(December 3, 2012) - PGA TOUR Canada member Brad Fritsch ended PGA TOUR Qualifying School in style Monday, firing a four-under 68 to finish 22-under par and tied for seventh, improving his status for the PGA TOUR in 2013.
Fritsch, who earlier this year finished 18th on the Web.com Tour money list to earn his PGA TOUR Card, improved his priority ranking for 2013 by moving up in the exempt category for Web.com Tour and Q-School graduates.
Fritsch, who had 16 top-10s in eight seasons on Canadian Tour from, fired rounds of 72-67-66-71-66-68 and was just three shots behind medalist Dong-hwan Lee.
2012 Players Cup runner-up Vince Covello and two-time Canadian Tour winner Adam Hadwin nearly earned PGA TOUR status, with Covello rebounding from an early double bogey to finish with a 2-under 70 and miss by just a single shot at 16-under, tied for 27th.
Hadwin made a valiant charge on the final day, shooting his fourth consecutive 68 to finish 15-under par and tied for 32nd, just two shots outside the cutoff for PGA TOUR cards.
It was the second close call for Hadwin's quest to reach the PGA TOUR this season. The 25-year old was one shot shy of a runner-up finish at the Web.com Tour Championship, which would have given him enough money to finish inside the top 25 on the money list.
Joining Hadwin and Covello with exempt status on the Web.com Tour next year will be Merritt, BC's Roger Sloan, who finished with rounds of 66-68 to finish tied for 73rd. Players finishing 26th-75th earn exempt status for the first 10 events of the 2013 Web.com Tour season.
Other PGA TOUR Canada players at final stage included Matt Hill (-4, T-118), Richard Scott (-5, T-114), Brian Prouty (-1, T-33) and Mitch Evanecz (E, T-139).
PGA TOUR Qualifying School Final Stage (Top 25 & ties receive PGA TOUR card)
QUALIFIED:
T-7 - Brad Fritsch - Manotick, ON - 72-67-66-71-66-68 (-22)
DID NOT QUALIFY:
T-27 - Vince Covello - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL - 69-70-67-73-67-70 (-16)
T-32 - Adam Hadwin - Abbotsford, BC - 74-71-68-68-68-68 (-15)
T-114 - Richard Scott - Kingsville, ON - 73-70-73-68-69-74 (-5)
T-118 - Matt Hill - Sarnia, ON - 74-65-73-70-72-74 (-4)
T-73 - Roger Sloan - Merritt, BC - 71-72-75-70-66-68 (-10)
T-133 - Brian Prouty - Tucson, AZ - 71-74-73-69-70-74 (-1)
T-139 - Mitch Evanecz - Red Deer, AB - 74-69-73-70-75-71 (E)
PGA TOUR Qualifying School Second Stage
NOVEMBER 13-16
Plantation Preserve Golf Course & Club - Plantation, FL (Top 19 & ties advance)
DID NOT QUALIFY:
T-36 - David Byrne - Essex, ON - 68-74-65-70 (-7)
T-39 - Yohann Benson - Montreal, QC - 69-70-68-71 (-6)
T-56 - Jon McLean - Weston, FL - 69-74-67-71 (-3)
TPC Craig Ranch - McKinney, TX (Top 20 & ties advance)
DID NOT QUALIFY:
T-24 - Tyler Aldridge - Nampa, ID - 71-68-71-69 (-9)
T-26 - Tyler Weworski - Carlsbad, CA - 70-67-69-74 (-8)
