FAR HILLS, N.J. – Three members of the
victorious 2013 USA Walker Cup Team have
plenty to be thankful for
this holiday season.
Max Homa, Justin Thomas and Michael Kim –
each of whom helped the Americans win back
the Walker Cup in
September at National Golf Links of America
in
Southampton, N.Y. – have advanced to the
finals of Web.com
Tour Qualifying School, to be held Dec. 12-17
at PGA West (TPC Stadium and Nicklaus
Tournament courses) in
La Quinta, Calif.
Homa and Thomas, both of whom turned
professional after the Walker Cup Match,
earned their spots at second-
stage qualifiers held Nov. 12-15, while Kim, a
junior at the University of California-Berkeley,
competed last week
at Bear Creek Golf Club in Murrieta, Calif.
Kim,
No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, was
exempt into the
second stage by virtue of playing 72 holes at
this year’s U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club,
where he earned low-
amateur honors by tying for 17th.
As one of only two amateurs to reach the
finals of Q-School, Kim may have a difficult
decision come mid-
December. He has 1½ years of college
eligibility remaining, yet is on the precipice of
achieving a valuable jump-
start to his professional career.
The low 45 scorers and ties in the finals earn
full status on the Web.com Tour for the 2014
season. The
remaining players – approximately 100-115 –
will enjoy conditional status. Tour rules
stipulate that a player must
declare himself a professional if he wants to
compete as a Web.com Tour member in 2014.
“I will worry about that after final stage,” Kim
told Golfweek.com. “It is a waste of time to
think about it now.
It’d be difficult, but I’d be happy to have that
decision.”
Kim’s former college teammate, Homa,
doesn’t
have to worry about such weighty issues. The
2013 NCAA Division
I champion made a strong professional debut
at the PGA Tour’s Frys.com Open in October,
tying for ninth. He
also made the cut at the Shriners Hospital for
Children Open the following week. The next
week, he easily
advanced from a first-stage qualifier in North
Carolina before tying for 16th at his second-
stage event at
Deerwood Country Club in Kingwood, Texas.
Thomas, an All-American at the University of
Alabama, also had little trouble in the first two
stages of Q-School.
The 2012 U.S. Amateur semifinalist finished
fifth at first stage in The Woodlands, Texas,
and then tied for fifth
at the TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, to
punch his ticket to the finals.
Here is a roundup of how notable players with
USGA ties fared in second-stage qualifying:
Deerwood Country Club, Kingwood, Texas
(Nov. 12-15)
Besides Homa, 2003 USA Walker Cup member
Matt Hendrix finished second, while 2005 U.S.
Amateur Public Links
champion Clay Ogden tied for 16th.
Missing the cut by one shot was 1999 U.S.
Amateur champion David Gossett.
TPC Craig Ranch, McKinney, Texas (Nov.
12-15)
Tyler Weworski, the son of 2004 U.S.
Women’s
Mid-Amateur champion Corey Weworski, was
the co-medalist at
18-under 270.
Steven Fox, the 2012 U.S. Amateur champion
and member of the victorious 2012 USA World
Amateur Team, tied
for fifth with Thomas.
Olin Browne Jr., the son of 2012 U.S. Senior
Open champion Olin Browne, tied for ninth,
while 1997 U.S. Junior
Amateur champion Jason Allred tied for 16th.
Two USGA champions failed to advance from
this site: Jack Newman (2008 U.S. Amateur
Public Links) and
Cameron Peck (2008 U.S. Junior Amateur).
Past USA Walker Cup members Brad Elder
(1997) and Kyle Reifers
(2005) also failed to qualify, as did Travis
Wadkins, the son of 1970 U.S. Amateur
champion and Walker Cup
alum Lanny Wadkins.
Southern Hills Plantation Club,
Brooksville,
Fla. (Nov. 19-22)
Blayne Barber, a member of the 2011 USA
Walker Cup Team, avenged his
disappointment
from last year when he
disqualified himself from the first stage due to
a Rules infraction. The former Auburn
standout
was the 2013 NGA
Tour Rookie of the Year and made two of
three
cuts on the PGA Tour.
