Q-School: Lickliter wins in a laugher
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By RAY McCARTHY
Assistant Editor
WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – At last, the silence is broken.
Despite starting the week 62-62, eventually racking up 33 birdies and three eagles, and torching the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School with a 29-under total of 403, Frank Lickliter II declined all media requests during the first five days of the six-round marathon.
Lickliter finally opened up when medalist honors were officially his: “Hogan didn’t talk to the press,” he said.
“I had fun on the golf course,” said Lickliter, who played his first seven holes of the week on the front nine of Orange County National’s Panther Lake Course in 6 under.
It would have been even more fun had a 35-footer for eagle on No. 7 dropped.
“I lipped it out,” said Lickliter. “I turned to one of the caddies and said, ‘Can you believe that didn’t go in?’
“I was expecting to make it.”
In his second round, Lickliter found himself 8 under with six holes to play.
“I was aware that I was making a bunch of birdies,” Lickliter said. “I just wanted one more birdie, one more birdie, one more birdie.”
Though a sub-60 round lurked, Lickliter had to settle for another 62 when he stuck a “magnificent” sand wedge to inches and made birdie on his closing hole.
Lickliter earned his trip to Q-School via a season full of disappointing play and missed cuts. In 30 events, Lickliter missed 19 cuts, and his best finishes were two ties for 13th at The Honda Classic and Wyndham Championship. Lickiter finished the year with $584,084, good enough for 132nd.
“I almost kept my card with garbage,” Lickliter said. “I had three weeks to do this and didn’t do it.”
“It was hard to watch”: Miguel Angel Carballo came to the 16th hole 3 under on the day and 16 under for the week, in prime position to make the 14-under cut and earn his long-awaited PGA Tour card.
Carballo pulled a 5-iron approach on the par-4 16th and followed with a chip that rolled back to his feet, resulting in a double-bogey 6.
Carballo then three-putted the par-5 17th from 12 feet for a devastating bogey.
“You feel everything the player is playing,” said Reynolds Robinson, Carballo’s caddie for the week. “It’s not him and me. It’s we.”
Needing a par, Carballo pulled another approach on the 18th hole and hit his pitch to 12 feet. He missed the putt and failed to earn his Tour card by one stroke.
“I was anxious because I wanted him to finish well and do well,” Robinson said. “It was hard to watch.”
Don’t act like an amateur: Throughout the week, a lot of interest surrounded the performances of 2007 U.S. Walker Cuppers Colt Knost, Dustin Johnson and Chris Kirk.
Knost had a storied year in the amateur ranks with wins at the U.S. Public Links and U.S. Amateur, while Johnson won the Monroe Invitational and Northeast Amateur. Knost went 3-0-1 in the Walker Cup and teamed up with Johnson twice for victories. The two turned pro along with Kirk soon after their Cup appearances.
Johnson entered the final round with a cushion at 18 under, but three back-nine bogeys put him at 15-under and precariously close to the 14-under cutline. A clutch two-putt birdie on the par-5 17th gave Johnson some wiggle room, and he earned his Tour card with a par on the last.
“I knew I was going to play Q-School. I wasn’t really worried about it,” Johnson said. “It’s a long tournament, and I just got better and better each day.”
Knost struggled to a first-round 3-over 75 on the Crooked Cat course and began his search for a miracle after finishing 1 over through three rounds.
“I wasn’t too sharp all week,” Knost said. “I got off to a rough start, and it was hard to fight back.”
The Southern Methodist product made three cuts in four starts on the PGA Tour this year. By virtue of his tie for 85th in the final stage, Knost earned conditional status for the Nationwide Tour and understands he will have to make the most of his starts next season. Same for Kirk, who finished tied for 106th.
“Definitely the best year I’ve ever had in golf. I wish I finished it off a little better,” said Knost, who forfeited a Masters invitation he earned from his amateur titles by turning professional. “I’m going to spend most of my time on the Nationwide Tour next year, make top-25 next year, and not have to play in this tournament again.”
Round of the day: Q-School doesn’t care if a player has won the NCAA Championship or at one time was a highly-touted college grad ready to take the golf world by storm.
Todd Demsey won the 1993 NCAA Championship and earned Pac-10, World Amateur and Pacific Coast Amateur titles while at Arizona State University, but toiled away in relative anonymity during the final stage of Q-School.
Demsey has struggled for success on the Nationwide Tour over the past decade while battling a brain tumor he was diagnosed with in 2002.
He finally broke through Monday during the final round of Q-School, carding a bogey-free 8-under 64 to vault up the leaderboard and finish in a tie for 8th, more than good enough to earn his Tour card.
