Thanks Wiki for making this easy. Sorry for the cut and paste but I am in the middle of this and don’t have a lot of time to write. Here is a brief explaination of the PGA Tour Qualifying. The course I am playing first is Kinderlou Forrest.

Results

PGA Tour Qualifying

The PGA Tour’s qualifying school is officially known as the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, but the organization also frequently refers to it as “Q-School.” The system dates back to 1965, and as of 2008 involves four stages (see this link to the 2007 results, and also the official application, which includes the criteria for exemption to a particular stage):

• Pre-Qualifying Stage: Six tournaments held in September, all in warm-weather locations in the United States. Each is played over four rounds. This stage was introduced in 2006 with four tournaments. In each tournament, roughly 35 to 40 players, plus ties, advance to the next stage.
• First Stage: Twelve tournaments held in October (compared to 14 in 2005, before the introduction of Pre-Qualifying, and 10 in 2006), also in warm-weather locations in the United States. Each is played over four rounds. The participants are a mixture of Pre-Qualifying Stage winners and players who were exempted from Pre-Qualifying. Roughly the top 25 players plus ties in each tournament advance.
• Second Stage: Six tournaments in November, also in warm-weather locations and each played over four rounds. Like the First Stage, certain players receive exemptions to this stage. Roughly the top 20 plus ties in each tournament advance.
• Final Stage: One tournament played over six rounds in late November-early December. The field consists of Second Stage winners and players who received exemptions into the Final Stage. The top 25 players, plus ties, earn PGA Tour cards for the following year. Their priority ranking for purposes of tournament entry is 24; this ranking enables them to enter most full-field events on the PGA Tour, but not more prestigious stops on the tour unless a substantial number of players in higher categories skip the events. For example, the top 125 players on the previous year’s money list who are not otherwise eligible are at priority 19; sponsor’s exemptions are priority 11; and winners of PGA Tour events in the previous two years are priority 9.

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