Anybody remember Ty Tryon?

[HDPM]

Man Q-School is hard. I poked around the PGA TOUR website and looked at the guys who failed to make it to the finals. There are a whole lot of good players who didn't get past 2d stage. What a tough process. Anyway, Ty Tryon the kid phenom from 2 years ago has nowhere to play next year. Probably Canadian Tour or Hooters Tour. Tough way to make an easy living I guess. Talent and hard work are no guarantee of success. At least he has time. 2d stage blowouts included a lot of guys who have had some success on tour in the past and are getting older.

[Ragnar]

Ricky Barnes the hot amateur out of the University of Arizona, who was featured in the Masters and the Open telecasts didn't make it either. This is a guy with oodles of game and charisma. It does show that Q-school is incredibly hard.

Ragnar

[HDPM]

I didn't notice his name among all the others who didn't make it. There were so many of them. Barnes is a real good player. The trick now is just to make it to the final stage and get some playing privileges on the Nationwide Tour. Making it by being up there on the Nationwide Tour is a better predictor of success right now. But the guys blowing out at the second stage have to try to monday qualify on the Nationwide or go to one of the alternative tours.

[Bill Murphy]

I remember he had a hottie GF.

What I DIDN'T remember is them calling the Pres. Cup a silly season, Skins type deal. But that's exactly what it is now.

[JTrout]

[ QUOTE ]
But the guys blowing out at the second stage have to try to monday qualify on the Nationwide or go to one of the alternative tours.

[/ QUOTE ]

Many of the players that missed 2nd stage will still have some conditional status on the PGA Tour, and the Nationwide Tour. They may attempt Monday Qualifying some, but mostly will rely on their number getting in , or in sponsor's exemptions.

[andyfox]

Or David Duval?

[HDPM]

Conditional status on tour gets you what 15-20 shots at the smaller tourns? That's not bad. But what does conditional status on the nationwide get?

And aren't these for players who had some status before? Players like Ricky Barnes don't get anything, or do they?

[JTrout]

Conditional status gets you a number in the pecking order. If it is a decent number, you may get an opportunity to play some early. But even if it is the worst number, you do have the opportunity to move up. They re-rank these #s app. every 5 events. So one small check early can move you ahead of everyone that has yet to cash.
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Some things that get you conditional status on Nationwide:
Finishing in the top X amount on Nationwide, and PGA last year.
Past champion on Nationwide (Buy.Com, Nike, Ben Hogan Tour).
Past champion on PGA Tour (this give you permanent conditional status, good for app. 12-15 PGA, unlimited Nationwide events).
Veteran member on PGA. Requires that you have made a certain amount of cuts on Tour. (Not sure, maybe 50-100)
Anyone that makes it to finals of Qschool get conditional Nationwide status. This won't get them in early, but will later in the summer.
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Also, I'm not sure if this is still accurate, but 5 years ago anyone (with no status) could accept an unlimited number of sponsor's exemptions on the Nationwide Tour. The # on the PGA Tour is limited to 7, I think.
I would expect Ricky could easily get these 7 PGA exemptions, and 7 or more on Nationwide Tour, and a few European exemptions, Canadian Tour exemptions if he chooses.... the benefits of a known talent.
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And the finals of tour school, the players are actually playing for conditional status #s. These #s are good, but they don't guarantee any tournament. On the PGA, these conditional players are catogorized (tour school grads and Nationwide grads, 126-150 on money list, past champs, vet. members, etc. You can only move up or down within your catagory, so the q school grads will have priority over last year's 126-150.
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However, typically the newcomers will have a much tougher go of it than the other catagories. 126-150, and vet. members, and past champions find it much easier securing sponsor's exemptions, and therefore frequently end up playing in more ( and better) tourneys than the new qualifiers.
It's a tough road for newcomers, but a helluva road to travel on! Usually, vet. members are on the board, so policies favor them.
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A q-school grad, who makes it in the last spot, can expect 20-25 events on a bad year, and 25-30 on a good year. Also keep in mind that these tournaments will not be the biggest ones. Also, a qualifier may not be able to play for several weeks in a row, then (in summer, and fall) play 12 in a row.

[Ragnar]

I do think Ricky Barnes will get a number of sponsor's exemptions based on his earlier U.S. Open win and popularity, but that number is limited. He is going to have to go somewhere and rethink his game. He is very long and can get hot with the putter and sometimes the wedge, but he doesn't have much else. That being said he has tremendous potential. I think that the heavy publicity that he got hurt him.

Ragnar