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Twenty-five players earned exclusive PGA Tour membership status thanks to their performances at the National Qualifying Tournament. Eight of the graduates were members in 2007 and three more return to the tour after a hiatus. But a majority of 14 players report for duty as first-timers. CBSSports.com Senior Writer Steve Elling provides an introduction for this crop of rookies.
Brett Rumford
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2007 Q-school finish: Second place Age: 30 Nationality: Australian  Résumé: European Tour member since 2001; Three career European Tour titles; Seven starts on the Nationwide Tour; One start in regular PGA Tour event. Steve Elling's take: He might qualify as a rookie, but his pedigree is the strongest of the first-time players who landed on the premier American circuit via Q-school. He has three wins on the European Tour and finished second at the Q-school finals to Frank Lickliter. He won the Australian Tour's ANZ Players Championship in 1999 as an amateur, the week after countryman Aaron Baddeley did likewise at the Aussie Open. Rumford turned pro a year later, playing steadily on the European circuit since. |
Jin Park
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2007 Q-school finish: Fourth place Age: 28 Nationality: South Korean  Résumé: Asian Tour member in 2007; Nationwide Tour member in 2006; Eight career starts on the PGA Tour. Steve Elling's take: It should not have been surprising that Park finished fourth at Q-school -- he was in great form coming in. He finished fourth in Singapore a few days before finals in an event that featured Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els. Park has lived in the States for 20 years, he said, and attended Arizona State along with Paul Casey, Jeff Quinney, Matt Jones and Chez Reavie. Jones and Reavie secured their tour cards off the Nationwide this year and join Park as rookies in the majors. |
Yong-Eun Yang
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2007 Q-school finish: Tied for sixth place Age: 35 Nationality: South Korean Résumé: Seven pro titles throughout Asia since turning pro in 1996; Nine PGA Tour events in 2007. Steve Elling's take: Whereas Park proved that he could play with the big boys in Singapore, Yang proved he could beat them, holding off Tiger Woods to win an event in China last year. If the guy never does another thing in his career, he can already lay claim to a feat few have achieved. Has played a handful of events on the PGA Tour, mostly in the majors and WGC events by virtue of his status on the Asian tours. |
Brad Adamonis
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2007 Q-school finish: Tied for ninth place Age: 34 Nationality: American  Résumé: Nationwide Tour member since 2002; Won the 2007 WNB Golf Classic; Seven career starts on the PGA Tour. Steve Elling's take: Adamonis won his first Nationwide Tour event this year and earned the respect of many when he dedicated the victory to his fallen friend, fellow tour player Erik Compton, a Miami-based pro who had suffered a heart attack. At 34, Adamonis has plenty to prove, since he's been a solid, not spectacular, player on the Nationwide. |
Travis Perkins
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2007 Q-school finish: Tied for ninth place Age: 30 Nationality: American Résumé: Played on 2006 Nationwide Tour; In 2002, he played 14 events. Steve Elling's take: We always root for the guys who attended small colleges, like NCAA Division II program Florida Southern, which has produced Lee Janzen and Rocco Mediate, among others. Perkins had a miserable Nationwide season in 2006, winning a shade over $29,000, and spent 2007 on the Hooters circuit, where he made 14 starts. He had entered Q-school every year since 2000 before finally cracking the big leagues. |
Cody Freeman
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2007 Q-school finish: Tied for 11th place Age: 30 Nationality: American Résumé: Competed on the Tight Lies Tour since college; Nine starts on the Nationwide Tour; Two PGA Tour events Steve Elling's take: Good news: Freeman has very few battle scars. Bad news: He hasn't mixed it up much. An insurance agent who played at Oklahoma, Freeman has spent much of the past few years behind a desk. He has played in 10 events on the PGA and Nationwide tours, combined, over the past seven years. Wonder if he sold Nationwide insurance? Ah, irony. |
Kenneth Ferrie
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2007 Q-school finish: Tied for 14th place Age: 29 Nationality: British  Résumé: Full-time member on the European Tour since 2001; Collected two European titles. Steve Elling's take: The pasty, 6-4 Brit was wandering around Q-school finals wearing shorts, a sight that caused blindness in those who were not wearing shades. But the longtime European Tour member will get his fill of sunshine this year in the States. He's a former British Boys Champion, joining Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia. He has some experience here, having played at Midland Junior College in Texas before turning pro in 1999. Has his own website, which features a picture of Ferrie in front of the Augusta National clubhouse on its main page. |
