PGA TOUR QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT: 2nd STAGE RESULTS  

Updates from the first week of the second stage of the PGA Tour's Qualifying Tournament as 16 EGOLF Tarheel Tour players managed to successfully navigate their way into the second stage.

PINE MOUNTAIN, GA

The eyes of the EGOLF Tarheel Tour were all on leading money winner David Robinson of Sandersville, GA to see if he could capitalize on his 2008 success and earn a trip to the finals of the PGA Tour's annual Qualifying Tournament on Saturday. Robinson managed to overcome nerves and a double-bogey on the par-4 fourth to card a final-round 71 at Callaway Gardens and finish T11, good enough to start checking flights for Palm Springs, CA – site of the upcoming final stage. Robinson, who became the tour's first $100,000 player this year after three wins and zero cuts missed, was paired in the final round with Jeff Curl of Charlotte, NC, who finished second on the 2008 money list. Perhaps their friendship and familiarity put both players at ease as Curl was able to get past a recent shoulder injury to punch his first career ticket to the finals with a T17 finish, just one shot inside the number. For Curl, it was a continuation of stellar play as he finished off the season in style with a win at the Walnut Creek Open and the title in the season-ending S&K Menswear Fall Finale Series. Jonathan Fricke, who spent 2008 on the Nationwide Tour after finishing No. 8 on the 2007 EGOLF Tarheel Tour money list, built his needed cushion in Friday's third round with a 7-under 65 that put him clear inside the number and allowed him to get away with a final-round 72 that featured one birdie, one bogey and 16 pars. Joey Lamielle and Patton Kizzire rounded out the EGOLF Tarheel Tour representation at Callaway Gardens as Lamielle birdied the 72nd hole to make it on the number and Kizzire played his final 12 holes in five-under par to make it by two shots.

Callaway Gardens (Mountain View)
Pine Mountain, GA

10 Jonathan Fricke
T11 David Robinson
T11 Patton Kizzire
T17 Joey Lamielle
T17 Jeff Curl

BROOKSVILLE, FL

Southern Hills Plantation Club featured the most EGOLF Tarheel Tour players to make it through at one site in the first week of the second stage of PGA Tour Q-School. Leading the way and the tournament was Camilo Benedetti of Colombia who shared medalist honors with Todd Demsey. Benedetti's four-round total of 13-under 275 vaulted him to the final stage, where he will look to secure his PGA Tour card and play alongside fellow countryman and former University of Florida teammate Camilo Villegas. Josh Teater of Lexington, KY and Major Manning of Daytona Beach, FL each finished in the top five on the week and earned their spots in the pressure-packed final stage at PGA West. While Matt Borchert (T8), Brennan Webb (T8) and Lee Williamson (T12) made it through with a few shots to spare, Derek Lamely of Fort Myers, FL was forced to wait in a most excruciating manner. Lamely was in the fifth group off of No. 1 in the final round and recorded an untimely bogey at the par-4 18th to put him, at the time, right on the number. The former EGOLF Tarheel Tour player had to sit through eight more groups finishing on No. 18, all the while hoping no one finishing on No. 9 had a miracle in them. Turns out the wait was worth it as he made it on the number at 7-under 281 with a T15 finish to his name.

Southern Hills Plantation Club
Brooksville, FL

T1 Camilo Benedetti
3 Josh Teater
T4 Major Manning
T8 Matt Borchert
T8 Brennan Webb
T12 Lee Williamson
T15 Derek Lamely

PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL

Junior phenom and EGOLF Tarheel Tour player Sal Spallone of Vero Beach, FL could have been excused for having a bit of panic on his way to a third-place finish at Hombre Golf Club. Spallone, who entered the final round well inside the top 20 on the leaderboard, bogeyed two of his first four holes and had to endure that moment of questioning which way this round was going to go. Luckily for him, it quickly went the other way as he ripped off five birdies in the ensuing 12 holes to do a flyover on the number and coast into the finals of PGA Tour Q-School. Former PGA Tour player Tom Gillis of Oxford, MI, playing alongside Spallone, carded a final-round 73 but was able to finish T6 after playing his first 54 holes in 10-under par. Gillis actually parred his first 12 holes of the final round before playing his closing six holes in 2-over. Former EGOLF Tarheel Tour winner Gary Christian, who has finished no worse than 63rd on the Nationwide Tour money list over the past three seasons, finished T14 at Hombre to solidify his spot in the final stage yet again as he inches closer to his first PGA Tour card. Christian was sailing smoothly through 11 holes on Saturday with three birdies and eight pars before hitting a bit of a roller coaster. The Englishman went bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie on Nos. 12-17 before finally settling down with a par at the last to make it two shots clear of the cut line, which fell at 4-under 280.

Hombre Golf Club (Bad/Ugly)
Panama City Beach, FL

3 Sal Spallone
T6 Tom Gillis
T14 Gary Christian

KINGWOOD, TX

Former Clemson University standout and longtime EGOLF Tarheel Tour player Brian Duncan found himself in a rather difficult position after the first round this week in Kingwood, TX. A 4-over 76 left the Greenville, SC native in a tie for 70th place at a site where only the top 21 and ties were going to advance. Even a second-round 71 on Thursday only slightly alleviated the difficulty and barely closed the gap with 36 holes to go. The bogeys that plagued him for two days disappeared in a bogey-free third-round 66 that moved him up the leaderboard and into the mix with 18 holes to play. While Duncan only recorded two top-10 finishes on the 2008 EGOLF Tarheel Tour, Q-School is a game of “what have you done for me lately” and that question was answered abruptly with a final-round 69 that gave him a T7 finish – two shots inside the number that may have seemed more fantasy than reality a mere 72 hours prior. For his stellar play, Duncan earned his first career trip to the finals of the dreaded PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament.

Deerwood Golf Club
Kingwood, TX

T7 Brian Duncan