Lee McCoy wins shootout at Web.com Tour Q School final stage

The birdies were flying at Whirlwind Golf Club at the Web.com Tour Q School final stage

If you follow the Web.com Tour even in the slightest, there’s one thing you know about it: You have to go low to survive.

That was the case this week in Chandler, Arizona, at Whirlwind Golf Club, perhaps to a fault as some critics point out. I’ll get to that later.

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First things first, the spotlight deservedly goes to 23-year-old Lee McCoy who reached 28-under-par in 72 holes to oust Sung Jae-Im by two shots.

McCoy and Jae-Im were tied at 21-under going into the round and kept in close company throughout Sunday as McCoy never led by more than three. A bogey by Jae-Im on No. 8 was the only blemish either made all day as McCoy made four birdies in six holes from Nos. 12-17 to separate late.

"“Every time I thought I had gotten far enough ahead and could start playing conservative, he would roll in a 20-footer and it was a little frustrating at times, but it’s nice to be able to push yourself that hard in a big spot and come out on top,” McCoy told the Web.com Tour’s Kevin Prise."

As Prise also reported, this week was redemption for a talented player who is a year or two behind where some pegged him after an outstanding collegiate career. Up to this point, McCoy was on the Mackenzie Tour in Canada. A freak wrist injury from a car accident suffered before second stage at Q school is to blame.

"“It was brutal,” McCoy told Prise. “I was in a cast for six or seven weeks, I took it off and I was fine, so it wasn’t a career-ender or life threatening but it was just the worst possible timing. It hurt even more because I was playing really well going into Second Stage. At some point, you just have to sit back and realize that sometimes you don’t have control over your life and sometimes it’s just part of the plan.”"

Some excellent perspective from someone who’s rolled with the punches, and is now a win on the Web.com Tour this season from reaching the PGA Tour.

Getting carded

While the winner hauls in a $25,000 check and is the only Q School finisher to earn fully exempt status next season, it’s really all about getting inside the top 45 to avoid earning the dreaded “conditional status” on the Web.com Tour.

Within that top 45 is a pecking order, however. Finishers No. 2-10 and ties are guaranteed 12 starts before the third reshuffle kicks in. In this case, Nos. 16-45 are guaranteed eight starts until the second reshuffle.

Following McCoy and Jae-Im in a tie for third at 22-under were Mark Blakefield and former world No. 1 amateur Curtis Luck of Australia. Blakefield was a winner last season on the Mackenzie Tour and shot 31 on the front nine Sunday.

Rounding out the top 10 were Kent Bulle, Brian Richey (-20); Alex Kang, Mark Hubbard, Bio Kim (-19); Ryan Yip, Maverick McNealy, Max Marisco, Sam Burns, Garrett Osborn and Connor Arendell (-18).

Kang is the brother of LPGA major champion Danielle Kang. Hubbard and Kim have had stints on the PGA Tour. Speaking of former world No. 1 amateurs, McNealy has earned his way onto the Web.com Tour to begin his pro career. A decade ago, McNealy would have had a good chance to reach the PGA Tour via Q School, but he’ll still assuredly receive some sponsors exemptions to PGA Tour events this season.

Rounding out the top 45 and ties were: Michael Hebert, Chip Lynn, Cameron Champ, Chris Thompson, Conner Godsey, José Toledo, Ben Taylor, Stuart MacDonald, Sebastian Cappelen, Gerardo Ruiz, Albin Choi, Christian Brand, Max Rotluff, Wyndham Clark, Seann Harlingten, Joey Garber, Matt Ryan, Chad Ramey, Patrick Newcomb, Edward Loar, Grant Leaver, Fernando Mechereffe, Hank Lebioda, Nick Rousey, Bo Hoag, Mark Baldwin, Kevin Dougherty, Chase Wright, Kyle Jones, Brad Hopfinger, Brandon Crick, Patrick Sullivn, Brandon Matthews, Trevor Murphy, Erik Barnes, Justin Lower, Seth Fair, Michael Weaver, Jhared Hack and Brady Schnell.

Whew.

The cutoff for the top 45 (and a LOT of ties) was 14-under. Eight players missed by one, including Jimmy Stanger who had a crazy week. Stanger rebounded from an 80 on Thursday, a death knell in any tournament, let alone at a tournament featuring the tame Devils Claw and Cattail courses at Whirlwind GC.

He responded with a 62 on Friday, one shot off the low score for the week. Two more rounds in the 60s followed, but a 15-footer for birdie on his 72nd hole slid by.

Other notables who missed out on the top 45: Henrik Norlander, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño, Rico Hoey, John Merrick, Max Homa, Jordan Niebrugge, Gunn Yang, Cameron Davis, Miguel Angel Carballo, Andrew Svoboda, Michael Putnam.

While these names above will still get their share of starts on the Web.com Tour in 2018, they will have to play well to position themselves for the early season reshuffles.

How low can you go?

Winning scores south of 20-under-par are the norm at Web.com Tour events, but 28-under is pushing the boundaries of reason.

While no one is advocating for U.S. Open conditions for these guys, forcing golfers to hit a few shots that test their ability is not asking too much. I get that the psychological barriers of Q School make the week tough enough as it is, but choosing a defenseless golf course is unfortunate and not a true test.

I’m certainly not on an island on this. I’ll leave it to the big guns, No Laying Up’s Tron Carter and PGA Tour veteran David Hearn to back me up:

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Whatever the scores are, it’s not worth dwelling too much on anything apart from the 45 fantastic stories that have emerged, but it’s worth calling to attention.