“This is one of the most important days of my career,” Demsey said.
Demsey turned in 4-under 32, but thoughts of earning his cars on the back-nine proved meddlesome.
“I tried to have the attitude, ‘Whatever happens, happens. It’s not life or death,’ ” said Demsey, will undergo radiation treatment later this week to contain what remains of his tumor. “I feel the same pressure trying to make the cut every week on the Nationwide.”
A 40-footer for birdie on the par-5 14th gave Demsey a cushion, and he capped off his round with an up-and-down par on the 18th.
Final scores with earnings and relation to par from the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School, played Nov. 28 - Dec. 3 at Orange County National’s
par-72, 7,493-yard Crooked Cat course and par-72, 7,350-yard
Panther Lake course (Note: top 25 and ties earn PGA Tour cards, next
number closest to 50 earn Nationwide Tour cards, remainder earn partial
Nationwide status; a-amateur):
EARNED 2008 PGA TOUR CARD
| 1. Frank Lickliter II |
$50,000 |
|
62-62-68-72-68-71--403 |
|
|
-29 |
| 2. Brett Rumford |
$40,000 |
|
66-70-68-65-68-70--407 |
|
|
-25 |
| 3. Chris Stroud |
$35,000 |
|
69-68-69-68-64-71--409 |
|
|
-23 |
| 4. Jin Park |
$30,000 |
|
70-66-71-67-68-68--410 |
|
|
-22 |
| 5. Jason Allred |
$27,500 |
|
66-67-64-70-72-72--411 |
|
|
-21 |
| 6. Yong-Eun Yang |
$25,000 |
|
70-68-70-68-67-69--412 |
|
|
-20 |
| 6. Tag Ridings |
$25,000 |
|
68-69-67-69-67-72--412 |
|
|
-20 |
| 8. Todd Demsey |
$25,000 |
|
67-68-75-71-68-64--413 |
|
|
-19 |
| 9. Brad Adamonis |
$25,000 |
|
72-68-70-68-67-69--414 |
|
|
-18 |
| 9. Travis Perkins |
$25,000 |
|
67-67-69-68-69-74--414 |
|
|
-18 |
| 11. Parker McLachlin |
$25,000 |
|
70-71-68-67-67-72--415 |
|
|
-17 |
| 11. Kent Jones |
$25,000 |
|
70-69-68-70-66-72--415 |
|
|
-17 |
| 11. Cody Freeman |
$25,000 |
|
73-65-70-69-64-74--415 |
|
|
-17 |
| 14. Kenneth Ferrie |
$25,000 |
|
69-70-70-71-69-67--416 |
|
|
-16 |
| 14. Tim Wilkinson |
$25,000 |
|
73-70-68-70-67-68--416 |
|
|
-16 |
| 14. Kevin Streelman |
$25,000 |
|
71-68-69-69-66-73--416 |
|
|
-16 |
| 14. Dustin Johnson |
$25,000 |
|
72-67-67-70-66-74--416 |
|
|
-16 |
| 14. Duffy Waldorf |
$25,000 |
|
74-69-73-69-65-66--416 |
|
|
-16 |
| 19. Richard S. Johnson |
$25,000 |
|
70-69-70-72-68-68--417 |
|
|
-15 |
| 19. Jim McGovern |
$25,000 |
|
68-66-68-71-73-71--417 |
|
|
-15 |
| 19. Carlos Franco |
$25,000 |
|
68-71-71-69-68-70--417 |
|
|
-15 |
| 19. Tommy Gainey |
$25,000 |
|
67-68-65-71-69-77--417 |
|
|
-15 |
| 23. Bob Sowards |
$25,000 |
|
72-67-69-70-72-68--418 |
|
|
-14 |
| 23. John Merrick |
$25,000 |
|
68-69-73-68-73-67--418 |
|
|
-14 |
| 23. Alejandro Canizares |
$25,000 |
|
72-62-70-71-71-72--418 |
|
|
-14 |
| 23. David Lutterus |
$25,000 |
|
66-70-70-69-69-74--418 |
|
|
-14 |
| • • • |
|
|
|
|
|
|
EXEMPT 2008 NATIONWIDE
|
|
|
|
|
| 27. Bob May |
$5,000 |
|
69-73-68-67-73-69--419 |
|
|
-13 |
| 27. Peter Tomasulo |
$5,000 |
|
69-73-66-71-70-70--419 |
|
|
-13 |
| 27. Greg Chalmers |
$5,000 |
|
72-67-69-70-70-71--419 |
|
|
-13 |
| 27. Bubba Dickerson |
$5,000 |
|
70-71-69-67-71-71--419 |
|
|
-13 |
| 27. David McKenzie |