Also advancing was 1987 U.S. Amateur Public
Links champion and 1989 Walker Cup member
Kevin Johnson, who
tied for 16th. Johnson also was the 1988 APL
runner-up.
A pair of U.S. Amateur champions failed to
advance in Byeong-Hun An (2009) and Bubba
Dickerson (2001), while
2010 U.S. Amateur runner-up and 2010 USA
World Amateur Team member David Chung
also
did not qualify.
Chung also was the 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur
runner-up.
Two-time Great Britain and Ireland Walker
Cup
member Rhys Davies (2005 and 2007) of
Wales
failed to break 70
in any of his rounds. He won the European
Tour’s Trophee Hassan II in 2010.
Mike Van Sickle, a member of the victorious
2009 Pennsylvania squad that won the USGA
Men’s State Team
Championship, tied for 25th and just missed
advancing.
Bear Creek Golf Club, Murrieta, Calif.
(Nov.
19-22)
Anthony Paolucci, the other amateur besides
Kim to make the Q-School finals, was the
medalist after being the
only player in his qualifier to break par in all
four rounds. The University of Southern
California junior and 2007
U.S. Junior Amateur runner-up shot 70-69-71-
67 for an 11-under 277.
Three USGA champions failed to advance,
including five-time PGA Tour winner Billy
Mayfair, who became the first
player to claim the U.S. Amateur Public Links
(1986) and U.S. Amateur (1987). Jeff Quinney
(2000 U.S. Amateur)
and Philip Francis (2006 U.S. Junior Amateur)
finished T-37 and T-59, respectively.
Walker Cup alums Brock Mackenzie (2003)
and
Todd Demsey (1993) also failed to advance.
Shell Landing Golf Club, Gautier, Miss.
(Nov. 19-22)
Adam Mitchell, a member of the victorious
2009 USA Walker Cup Team, finished sixth.
Mitchell has made just 11
Web.com Tour starts since turning pro in
2009.
Brady Watt, a semifinalist in this year’s U.S.
Amateur and No. 8 in the WAGR, struggled all
week and tied for
69th. John Parry, a member of the 2007 Great
Britain and Ireland Walker Cup Team, missed
advancing by one
stroke.
Tadd Fujikawa, who at 16 years of age
qualified for the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged
Foot n, finished T-48,
despite rounds of 70-67 over the final two
days. And Nate McCoy, the son of 2013 U.S.
Mid-Amateur champion
Michael McCoy, tied for 67th. McCoy played
this past season on the PGA Tour Canada
circuit.
Plantation Preserve Golf Course & Club,
Plantation, Fla. (Nov. 19-22)
T.J. Vogel, the 2012 U.S. Amateur Public Links
champion, tied for 11th with rounds of 67-69-
68-72.
Another qualifier was Johnny DelPrete, who
made news at this year’s U.S. Women’s Open
when he caddied for
his girlfriend, 2010 USA Curtis Cup member
Jessica Korda, when the LPGA Tour golfer
fired
her regular caddie
midway through the third round.
Among the notables who failed to qualify was
1998 U.S. Amateur champion Hank Kuehne,
who missed by four
shots.
Lion Kim, the 2011 U.S. Amateur Public Links
champion, shot a final-round 79 and missed
by
seven shots after
shooting in the 60s the previous three days.
Drew Weaver, the 2007 British Amateur
champion and 2009 USA Walker Cup member,
also missed, saving him
from having to withdraw from the final stage
due to his wedding commitment. Weaver and
his fiancée made the
wedding date thinking that the Q-School finals
would be held a week earlier.
Michael Miller, the medalist at the 2012 USGA
Men’s State Team Championship and member
of the winning New
York side, tied for 26th, despite closing with
rounds of 69-67-69. He opened with a
disappointing 75.
Sean Jacklin, the son of 1970 U.S. Open
champion Tony Jacklin, tied for 67th.
