Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard and Ryan Moore. Those are just some of the elite names on the list of people that have bypassed PGA Tour Qualifying School because of elite play when they were youngsters.Rickie Fowler has a chance to join that group with a top-10 finish this week at the Children's Miracle Network Classic, the last official tournament of the year on the PGA Tour and Fowler's lone shot to earn somewhere around $70,000 or more to make it in the top-125 and avoid the final stage of Q-School.
Some interesting components come about here. First, Fowler was playing his best golf the last two tournaments, finishing t-7 at Justin Timberlake's tournament and a playoff loss at the Frys.com Open in Phoenix. That means, if Fowler could somehow put together another high finish, he would have earned his card in three tournaments!
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Tiger played in 11 events back in 1996 when he was avoiding the stench of Q-School (Sure, he won twice, but it still isn't three straight top-10s, something Fowler would do this week if he continued his play).
Mickelson landed a two-year exemption on tour back in 1991, when he won the Northern Telecom Open while still playing at Arizona State. The next year, however, when he finally turned pro (after the U.S. Open), Mickelson had just two top-10s in 17 events, missing nine cuts. Without that win in 1991, Phil would have surely gone to Q-School that fall.
Fowler first two tournaments as a professional were both six figure checks, with the near win at the Frys.com everything that is holding him back from being stress-free until January.
It shouldn't seem like that big of a deal if Fowler couldn't earn his card this week, since he seems to have the game to breeze through Q-School, but for anyone that follows golf, PGA Tour Q-School is the toughest admissions test in the world, forcing you to beat out a ton of sticks just to have a job for next season.
How hard is it to finish in the top-25 in the final stage and earn full status for the next season? Y.E. Yang, the PGA Champion this season, made it by one shot last year after a closing 68 that saw wheels a-flyin' when he bogeyed two of his final four holes including a bogey on his last hole to stay within the cut line. Yang doesn't make that bogey putt on his 18th hole and he's jumping between the Nationwide Tour and PGA Tour this year, and Tiger's got himself another major championship trophy and nobody is talking about how an obscure man from South Korea is helping to globalize golf. Fowler's game seems destined for greatness, but I promise you members of his camp are hoping he can take care of business this week so he can avoid the six rounds of hell at Bear Lakes Country Club starting Dec. 2.