$5,000 |
|
70-71-68-72-70-68--419 |
|
|
-13 |
| 27. Miguel A. Carballo |
$5,000 |
|
69-72-70-67-68-73--419 |
|
|
-13 |
| 33. Jeremy Anderson |
$5,000 |
|
74-69-69-71-66-71--420 |
|
|
-12 |
| 33. Rick Price |
$5,000 |
|
70-69-71-70-70-70--420 |
|
|
-12 |
| 33. Kris Cox |
$5,000 |
|
74-72-67-66-70-71--420 |
|
|
-12 |
| 33. Bill Lunde |
$5,000 |
|
68-69-73-69-69-72--420 |
|
|
-12 |
| 33. Matthew Every |
$5,000 |
|
66-72-72-68-70-72--420 |
|
|
-12 |
| 33. B.J. Staten |
$5,000 |
|
71-67-73-71-69-69--420 |
|
|
-12 |
| 33. Kris Blanks |
$5,000 |
|
73-70-69-70-69-69--420 |
|
|
-12 |
| 33. D.H. Lee |
$5,000 |
|
67-70-70-71-69-73--420 |
|
|
-12 |
| 33. Harrison Frazar |
$5,000 |
|
67-69-73-69-74-68--420 |
|
|
-12 |
| 42. Spencer Levin |
$5,000 |
|
72-68-69-72-68-72--421 |
|
|
-11 |
| 42. Bob Heintz |
$5,000 |
|
67-70-72-70-72-70--421 |
|
|
-11 |
| 42. Brendon de Jonge |
$5,000 |
|
62-71-71-73-70-74--421 |
|
|
-11 |
| 42. Steve Allan |
$5,000 |
|
71-69-73-70-69-69--421 |
|
|
-11 |
| 42. Jonathan Fricke |
$5,000 |
|
75-71-69-70-65-71--421 |
|
|
-11 |
| 47. Jarrod Lyle |
$5,000 |
|
71-71-66-71-71-72--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 47. Skip Kendall |
$5,000 |
|
72-67-68-70-72-73--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 47. Darren Angel |
$5,000 |
|
71-67-68-71-73-72--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 47. John Kimbell |
$5,000 |
|
70-70-76-75-66-65--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 47. Matt Hansen |
$5,000 |
|
67-73-70-68-71-73--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 47. Darron Stiles |
$5,000 |
|
70-68-71-70-72-71--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 47. Grant Waite |
$5,000 |
|
71-73-67-69-71-71--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 47. Tom Carter |
$5,000 |
|
69-70-71-71-70-71--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 47. J.J. Killeen |
$5,000 |
|
72-70-68-68-70-74--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 47. Garrett Osborn |
$5,000 |
|
74-71-72-66-68-71--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 47. Andrew Bonhomme |
$5,000 |
|
70-69-72-67-69-75--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 47. Sebastian Fernandez |
$5,000 |
|
70-68-73-70-71-70--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 47. Kevin Johnson |
$5,000 |
|
69-70-71-72-70-70--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 47. Oskar Bergman |
$5,000 |
|
70-69-71-73-69-70--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 47. Jeff Klauk |
$5,000 |
|
74-71-70-70-69-68--422 |
|
|
-10 |
| 62. Esteban Toledo |
$5,000 |
|
70-70-71-70-68-74--423 |
|
|
-9 |
| 62. Scott Gordon |
$5,000 |
|
73-72-71-73-69-65--423 |
|
|
-9 |
| 62. Garth Mulroy |
$5,000 |
|
71-72-70-72-70-68--423 |
|
|
-9 |
| 62. Geoffrey Sisk |
$5,000 |
|
70-71-68-69-68-77--423 |
|
|
-9 |
| 62. Bret Guetz |
$5,000 |
|
75-69-68-71-69-71--423 |
|
|
-9 |
| 62. David Mathis |
$5,000 |
|
71-67-70-71-74-70--423 |
|
|
-9 |
| 62. Greg Owen |
$5,000 |
|
69-70-70-72-72-70--423 |
|
|
-9 |
| 62. Chris Nallen |
$5,000 |
|
70-74-69-75-65-70--423 |
|
|
-9 |
| 62. Jeff Gove |
$5,000 |
|
