by Jeff Skinner
The toughest week in golf is finally over and the 26 golfers that survived the most pressure packed tournament of the year can finally sit back and breathe again. The PGA Tour Q-School graduates include two former Ryder Cuppers, old pros, young bucks, a medical miracle and a seventeen year old pro that can’t even take advantage of his accomplishment until next June. For every dramatic story of survival there are ten stories of disappointment and three time PGA Tour winner Camilo Villegas who missed his card by two strokes may be the most recognizable.
Erik Compton, the walking miracle with his third heart in his chest, played great all week to return to the tour. “Mr. Monday” AKA Patrick Reed won his card this week. Reed earned his nickname by Monday qualifying six different times on the PGA Tour this year. Si Woo Kim became the youngest qualifier ever at Q-School to earn his card. Kim may have to petition the tour in order to play the full year since the tour has an age limit of eighteen years. There are a ton of feel good stories among these 26 winners but perhaps Eric Meierdierks may be the most emotional. Meierdierks lost his dad just five days before he was scheduled to play in the first stage of Q-School. With a heavy heart and thoughts of his dad in his head he played and made it all the way through. Afterwards, he said that having played that first stage under those circumstances made this week seem like a walk in the park. He’s definitely the only player to describe Q-School that way .
Here is a look at the top qualifiers. Click here for a look at all 26 winners.
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