Locals finish well back in Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament
CHANDLER, Ariz. – It was a week of redemption for University of Georgia alum Lee McCoy this week at the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament in Chandler, Arizona. After an injury prevented McCoy from playing his Second Stage site in 2016, the 23-year-old made the most of his opportunity this year, posting rounds of 65-67-63-65–260 (-28) to earn Medalist honors and fully exempt status for the 2018 Web.com Tour season.
The victory did not come easily for McCoy, however, who edged out South Korean Sung-Jae Im by just two strokes. The pair entered Sunday tied for the lead at 21-under and quickly turned the Whirlwind Golf Club’s Cattail course into their own battlefield.
“I think it was Jack Nicklaus that was famous for saying that most of the tournaments he won, he didn’t really win, other guys lost,” McCoy remarked. “That was not the case today. I had to go out there and win… we had a great battle out there today. 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.”
Among players with Oklahoma ties, former Oklahoma State golfer Wyndham Clark finished tied for 23rd at 16-under, former Cowboy Ed Loar tied for 30th at 15-under, former Tulsan Tag Ridings was tied for 57th at 13-under, Max McGreevy of Edmond and the University of Oklahoma tied for 73rd at 11-under, Will Kropp of Edmond tied for 80th at 10-under, Jordan Niebrugge of OSU tied for 99th at 7-under, Chris Tidland of OSU and Stillwater tied for 121st at 4-under and Dillon Rust of Edmond tied for 126th at 3-under.
Here is a link to the complete scores.
The Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament was a four-day, 72-hole competition that ended on Sunday December 10. The tournament was contested at the Whirlwind Golf Club’s Devil’s Claw (DC) and Cattail (TC) course.
There were nearly 1,000 entries for the tournament, which included previous Pre-Qualifying, First and Second Stages that began in August.
A total of 144 players began play on Thursday morning.
Players in this event competed for positions on the 2018 Web.com Tour priority ranking, which will be used to form tournament fields. The medalist is guaranteed fully-exempt status next year. Players Nos. 2- 10 (and ties) will be subject to the third reshuffle next year and players Nos. 11-45 (and ties) will be subject to the second reshuffle.
This week’s medalist earned $25,000. Players Nos. 2-10 (and ties) earned $15,000 each. Players Nos. 11-45 (and ties) earned $10,000 each.