72-74-70-68-69-70--423 |
|
|
-9 |
| 62. Chris Tidland |
$5,000 |
|
71-71-68-73-69-71--423 |
|
|
-9 |
| 62. Scott Parel |
$5,000 |
|
71-70-70-72-69-71--423 |
|
|
-9 |
| 62. Chris Anderson |
$5,000 |
|
71-71-74-71-63-73--423 |
|
|
-9 |
| 74. Henrik Bjornstad |
$5,000 |
|
74-67-70-71-67-75--424 |
|
|
-8 |
| 74. Bryan Decorso |
$5,000 |
|
68-70-70-69-73-74--424 |
|
|
-8 |
| 74. Tyler Aldridge |
$5,000 |
|
71-70-72-69-70-72--424 |
|
|
-8 |
| 74. Jim Herman |
$5,000 |
|
73-70-72-68-69-72--424 |
|
|
-8 |
| 74. Tee McCabe |
$5,000 |
|
70-68-71-71-73-71--424 |
|
|
-8 |
| 74. Josh Broadaway |
$5,000 |
|
69-71-66-72-75-71--424 |
|
|
-8 |
| • • • |
|
|
|
|
|
|
NONEXEMPT N'WIDE
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 80. Casey Wittenberg |
|
|
72-74-70-63-72-74--425 |
|
|
-7 |
| 80. Patrick Damron |
|
|
70-70-69-71-71-74--425 |
|
|
-7 |
| 80. Brad Weesner |
|
|
72-73-70-71-71-68--425 |
|
|
-7 |
| 80. Ryan Palmer |
|
|
70-66-72-71-74-72--425 |
|
|
-7 |
| 80. Alex Prugh |
|
|
72-69-76-70-67-71--425 |
|
|
-7 |
| 85. Hunter Haas |
|
|
70-66-70-71-73-76--426 |
|
|
-6 |
| 85. Colt Knost |
|
|
75-70-72-68-73-68--426 |
|
|
-6 |
| 85. Daniel Summerhays |
|
|
73-72-69-72-71-69--426 |
|
|
-6 |
| 85. Brad Fritsch |
|
|
69-68-71-73-70-75--426 |
|
|
-6 |
| 85. Matt Bettencourt |
|
|
74-73-69-68-70-72--426 |
|
|
-6 |
| 85. Josh McCumber |
|
|
69-73-68-72-71-73--426 |
|
|
-6 |
| 85. David Schultz |
|
|
68-73-71-69-73-72--426 |
|
|
-6 |
| 85. Notah Begay III |
|
|
75-70-69-69-73-70--426 |
|
|
-6 |
| 93. Lee Curry |
|
|
76-73-74-65-70-69--427 |
|
|
-5 |
| 93. Anders Hultman |
|
|
72-72-71-71-71-70--427 |
|
|
-5 |
| 93. Nick Malinowski |
|
|
72-75-74-65-71-70--427 |
|
|
-5 |
| 93. Brenden Pappas |
|
|
73-70-69-71-71-73--427 |
|
|
-5 |
| 93. Ben Willman |
|
|
75-68-69-70-71-74--427 |
|
|
-5 |
| 93. Gibby Gilbert III |
|
|
73-69-73-68-70-74--427 |
|
|
-5 |
| 93. Dicky Pride |
|
|
70-67-73-71-74-72--427 |
|
|
-5 |
| 100. Brendan Steele |
|
|
73-69-71-73-72-70--428 |
|
|
-4 |
| 100. Jon Rusk |
|
|
68-70-69-72-73-76--428 |
|
|
-4 |
| 100. Doug LaBelle II |
|
|
68-70-70-71-73-76--428 |
|
|
-4 |
| 100. Marco Dawson |
|
|
73-68-72-71-71-73--428 |
|
|
-4 |
| 100. Rob Bradley |
|
|
74-67-72-74-68-73--428 |
|
|
-4 |
| 100. Tyler Williamson |
|
|
70-68-73-70-75-72--428 |
|
|
-4 |
| 106. Steve Lowery |
|
|
73-69-69-75-72-71--429 |
|
|
-3 |
| 106. Pat Bates |
|
|
69-71-72-74-72-71--429 |
|
|
-3 |
| 106. Tom Johnson |
|
|
70-68-74-73-72-72--429 |
|
|
-3 |
| 106. Chris Kirk |
|
|
71-73-70-73-72-70--429 |
|
|
-3 |
| 106. Bradley Iles |
|
|
72-70-74-71-70-72--429 |
|
|
-3 |
| 106. Michael Boyd |
|
|
77-73-72-67-70-70--429 |
|
|
-3 |
| 106. Adam Fox |
|
|
71-66-72-74-73-73--429 |
|
|
-3 |
| 106. Chris Parra |
|
|
73-73-72-71-71-69--429 |
|
|
-3 |
| 106. Mark Walker |
|
|
74-70-72-70-70-73--429 |
|
|
-3 |
| 106. Christo Greyling |
|
|
70-72-73-71-69-74--429 |
|
|
-3 |
| 116. Gavin Coles |
|
|
68-72-72-75-71-72--430 |
|
|
-2 |
| 116. Brent Delahoussaye |
|
|
73-75-73-67-70-72--430 |
|
|
-2 |
| 116. Ted Purdy |
|
|
68-71-72-75-70-74--430 |
|
|
-2 |
| 116. Greg Kraft |
|
|
74-73-74-69-71-69--430 |
|
|
-2 |