T-26 - Scott Harrington - Scottsdale, AZ - 72-64-72-72 (-8)
T-33 - James Love - Calgary, AB - 68-73-69-72 (-6)
T-39 - Wil Collins - Albuquerque, NM - 74-71-70-69 (-4)
T-39 - Jesse Speirs - Memphis, TN - 75-68-73-68 (-4)
T-48 - Adam Cornelson - Richmond, BC - 72-69-75-70 (-2)
T-55 - Wes Homan - Cincinnati, OH - 78-72-67-71 (E)
T-70 - Jeff Rangel - Pleasant Hill, CA - 71-73-76-75 (+7)
T-72 - Oscar Fraustro - Scottsdale, AZ - 71-76-80-71 (+10)
Redstone Golf Club - Humble, TX (Top 19 & ties advance)
QUALIFIED:
T-12 - Roger Sloan - Merritt, BC - 72-69-67-72 (-8)
T-18 - Richard Scott - Kingsville, ON - 72-70-69-70 (-7)
DID NOT QUALIFY:
T-26 - Brady Schnell - Milford, IA - 68-72-71-72 (-5)
T-32 - Mark Hubbard - Denver, CO - 72-66-73-73 (-4)
T-35 - Dan Buchner - Seal Beach, CA - 75-71-66-73 (-3)
T-39 - Michael McCabe - Venice, CA - 72-73-66-75 (-2)
T-47 - Michael Gligic - Burlington, ON - 71-70-72-73 (-1)
T-50 - Nathan Stamey - Canton, NC - 76-71-68-74 (+1)
T-60 - Brett Kanda - Las Vegas, NV - 75-71-73-73 (+4)
T-62 - Geoff Gonzalez - Diablo, CA - 74-73-70-76 (+5)
70 - Wes Heffernan - Calgary, AB - 71-78-70-78 (+9)
NOVEMBER 14-17
Southern Hills Plantation Club - Brooksville, FL (Top 19 & ties advance)
QUALIFIED:
9 - Matt Hill - Sarnia, ON - 67-70-70-70 (-11)
DID NOT QUALIFY:
T-58 - Garrett Frank - Youngstown, ON - 73-74-70-74 (+3)
WD - Hugo Leon - Tequesta, FL - 67-78 (+1)
Hombre Golf Club - Panama City Beach, FL (Top 19 & ties advance)
QUALIFIED:
T-2 - Vince Covello - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL - 68-63-72-71 (-10)
DID NOT QUALIFY:
T-23 - Eugene Wong - North Vancouver, BC - 70-72-71-69 (-2)
T-33 - Ty Harris - Longwood, FL - 70-69-73-72 (E)
T-33 - Ben Alvarado - Chile - 72-71-69-72 (E)
T-45 - Nate McCoy - West Des Moines, IA - 65-70-79-73 (+3)
T-56 - Chan Kim - Gilbert, AZ - 75-71-71-74 (+3)
71 - Cody Slover - Visalia, CA - 71-76-76-78 (+17)
Bear Creek Golf Club - Murrieta, CA (Top 19 & ties advance)
QUALIFIED:
T-4 - Brian Prouty - Tucson, AZ - 68-74-64-72 (-10)
T-6 - Mitch Evanecz - Red Deer, AB - 66-72-69-73 (-8)
DID NOT QUALIFY:
T-26 - Stuart Anderson - Sooke, BC - 72-71-75-67 (-3)
42 - Garrett Sapp - Cerritos, CA - 71-71-72-75 (+3)
T-43 - Seung-su Han - Tustin, CA - 72-74-74-70 (+2)
T-46 - Nick Taylor - Abbotsford, BC - 71-67-76-77 (+3)
T-46 - Alex Coe - La Quinta, CA - 75-73-70-73 (+3)
T-54 - David Dragoo - Phoenix, AZ - 73-72-73-76 (+6)
T-61 - Joel Dahmen - Clarkston, WA - 71-74-74-77 (+8)
T-64 - Creighton Honeck - Austin, TX - 70-74-80-73 (+9)
T-64 - Lucas Lee - Torrance, CA - 71-75-75-76 (+9)
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39 PGA TOUR Canada players made it through the first stage of PGA TOUR Qualifying School over the past two weeks. Check out their scores here:(bold denotes Canadian).
OCTOBER 16-19
