Warian Is Medalist & Gophers Are Team Champs at Highland Meadows
April 16, 2024
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- The contest for first place ended early Tuesday during the sixth round in the Final Stage of web.com Tour Qualifying at PGA National. Brad Fritsch, a transplanted Canadian (to North Carolina), started the day with a five-stroke lead, and he created additional space between himself and any remaining pursuers by making a eagle on the 538-yard, par-5 third hole at the Champion Course and a birdie at the 376-yard, par-4 fourth.
From there, Fritsch cruised to a 5-under-par 66. That gave him an overall score of 402 (27 under) in this 108-hole ordeal -- and a seven-stroke victory.
As a result, Fritsch earned $25,000, and he will be fully exempt for the web.com throughout the 2015 regular season.
The portly 37-year-old (he's 5-10 and 235 pounds) knows what it's like not to be fully exempt, and not know what tournaments you'll be able to get into. He was in that position the last two years on the PGA Tour, and his partially exempt status on the Big Tour was diminished further for 2015 when he finished No. 151 on the money list this year.
“I've still got some decent status from last year on the web.com Tour," he noted. "So I didn't have as much pressure as some of the other guys (at Q-School). That's one of the reasons it's been a little easier for me this week.”
Q-School was a little bit like three tournaments in one. Besides the competition for medalist honors that Fritsch dominated, there was the race to finish in the top 10, which was good for fully exempt status on the 2015 web.com schedule until the second re-shuffle (roughly 14 tournaments into the season). There was also the chase for the top 45 -- and ties -- which was worth fully exempt status until the first re-shuffle (after roughly nine tournaments).
Everyone else in the 150-man field will have limited status next year.
Andrew Landry, a 27-year-old former three-time All-American at Arkansas, was the only player with even a remote chance of catching Fritsch on Tuesday. He was still within five strokes midway through the back nine, but a double bogey at the 465-yard, par-4 14th knocked him out of contention. Nevertheless, he was still able to shoot 68 and fiinish second with a six-round aggregate of 409.
Dustin Bray closed with a 66 to claim third place at 410, and Rhein Gibson was another stroke back in fourth, after a 68.
Those who finished second through 10th got $15,000, along with their exempt status.
Those who finished 11th through 45th, plus ties -- actually 11th through 43rd, because there was a seven-way tie for 43rd at 422 (6 under) -- made $10,000.
Brady Schnell, 29, was one of those guys. He followed a Monday 66 at the Fazio Course (the other course that was used for the Q-School finale) with a 69 and tied for 21st place at 419.
After finishing his college career at the University of Nebraska in 2007, Schnell spent his first couple of years as a professional playing tournaments in the Midwest. He won the North Dakota Open in 2008 and was the leading money-winner on the Dakotas Tour that year (with just over $60,000), then qualified for the web.com Tour -- before it went by that name. It was the Nationwide in those days. The switch from "Nationwide" to "web.com" was made in 2012, but Schnell was gone by then. He lost his exempt status at the end of the 2010 season, after playing in 19 tournaments and making only a little more than $25,000, which relegated him to No. 134 on the money list that year.
In 2014, Schnell spent part of the year on the PGA Tour Canada, and in August he became the second player to break 60 on that tour. He dunked a wedge shot on the ninth hole, his last of the day, for a 13-under-par 59 at the Sirocco Golf Club in Calgary, on his way to a fourth-place finish in the ATB Financial Classic. Schnell ended up No. 16 on the Canadian Tour money list with $28,594. (Schnell's father, Curt, a club pro in Iowa, has also shot a 59, although his wasn't in competition.)
He had spent the first part of the year playing on the All-American-Gateway Tour in Arizona, where he was No. 13 on the money list with $21,150.
Now Schnell has added another $10,000 to his bank account, and he's back on the web.com Tour.
Josh Persons, the former North Dakota state high school champion who played for Minnesota at about the same time Schnell was at Nebraska (he graduated in 2006), just missed the top 45. Starting the day in a tie for 79th place, Persons birdied the first hole (590 yards, par 5) at the Fazio Course but bogeyed the next second and third, both par-4's. He played the next 14 holes in 6 under, including an eagle at the 520-yard, par-5 12th.
As it turned out, he needed one more birdie at the 465-yard, par-4 18th. But he had to settle for a par, and his 5-under 67 (Fazio is a par-72, Champion a par-71) put him at 423, tied for 50th place.
So Persons, who won once on the Canadian Tour this summer and was No. 8 on the money list ($39,350), will have partial status on the web.com next year, but he probably won't get into tournaments early in the year. The first web.com event on the 2015 schedule will be the Panama Claro Championship in Panama City, Jan. 29 to Feb. 1.
April 9, 2024
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