| 116. Scott Gutschewski |
|
|
68-71-74-76-66-75--430 |
|
|
-2 |
| 116. Scott Harrington |
|
|
72-70-70-70-75-73--430 |
|
|
-2 |
| 122. Randy Leen |
|
|
73-73-70-69-72-74--431 |
|
|
-1 |
| 122. D.A. Points |
|
|
67-74-74-74-68-74--431 |
|
|
-1 |
| 122. Scott Piercy |
|
|
73-74-73-68-69-74--431 |
|
|
-1 |
| 122. Andres Gonzales |
|
|
75-73-72-68-71-72--431 |
|
|
-1 |
| 122. Chris Kamin |
|
|
72-70-73-74-70-72--431 |
|
|
-1 |
| 122. Zoran Zorkic |
|
|
71-72-74-72-71-71--431 |
|
|
-1 |
| 122. Chad Ginn |
|
|
71-70-72-73-70-75--431 |
|
|
-1 |
| 129. Chris Riley |
|
|
72-70-71-75-70-74--432 |
|
|
E |
| 129. Wade Ormsby |
|
|
73-67-70-74-73-75--432 |
|
|
E |
| 129. Mike Sposa |
|
|
70-72-73-74-70-73--432 |
|
|
E |
| 129. Daisuke Maruyama |
|
|
71-68-72-73-71-77--432 |
|
|
E |
| 133. Chris Smith |
|
|
75-69-72-71-71-75--433 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 133. Reid Edstrom |
|
|
75-70-70-72-71-75--433 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 133. Matthew Call |
|
|
73-71-72-76-66-75--433 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 133. Brian Stuard |
|
|
73-71-69-74-73-73--433 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 133. David Roesch |
|
|
73-67-72-72-72-77--433 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 133. Kyle Reifers |
|
|
69-70-73-69-74-78--433 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 133. Won Joon Lee |
|
|
71-68-72-71-79-72--433 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 140. Jason Schultz |
|
|
75-70-70-70-72-77--434 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 141. Brad Lamb |
|
|
68-74-71-74-70-78--435 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 141. Ian Leggatt |
|
|
77-71-74-73-64-76--435 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 141. Mike Wendling |
|
|
71-68-71-78-72-75--435 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 141. Brendon Todd |
|
|
72-73-71-74-73-72--435 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 141. Todd Fischer |
|
|
72-75-74-73-69-72--435 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 141. Steve Pate |
|
|
72-71-74-76-72-70--435 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 147. Tommy Tolles |
|
|
73-75-70-69-75-74--436 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 147. Madalitso Muthiya |
|
|
72-71-78-69-75-71--436 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 149. Keoke Cotner |
|
|
70-72-73-73-73-76--437 |
|
+ |
5 |
| 149. Jeremy Pope |
|
|
70-70-73-73-78-73--437 |
|
+ |
5 |
| 149. Jason Dufner |
|
|
75-76-71-73-69-73--437 |
|
+ |
5 |
| 149. Seung-su Han |
|
|
74-69-79-72-72-71--437 |
|
+ |
5 |
| 153. Pete Jordan |
|
|
70-71-75-76-74-72--438 |
|
+ |
6 |
| 154. Kieran Staunton |
|
|
77-72-72-70-73-75--439 |
|
+ |
7 |
| 154. Steve Hart |
|
|
71-73-72-79-70-74--439 |
|
+ |
7 |
| 156. Kelly Sellers |
|
|
73-78-74-70-69-77--441 |
|
+ |
9 |
| 156. Keith Nolan |
|
|
70-74-74-75-73-75--441 |
|
+ |
9 |
| 158. Spike McRoy |
|
|
76-75-70-76-73-76--446 |
|
+ |
14 |
Posted: 12/3/2007
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|
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