. If the Tour really wants to Live Under Par, should they put more scramble formats on the schedule? A lengthy discussion on Web Q-School focuses on the studs that made it, some that didn’t, super-low scores on an apathetic layout, and outrage over the lack of coverage during a slow time of the year. Finally, they wrap with a news segment that focuses on Steph Curry’s event likely going to Lake Merced and the Damon Green-ZJ breakup that shook the golf world to its core over the weekend. They speculate on some cryptic quotes from ZJ that may have led to the separation.

Quick Hooks

Patton Kizzire and Brian Harman shot -30 as a team to win the QBE Shootout. Leaderboard

Martin Kauffman of Golf.com wrote a very thought-provoking piece on the PGA Tour’s use of social media and the role that corporate sponsorships play in its ineffectiveness. Story

2019 promises to be a great year of golf. Will Knights put together a list of players we expect to finally break through and win on the PGA Tour. Full story