Meet the Five Pros Who Earned PGA Tour Cards at Q-School
Monday was a day to remember for five professional golfers.
For the first time since 2012, five pros earned full membership on the PGA Tour at the conclusion of the Final Stage of Q-School. The three-part tournament series allows players the opportunity to earn status on various tours for the coming year. With PGA Tour cards on the line, the tournament’s high-stakes and emotional nature was only heightened. Five individuals changed the course of their careers and lives with 72 holes of stellar golf this week.
Here are the players who will enter the new year as PGA Tour members after finishing in the top 5 at Q-School.
Harrison Endycott
Endycott, 27, won the 72-hole event by four shots, finishing at 15 under for the tournament. After clinching his PGA Tour card in 2022 through the Korn Ferry Tour, the Australian simply couldn’t find form in 2023: He missed 20 of 33 cuts. He failed to climb into the top 125 on the FedEx Cup standings, and therefore lost full status for 2024. Q-School was his opportunity to earn it back, and he did exactly that.
Blaine Hale Jr.
Hale Jr., 26, is the lone Q-School qualifier who has yet to tee it up in a PGA Tour event. The Oklahoma product turned pro in 2019, and has since attempted to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour multiple times. Having no luck, Hale competed in any mini-tour event that he could find. “Being a professional golfer isn’t necessarily glamorous when you’re not playing on the PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour,” Hale said. “It’s driving to the middle of nowhere Kansas for a Monday qualifier, or driving to small-town Oklahoma for a mini-tour event.” Hale Jr. can say goodbye to those solo cross-country drives—he’s PGA Tour bound.
Trace Crowe
The Auburn graduate missed out on earning his card through the Korn Ferry Tour by just over 50 points this season. Despite winning the NV5 Invitational earlier in the summer, two tough days at the KFT Championship proved to be costly: Rounds of 76 and 74 on the weekend caused his name to plummet outside the top 30. The 27-year-old entered Q-School determined to take advantage of his second chance. He shot a final round 67 to secure solo second place at Q-School and snag a 2024 PGA Tour card.
“We did it, dude,” he said after the round. “This is what I’ve been dreaming of doing my whole life.”
Hayden Springer
With an 8 under tournament total, Springer successfully locked up one of the last two PGA Tour cards at Q-School to cap off what can only be described as a heart-wrenching year. The 26-year-old from Trophy Club, Texas, played a full season on PGA Tour Canada where he locked up his Korn Ferry Tour status. But he did it while battling a nightmare off of the course. Springer and his wife, Emma, lost their 3-year old daughter, Sage, just a month ago. Diagnosed with a a rare genetic condition called Trisomy 18 at birth, Sage was only expected to live a few weeks. But she survived three beautiful years and, as Springer’s wife said, “she inspired joy in a lot of people.” Now Springer will carry on Sage’s legacy on the PGA Tour.
Raul Pereda
The 27-year-old from Cordoba, Mexico, earned his PGA Tour card thanks to some fireworks on the back nine of the final round. Pereda chipped in for birdie twice during the final stretch of the tournament to secure full PGA Tour membership by just one shot. The Jacksonville University alum will now be the only player on Tour of Mexican descent.
“My brother was here, my mom was here, and this is for them, and this is for my entire country supporting me,” Pereda said.