This is it.
For 168 golfers heading to Northeast Florida to try to earn PGA TOUR cards at Q-School – for the first time since 2012 – just the final four rounds of Q-School presented by Korn Ferry are left on the calendar.
The field varies wildly from past PGA TOUR winners to young superstars-in-waiting keen to make their presence felt amongst the best in the world.
While the holiday season is right around the corner, it’s pressure season right now.
Here’s everything you need to know about Q-School’s Final Stage, happening Dec. 14-17.
FIELD NOTABLES: Wesley Bryan heads to Final Stage after sneaking into the field after his finish at The RSM Classic. Bryan, who made the cut at the Bermuda Championship alongside his brother George (in his PGA TOUR debut), was the last player to win three times on the Korn Ferry Tour. That status is technically on the line this week, too… There are a handful of recent PGA TOUR winners who find themselves at Final Stage including Brice Garnett, Austin Cook, Richy Werenski, Adam Long and Patton Kizzire. Kizzire emotionally opened up at The RSM Classic after finishing 129th in the FedExCup Fall standings… Three of the top five from the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking are in action including Ross Steelman, Fred Biondi and Sam Bennett – who earned Low Amateur honors at the Masters… Each of the top five from the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica (Totalplay Cup) and PGA TOUR Canada (Fortinet Cup) standings are set to tee it up. With a heavy heart, Hayden Springer – who finished No. 1 on PGA TOUR Canada’s season-long race in 2023 – is back in action after the death of his 3-year-old daughter, Sage, on Nov. 13… There’s plenty of international flare, as three of the top five from the 2022-23 PGA TOUR Australasia Order of Merit (David Michelizzi, Thomas Horan and John Lyras) along with Keita Nakajima (No. 1 on Japan Golf Tour Order of Merit) and Jeongwoo Ham (No. 1 on Korea Professional Golfers’ Association Points List), are looking to make a splash on TOUR.
Besides the various exemption categories, the balance of the field was made up of those who qualified out of Second Stage. Here are the medalists from each of the sites.
| NAME | SITE | NOTE |
| Aldrich Potgieter | Valdosta, Georgia | The 19-year-old won the Amateur Championship in 2022, becoming the second-youngest winner in the event’s 127-year history; turned pro in 2023. |
| Jeffery Kang | Valencia, California | Recorded four top 10s in a row on PGA TOUR Canada in 2023 including two runner-up finishes |
| Bryson Nimmer | Savannah, Georgia | Played collegiately at Clemson; has made 38 starts across the TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour, the highlight being a T10 at this year’s Club Car Championship (on the same course as his medalist effort) |
| KK Limbhasut/Danny Walker | Port St. Lucie, Florida | Walker is a two-time winner on PGA TOUR Canada. Limbhasut played alongside Collin Morikawa at the University of California-Berkeley; teed it up at one Korn Ferry Tour event in 2023. |
| Connor Burgess/Mark Goetz | Dothan, Alabama | Goetz made seven of nine cuts on PGA TOUR Canada in 2023. Burgess attended Virginia Tech; played one Korn Ferry Tour event this season. |
A long journey home
Seventy-nine players advanced to Final Stage via Second Stage, while the remainder of the field earned direct access to Final Stage through various exemption categories. Of the 521 players who started at Pre-Qualifying (there were eight sites), only two made it to Final Stage – Caleb Hicks, a 2023 graduate of the University of Texas Arlington, and 39-year-old journeyman Wes Homan.
What they’re playing for
PGA TOUR cards are up for grabs at Q-School for the first time in a decade. Here’s what the field will be playing for at Final Stage.
• Top five finishers (and ties) will earn PGA TOUR cards
• The next 40 finishers (and ties) will earn exempt status through multiple reshuffles of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season
• The first 25 finishers and ties are subject to the third reshuffle (12 guaranteed starts) and any remaining finishers within the category are subject to the second reshuffle (eight guaranteed starts)
• The next 20 finishers (and ties) at Final Stage will earn exempt status for the Latin America Swing of the 2024 PGA TOUR Americas season, while also earning conditional Korn Ferry Tour membership
• All remaining finishers at Final Stage will have conditional Korn Ferry Tour membership and conditional PGA TOUR Americas membership for the 2024 season
Final Stage medalist(s) will join heady company. Major champions Mike Weir (1998), Paul Azinger (1984), Fuzzy Zoeller (1974) and Ben Crenshaw (1973) were all past field-toppers.
How it works
The 168-player field will play two rounds at Dye’s Valley and two rounds at Sawgrass Country Club. Golfers will play in the same groups for the first two rounds before being re-paired for the third (and fourth) rounds.
The top half of the field will play the third round at Sawgrass Country Club and the fourth at Dye’s Valley, while the bottom half will play the opposite layouts.
There is no cut.
COURSES: TPC Sawgrass (Dye’s Valley), par 70, 6,850 yards. Sawgrass Country Club (East/West Courses), par 70, 7,054 yards.
Sawgrass Country Club hosted THE PLAYERS Championship on its East/West Course from 1977-1981.
Dye’s Valley – designed by Pete Dye, Bobby Weed and player consultant Jerry Pate (who won THE PLAYERS in 1982), it opened in 1987 and has been a multi-time event host of the Korn Ferry Tour. Expect plenty of water and plenty of Pete Dye’s trademarks to challenge the game’s best in the Final Stage pressure cooker.
LAST TIME: Bo Hoag topped overnight leader Chan Kim by one shot to earn fully exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour as medalist at Final Stage in 2022. Hoag birdied each of his first five holes in his final round a year ago and shot a 6-under 30 for his opening nine holes. Chris Gotterup also got out of the gates quickly in 2022, birdied five of his first six holes in the final round. He couldn’t push Hoag any further on the back nine, however, and a double bogey on the par-5 15th was his eventual undoing in terms of trying to win medalist. Still, he earned guaranteed starts in the first 12 events via his top-10 finish. Gotterup finished tied for third with Chase Seiffert. Thomas Rosenmueller of Germany rounded out the top five.
HOW TO WATCH: Saturday: 12:30-4:30 p.m. ET (Peaco*ck), 2:30-4:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday: 12:30-4:30 p.m. ET (Peaco*ck), 1:30-4:30 p.m. (Golf Channel)