Tim Wilkinson
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2007 Q-school finish: Tied for 14th place Age: 29 Nationality: New Zealand  Résumé: Nationwide Tour member since 2005; Two career PGA Tour starts. Steve Elling's take: It was a memorable month for left-handed New Zealanders. The country's greatest player, lefty Bob Charles, made the cut at the New Zealand Open at age 71 and Wilkinson appeared from relative nowhere to win his tour card. Wilkinson had toiled on the Australasian Tour for a while before playing on the Nationwide last year, where he made an ultra-consistent 23 of 26 cuts. So he seems fairly solid in that regard. And that's no left-handed compliment. |
Kevin Streelman
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2007 Q-school finish: Tied for 14th place Age: 28 Nationality: American Résumé: Played on the mini-Tours over the last few years, including the Hooters Tour and Gateway Tour; Four career PGA Tour starts. Steve Elling's take: Ah, geez, does the PGA Tour need another Duke grad? We like 'em dumb and dumber. Streelman is another guy who surely has paid his dues, grinding along on the Hooters, Gateway, Dakotas and U.S. Pro tours before hitting paydirt this year. He had three wins on the Gateway Tour this year, where the purses are mostly generated by player entry fees. In other words, legalized gambling. |
Dustin Johnson
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2007 Q-school finish: Tied for 14th place Age: 23 Nationality: American Résumé: Three-time All-American at Coastal Carolina University; Member of the 2007 U.S. Walker Cup team; One PGA Tour appearance. Steve Elling's take: One of three guys named Johnson to either secure or reclaim thsir tour cards for 2008, joining two guys named Richard Johnson. While they both have significantly longer pro resumes -- the Richards have played on the European and PGA tours for years -- Dustin might be the better long-term prospect. A former Walker Cupper, he's just a kid at 23 and will be one of the youngest players on tour in '08. He's a long hitter (surprise) who was a three-time All-American at Coastal Carolina. |
Tommy Gainey
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2007 Q-school finish: Tied for 19th place Age: 32 Nationality: American Résumé: Played on the Tarheel Tour in 2006 and 2007; First PGA Tour start in 2007; Four starts on the 2007 Nationwide Tour. Steve Elling's take: Nicknamed Tommy "Two Gloves" because of his habit of wearing gloves on both hands, he gained a measure of fame on the Golf Channel's reality series. Gainey's past is the type of biographical fare that can't be invented. He worked on an assembly line, wrapping hot-water heaters in fiberglass insulation while playing various mini-tours in the Southeast. As for the two gloves? The ritual started because he wore 'em on both hands while playing baseball and it carried over to golf. |
Bob Sowards
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2007 Q-school finish: Tied for 23rd place Age: 39 Nationality: American Résumé: Winner of the 2004 PGA Club Professional Championship; 11 career starts on the PGA Tour; Full season on the 1998 NIKE Tour. Steve Elling's take: This guy has probably given hope to dozens of bored club pros out there who, in their wildest dreams, have aspired to play with the big boys. The former PGA Club Professional Championship winner is finally getting a chance to sample the majors at the ripe age of 39. Beats handing buckets of range balls over the counter to members or folding shirts in the pro shop all to heck, right? |
Alejandro Canizares
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2007 Q-school finish: Tied for 23rd place Age: 24 Nationality: Spainish  Résumé: Played on the European Tour in 2006-07; Made three PGA Tour appearances in 2007. Steve Elling's take: The kid is 1-for-1 at Q-school. Canizares had played on the European Tour since graduating from Arizona State, where he won an NCAA individual championship in 2003. In fact, after winning the Euro Tour's Russian Open a few weeks into his pro career, he never had to bother with Q-school overseas. In his first crack in the States, he made a five-footer on the 108th hole to secure his card. His dad, four-time Ryder Cup player Jose Maria Canizares, plays on the Champions Tour. |
David Lutterus
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2007 Q-school finish: Tied for 23rd place Age: 22 Nationality: Australian Résumé: 12 career starts on the Nationwide Tour Steve Elling's take: The youngest of the true Q-school rookies heading into 2008 and one of two Aussies. He might be the least-known player in the bunch in the States, but he appears to have some flair (Aussies usually do) and personality. On his bio sheet, handed to him by tour media officials at Q-school finals, he listed his heroes as Tiger Woods, Arnold Schwarzenegger and rapper 50 Cent. |
