A day after former Georgia State men's golfer Ty Harris advanced to the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School, two more former Panthers inched closer to the final stage of European PGA Tour Q-School. Mark Haastrup and Steven Tiley each fired third round 68's to stand tied for fifth with 18 holes to play at Costa Ballena Club de Golf in Spain.
Haastrup continued his solid play to move to 10-under par with only Monday's final round standing between him and a shot at the European PGA Tour. After an opening round 68, Haastrup shot 70 on Saturday to inch closer to the final stage.
Tiley, who struggled in relation to the rest of the field on Friday with a round of even par, 72, seems to be heading in the right direction after a second round 66 and today's 68. The pair stand just three strokes back of the leaders at 13-under. The projected cut line is currently at 7-under par.
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.
After a rough second round, former first team All-American Joel Sjoholm bounced back with a third round 70 and is still in contention to advance to the final stage. Sjoholm is tied for 27th place, jumping 16 spots in the standings from Saturday. After struggling with a second round of 77 at Sherry Golf Jerez, Sjoholm is four strokes back of the projected cut of 3-under par. He opened the 72-hole tournament with a 2-under par 70 on Friday.
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. The top 18 of 75 golfers will advance to the final stage of Q-School.
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.
Former Georgia State men's golfer Ty Harris advanced to the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School on Saturday afternoon after a final round 69 at the Hombre Golf Club in Panama City Beach, Fla. He was one of five former Panthers in the second stage of qualifying school for either the PGA or European PGA Tour.
Unfortunately, Derek Oakey was not as lucky on Saturday and missed advancing to the final stage by one stroke. It will mark the third year in a row that a Panther makes the final stage, as Jonathan Fricke, a 2005 graduate, qualified for the final stage in each of the last two years.
Harris' final round included four birdies as he tied for 12th place at 4-under par, which ended up being the cut-number. The Tampa native entered the final round one stroke off of the projected cut after shooting rounds of 70, 73 and 68 and being tied for 22nd.
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.
He will now look to become the first Panther to earn full status on the PGA Tour next month when he competes at Bear Lakes Country Club in California. The top 25 finishers will advance to the PGA Tour in 2010. The next 50 and ties will earn full status on the Nationwide Tour.
Oakey, who advanced to the second stage of Q-School for the first time in his career, will now return to the Canadian Tour in 2010. Oakey's final round 73 left him at 7-under par for the tournament, one stroke shy of the top 20 and ties which advanced to the final stage. His final round included a double bogey at the fourth, but he rebounded to shot 1-under par on the back nine. He has already earned full-time status on the Canadian Tour thru their qualifying school back in September.
The 2007 graduate shot rounds of 70, 67 and 71 in the opening three rounds on the Mountain Course at Callaway Gardens. He stood in a tie for 13th place entering the final round.
Oakey tied for 20th place at Florence Country Club to advance to the second stage.
PGA Tour Q-School and European PGA Tour Q-School each consist of three stages, with the top 25 finishers in the final stage earning the right to play on their respective tours in 2010. 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.
