10 players to watch at PGA TOUR Champions Q-School Final Stage

Welcome to Final Stage of the PGA TOUR Champions Qualifying Tournament, with five Champions Tour cards available this week at TPC Scottsdale (Champions course) outside Phoenix.

The event will be contested Tuesday-Friday, across 72 holes and with the 78-player field fighting for five spots (there will be a playoff if needed). The top five finishers will earn exempt 2024 PGA TOUR Champions membership; Nos. 6-30 will gain access to Champions Tour open qualifiers in 2024.

Fifty-one players earned spots via First Stage of Q-School, which featured three sites across the last month. Twenty-seven players earned direct access to Final Stage via other exemption categories.

The field ranges from veteran pros who have reached age 50 this year (like Greg Chalmers) to college coaches (like Mike Small) or both (like Chris Riley). Former MLB All-Star pitcher John Smoltz will make his first Final Stage appearance as well, after advancing through First Stage on his first attempt.

The drama will build throughout the week in the Phoenix metroplex, as dreamers vie to compete against the game’s legends on the 2024 Champions Tour.

Here’s a look at 10 players to watch at Final Stage of PGA TOUR Champions Q-School:

1. Ho Sung Choi: The South Korean gained notoriety in recent years for his unique follow-through that features his right leg lifting upon impact, followed by a 90-degree counterclockwise spin. Choi turned 50 on Sept. 23 and advanced through First Stage in California last week. The global player has won three times on the Japan Golf Tour and twice on the Korean Tour; now he turns his focus to the pursuit of a PGA TOUR Champions card.

2. Chris Riley: Where does the time go? The effervescent Riley grew up in southern California, a good friend of Tiger Woods, and teamed with Woods at the 2004 Ryder Cup. Riley, who turns 50 on Dec. 8, now works as head men’s golf coach at the University of San Diego, a position he has held since 2017. He hasn’t made a TOUR start since January 2016, but he’s a veteran of 346 TOUR starts – including a win at the 2002 Barracuda Championship – and will look to channel that experience as he eyes a Champions Tour card.

3. Greg Chalmers: The affable Australian has built a social media following in recent years with lighthearted, sometimes quirky observations on X (formerly Twitter). Now he looks to translate his insights to the course as he battles for a Champions Tour card. Chalmers, who turned 50 on Oct. 11, has made 485 career PGA TOUR starts, including a victory at the 2016 Barracuda Championship.

4. Boo Weekley: The easygoing Floridian, a fan favorite across decades, turned 50 on July 23 and has made eight Champions Tour starts since, highlighted by a T20 at the SAS Championship in October. Now he eyes a full-time PGA TOUR Champions card. Weekley has made 319 career TOUR starts, with three victories including back-to-back RBC Heritage titles in 2007 and 2008, and he represented the U.S. Team at the 2008 Ryder Cup. He’s long regarded as one of the game’s purest ball-strikers, which should come in handy this week.

5. John Smoltz: Yes, that John Smoltz. The longtime MLB pitcher, an eight-time All-Star and 1995 World Series champion, earned a spot at Final Stage with a T14 finish at First Stage in Florida last month. Smoltz had attempted PGA TOUR Champions Q-School on three prior occasions but had yet to fare better than T54 at First Stage. It’s a dramatic reversal of fortune, and now he’ll look for a pitch-perfect week in Arizona to earn his first Champions Tour card.

6. Notah Begay III: A former Stanford teammate of Tiger Woods, Begay won four TOUR events in an 11-month stretch between August 1999 and July 2000. It’s a gear that few have found in this game, and it would come in handy this week as he eyes a full-time Champions Tour card. Begay made 17 Champions Tour starts this season but didn’t record a top-25 finish, requiring a trip to Q-School. He recently hosted the Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship, where Woods caddied for his son Charlie; perhaps he received a pep talk from Woods along the way.

7. Ted Purdy: The Phoenix native will enjoy the home turf this week, his first foray at Champions Tour Q-School after turning 50 on Aug. 15. Purdy has made 300 career PGA TOUR starts, including a victory at the 2005 AT&T Byron Nelson, and he also holds titles on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. Could a victory on PGA TOUR Champions also be on the horizon? This week, he’ll look to take steps toward that end.

8. Mike Small: The longtime men’s golf coach at the University of Illinois, Small earned his spot at Final Stage with a top-five finish at the Senior PGA Professional Championship in October. He has attained rave reviews for player development – alums under his tutelage include Adrien Dumont de Chassart and Nick Hardy – and now he’s four rounds away from earning the chance to apply his lessons full-time on the 2024 Champions Tour. Small, 57, has notched three top 10s in 19 career PGA TOUR Champions starts.

9. Fran Quinn: The Boston-area native made waves at the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club, where he became the oldest player to earn a U.S. Open spot via Final Qualifying at age 57. Later that year, he finished seventh at Final Stage of PGA TOUR Champions Q-School, narrowly missing his card. Quinn made four Champions Tour starts this year and is hungry to pursue a full 2024 schedule.

10. Omar Uresti: A veteran of 390 PGA TOUR starts, Uresti has yet to earn a full schedule on PGA TOUR Champions but has come close at Final Stage of Q-School – he finished 12th in 2019, and he opened in 64 last year before finishing T23. Perhaps this year brings a change in fortune for the loyal Texas Longhorns alum, who once made nine consecutive birdies on the Korn Ferry Tour (1994 Shreveport Open) setting a record that has yet to be surpassed in TOUR-sanctioned competition. He’s long regarded as one of the game’s most accurate off the tee, and precision never hurts at Q-School.