Round 4 Notes
* Harrison Frazar made four birdies and an eagle at the par-five seventh on the Nicklaus course en route to a front-side 30, which he followed with seven consecutive birdies on holes 11 -17 to post a fourth-round, 13-under 59. Frazar leads through four rounds by four over Tyler Aldridge.* En route to his 13-under 59, Harrison Frazar became the first player on the PGA TOUR in 2008 to post seven consecutive birdies.
* The only other 59 in PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament was David Gossett in 200 (Nicklaus private course). David Duval eagled the last hole in the final-round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic’s Palmer private course for a 59 in 1999.
* Harrison Frazar made 13 cuts in 23 starts in 2008 on the PGA TOUR, with his best finish being a T4 at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. Frazar makes his return to Q-School based on a 163rd place finish on the 2008 PGA TOUR money list.
* This is Harrison Frazar’s third trip to the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. In 1996, he finished 87th, and last year, Frazar finished T33.
* On the PGA TOUR, Harrison Frazar has previously shot a career-low 62 five times, with the most recent coming in the final round of the 2005 B.C. Open.
* With two rounds to play, Harrison Frazar has previously held at least a share of the lead five times. With none having led to victory, his best finish was a T3 at the 2003 FBR Open.
* “The two swings on 18, I am most proud of,” Harrison Frazar said. “Those two swings were the best swings I’ve made all year. “
* “The 59 is nice,” Harrison Frazar said. “That is something I will always have with me and is something I am very proud of. But we still have two more rounds here and that is the bigger goal.”
* In Saturday’s fourth-round, 24 year-old Tyler Aldridge fired an eight-under 64 to trail Harrison Frazar’s 24-under lead by 4 strokes headed into Sunday’s fifth-round. Aldridge, a rookie on the Nationwide Tour, made just six of 23 cuts in 2008. His previous best round in ’08 was a five-under 66 in round-one of The Rex Hospital Open.
* On the heels of his third-round eight-under 64 in round three, Glen Day went 58 consecutive holes without a bogey before a bogey at his last hole in round-four.
* John Huston’s story at the 2008 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament has certainly been one of improvement. In Wednesday’s first-round, Huston posted a two-over 74, followed by a second-round, three-under 69. In rounds three and four, he posted back-to-back 65s. By doing so, he has been bogey-free since his ninth hole in round-two, totaling 45 holes. Following his first-round 74, Huston noted that he was “not feeling well.”
* In 2006, the last time the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament was played at PGA West, DJ Brigman posted a six-under 66 on the Stadium course in the final round to finish at nine-under, securing a return trip to the PGA TOUR in 2007. In round four in 2008, Brigman made 11 birdies, six pars and a double-bogey to post a nine-under 63 for the day.
* DJ Brigman’s nine-under 63 in round-five helped dramatically with his positioning on the leaderboard. He began the day T85, but at day’s end, he held a share of 15th place.
* Joe Durant followed a third-round seven-under 65 with a fourth round 78 to drop all the way to T106 from T11.
* There were 20 bogey-free rounds in round-four, 18 of which came on the Nicklaus course. Only Matt Borchert (65) and Jason Day (69) carded bogey-free rounds on the Stadium course.
* The scoring average for the Nicklaus course in round-four was 68.568, with the 18th hole ranking as the hardest. On the Stadium course, the scoring average was more than three strokes more diffcult, averaging 71.901. The 9th hole on the Stadium course ranked as the toughest Saturday.
* After today’s fourth (of six) round, competitors will be re-grouped according to scores. The field will be split into approximate equal portions. Those in the field with the lowest scores will play the Stadium course. The remainder of the field will play the Nicklaus course.
* There is no cut after any of the six rounds, and all competitors will receive some level of status for 2009 on either the PGA TOUR or Nationwide Tour, including those competitors who withdrew. Richard Johnson withdrew prior to the start of the fourth-round and will thus be given a last-place status.
* The purse for the 2008 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament is $1,057,500 with the winner receiving $50,000. Players earning a PGA TOUR card by finishing tied 25th or better after 108 holes will earn a minimum of $25,000. Players who gain exempt status on the Nationwide Tour by finishing in the next 50 (or number nearest to 50) will earn $5,000.
* The final stage saw 163 players (including one amateur – Scott Fawcett from Dallas, TX) tee it up after 1288 players entered the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. Six Pre-Qualifying sites, 12 First-Stage sites and six Second-Stage sites were used to determine the 163 players for the Final-Stage.
* Only six players made it through Pre-Qualifying, First-Stage and Second-Stage to reach the finals. They are Scott Fawcett, Brad Golden, Patton Kizzire, Martin Piller, Joseph Sykora and Steven Taylor. In 2007, six players also advanced through the Pre-Qualifying and both stages. In 2006, when Pre-Qualifying was introduced, only one player advanced to the Final-Stage from the Pre-Qualifying.
* When these venues were used in 2006, George McNeill won with a score of 23-under-par. Forty players qualified for the PGA TOUR that year (35 and ties were accepted) with a score of 8-under or better. Forty-nine players (the next nearest number to 50) shot 1-over-par or better to earn exempt status on the Nationwide Tour. All remaining players earned conditional status on the Nationwide Tour.
* Superintendent Greg Hrycyk and his staff have removed approximately 20 acres of scrub from the Stadium course during the year. The scrub removal program was instigated to make the Stadium course more playable and assist with the pace of play.
* The field this year includes one former Major Champion (Mark Brooks – 1996 PGA Championship), one former Ryder Cup representative (Chris Riley - 2004), three former Presidents Cup representatives (Carlos Franco – 1998, 2000, Notah Begay III - 2000, Mark Brooks - 1996) and 20 former PGA TOUR winners, led by Brooks and John Huston with seven victories. Three players who finished in the top-25 on the 2008 Nationwide Tour money list and graduated to the 2009 PGA TOUR are also here this week trying to improve their current status. They are Spencer Levin (22nd), Bryce Molder (23rd) and Ricky Barnes (25th).
* It is a truly International field this week. While the majority of the field is comprised of American’s, Australia (12), Canada (4), Sweden (2) and South Korea (2) have multiple representatives. The United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, Colombia and Norway each have a single representative.
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