Quayle catapulted into Korn Ferry Tour finals

Bubba Watson’s resignation from the PGA TOUR has fast-tracked Anthony Quayle’s pursuit of a PGA TOUR card of his own via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals starting next week.

Guaranteed a spot at the Korn Ferry Tour Final Qualifying School at the end of the year by virtue of finishing seventh on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, the Queensland PGA champion has been caught up in an emotional whirlwind the past six days.

He and Americans Chris Naegel and Rick Lamb all looked like they had accumulated enough points to equal or better that of the 200th player in the FedEx Cup standings, the cut-off for a spot at the three-week Korn Ferry Tour Finals that awards 25 PGA TOUR cards at its completion.

But when Tom Kim won the Wyndham Championship and was officially added to the FedEx Cup standings, Jason Dufner was bumped down from 199th to 200th, his points tally more than each of the three hopefuls.

Yet a Twitter plea for LIV Golf-bound Bubba Watson to resign immediately from the PGA TOUR created a new possibility.

Dear @bubbawatson

I respect your reasons for signing with LIV, and I also know you understand players chasing the Tour as you played mini-tours for years before making it.

If you resign your Tour membership 4 players will earn a spot in KFT finals.

I hope you consider it.
— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) August 10, 2022

In a season unlike any other, players who have teed it up in a LIV Golf event have been removed from the FedEx Cup standings. Despite announcing his intention to join LIV, Watson remained on the Eligibility Points List as injury has prevented him from playing.

But when he confirmed on Twitter that he had resigned from the TOUR, a lifeline emerged.

Dufner once again moved up 199th and Jonas Blixt became player No.200, his 49.679 points less than that earned by Quayle, Naegel and Lamb.

In Singapore for the Asian Tour’s International Series Singapore event, Quayle was advised on Friday morning that he was now eligible for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

He promptly withdrew from the tournament and is now headed for Boise, Idaho for the Albertsons Boise Open.

That is where fellow Aussie Lucas Herbert all but wrapped up a PGA TOUR card with a tie for fourth 12 months ago and which now affords Quayle a shot at securing his future in America.

“January this year I said I really want to push for the US Tour,” Quayle said after recording the best Open debut by an Australian since Mark Hensby in 2005.

“I’m prepared to move away from home and family and just do everything that I need to do to give it a proper crack.”

Two weeks out from his 28th birthday, Quayle was tied for sixth at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship in January, won the Queensland PGA a week later and was runner-up at TPS Victoria.