Scenes from PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry's final day show meaning of a PGA TOUR card

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – In a quiet moment between receiving his PGA TOUR card and joining his fellow Q-School graduates for a group photo on the back lawn at TPC Sawgrass, University of Georgia alum Will Chandler, 27, enjoyed an ice-cold Michelob Ultra with a look of wonderment on his face. Moments earlier, Hayden Buckley rested his head on his wife Feleysa’s shoulder inside the clubhouse, conveying disbelief at what had transpired. Later, Takumi Kanaya briefly delayed an interview with Japanese media to shed a few tears. Matthew Riedel talked via FaceTime with his college coach Scott Limbaugh, both agreeing that his 5-footer to earn his first TOUR card felt much, much longer.

The scenes go on and on. The final afternoon at Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, with five PGA TOUR cards (and ties) on the line, has a way of developing battle scars that can linger forever. Sunday evening’s emotion was the sweet residue of a taxing week that players describe as nerve-wracking from the jump. It’s not often in professional golf that any finish other than a victory could be described as a success, but the six players who earned or bettered their PGA TOUR status at Final Stage of Q-School each departed the premises with a physical TOUR card – one of golf’s most coveted trophies – and the emotion to accompany it.

Lanto Griffin earned medalist honors at 9-under 271, highlighted by a closing 63 at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course where he made eagle on the par-5 first hole and never looked back. Griffin was joined by Hayden Buckley (6-under), Takumi Kanaya (5-under), Alejandro Tosti (4-under), Will Chandler (4-under) and Matthew Riedel (4-under). Griffin, Buckley and Tosti each played on TOUR in 2024 and have earned a return ticket, while the other three will be first-time TOUR members in 2025. The months-long Q-School gauntlet, which commenced at pre-qualifying in September and swung through First Stage (October) and Second Stage (November and early December), led to Final Stage, contested across 72 holes in northeast Florida (two rounds each at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course and Sawgrass Country Club), where 170 players competed for five PGA TOUR cards (and ties). The next 40 and ties earned guaranteed Korn Ferry Tour starts, which marked a banner career achievement for many in the field – with a wide variety of feel-good emotional moments throughout the afternoon. But the Mount Rushmore-level achievements were reserved for the six players who earned those coveted #TOURBound moments.

Griffin will always have limited TOUR status as a past champion but entered the week without a guaranteed schedule on either the PGA TOUR or Korn Ferry Tour after finishing No. 158 on the FedExCup Fall standings. He was notified in an email Wednesday night that he wasn’t guaranteed starts in the first segment of Korn Ferry Tour events (via the 151-200 conditional category), which lit an internal fire to play his best golf this week. Q-School pressure doesn’t fade with age, and Griffin, 36, felt it all week. It heightened the satisfaction of the result.

Buckley, 28, was on the verge of falling back to the Korn Ferry Tour completely with no lingering PGA TOUR status – and after finishing No. 156 on the FedExCup Fall, he shared Griffin’s uncertainty of early-season Korn Ferry Tour starts. The University of Missouri alum has often delivered with his back against the wall – he was lightly recruited out of high school, and he won the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2021 LECOM Suncoast Classic as the last man in the field after Steve Marino withdrew on Thursday morning. He’s always had a chip on his shoulder, which paid dividends in a gritty performance at Final Stage.

Tosti also displayed resilience after closing the opening round with a triple bogey for a 1-over 71 and following with a 4-over 74 in Friday’s treacherous conditions at Sawgrass Country Club (on a day where no players broke par on that course). He shot 65-66 on the weekend to finish tied for fourth, squarely on the number.

The veterans beamed as they received their cards, knowing what they could have lost and having done the work to avoid relegation. They’ll be joined on TOUR next season by three new faces: Kanaya (a former world No. 1 amateur who has won seven times on the Japan Golf Tour), Chandler (who began 2024 with no status on any PGA TOUR-sanctioned circuit, Monday qualified into several Korn Ferry Tour events and eventually earned Special Temporary Membership), and the fresh-faced Riedel, who finished No. 4 on the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking to advance directly to Final Stage of Q-School.

Riedel might not yet have those battle scars, but the significance of #TOURBound permeated just the same. He harkened back to past high-pressure situations, as recently as three months ago on the Korn Ferry Tour when he narrowly missed a spot in the top 75 to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. The final putt Sunday, though, was on a new level.

What’s the most pressure he’s felt in golf?

“That was probably it,” he said with a smile, illuminated by his newly donned white hat stamped with the #TOURBound logo. He then fielded a FaceTime from his college coach that neither will forget for some time, perhaps ever.

Contrast that scene with Alistair Docherty, who closed in 3-over 73 to finish the week at 3-under total and one stroke outside the top-five cut line. It marked the second time this autumn that Docherty was one shot away from a PGA TOUR card; he finished in a three-way T3 at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance, when a two-way T2 would have earned his card. He shared the 54-hole lead at Final Stage but made double bogey on the par-5 opening hole, taking five strokes to get down from a greenside bunker, and he couldn’t recover. Needing a birdie-birdie finish to move inside the top five, he drained a 7-foot birdie at the par-4 17th but missed the green long at the par-4 finishing hole and couldn’t chip in.

Within five minutes of signing his scorecard, Docherty was in the parking lot. He’ll have another chance to earn his card via the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour but knows it will be harder than ever – after the top 30 on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season-long standings earned 2025 PGA TOUR membership, that number will be reduced to 20 cards for the 2025 season and beyond. It’s getting more cutthroat out here, epitomized by the contrasting emotions on the final day of Q-School.