A total of five former Georgia State men's golfers saw action in the second stage of their respective Q-School's worldwide on Friday. European PGA Tour Q-School got underway for Joel Sjoholm, Mark Haastrup and Steven Tiley, while Derek Oakey and Ty Harris completed their third rounds of PGA Tour Q-School with 18 holes to play on Saturday.
Oakey and Harris are both looking to become the first full-time PGA Tour members in Georgia State history. If they can advance to the final stage of Q-School on Saturday, they are guaranteed at least non-exempt status on the Nationwide Tour in 2010.
Across the pond, Haastrup opened with a 4-under par 68 to stand tied for eighth at Costa Ballena Club de Golf in Spain. He is joined by Tiley who shot a round of 72 (even) to stand tied for 44th with 54 holes remaining. The top 18 of 76 golfers will advance to the final stage of Q-School which begins November 28th at PGA Golf de Catalunya in Spain. The current leaders are at 7-under par, while the projected cut stands at 3-under.
Former first team All-American Joel Sjoholm opened play at Sherry Golf Jerez with a 2-under par 70. Sjoholm, who bounced back and forth between the European Tour and the Challenge Tour during 2009, also made an appearance on the PGA Tour at the AT&T Pebble Beach Challenge last February. Sjoholm stands tied for 20th, six strokes behind the leaders at 8-under par. The projected cut currently stands at 3-under par. The top 18 of 75 golfers will advance to the final stage of Q-School.
Stateside, Oakey continued his solid play this fall and has put himself in prime position to advance to the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School after shooting a 1-under par 71 on Friday, moving to 8-under for the tournament.
Oakey opened play with a 2-under par 70 on the Mountain Course at Callaway Gardens, before shooting a 5-under par 67 on Thursday. He now stands in a tie for 13th with 18 holes to play. His round included three birdies at the site of the 2009 CAA Men's Golf Championship last April. The top 20 and ties will also advance from this site after 72 holes of golf. The current projected cut is 6-under with Kevin Kisner currently leading at 19-under.
Harris is just one off the projected cut of 3-under after a third round 3-under par 68. The Tampa native made five birdies to jump into a tie for 22nd at 2-under par. Harris shot an opening round 1-under par 70, but stumbled with a 73 on Thursday. Harris is playing in his home state at the Hombre Golf Club - Bad/Ugly in Panama City Beach. The top 20 and ties in the 79-player field will advance out of the site which runs through Saturday. Former rival Josh Broadaway, who played a Troy, leads at 12-under par.
Harris got through the first stage of qualifying at Grasslands Golf and Country Club last month, finishing tied for sixth place at 13-under par. He shot a career-best 60 that featured 10 birdies and an eagle during the third round.
Oakey tied for 20th place at Florence Country Club with a final round 69. It marked the first time that the 2007 graduate of Georgia State had advanced past the first stage.
All three former Panthers who are qualifying in Europe were exempt from the first stage of Q-School due to their status on the European Challenge Tour, the European version of the Nationwide Tour.
PGA Tour Q-School consists of three stages, with the top 25 finishers in the final stage earning the right to play on the PGA Tour next season. The final stage of PGA Tour Q-School will take place at Bear Lakes Country Club in California, December 2-7.
Continue to check back daily at www.GeorgiaStateSports.com as we follow all of these former Panthers in their quest to reach the PGA Tour. Scoring updates can be found at PGATour.com and Europeantour.com.
