Jin Park, Chez Reavie and Matt Jones earn PGA TOUR cards at Q-School
Some people think playing six rounds of golf some long weekend in California would be fun, especially with a some college buddies and teammates.
Well, it ended up fun, as the Q-School grind was not too much for Sun Devils Jin Park, Matt Jones and Chez Reavie. Only 26 players of the 165 earned the card, and no school had more than Arizona State.
Jin Park, 33, who played for three Pac-10 champions while at ASU from 1997-2000, tied for seventh with a 22-under 410. He got started quickly with a 65 in the opening round, then went 70-68-69-68-70. Park competed in 47 events in his Sun Devil career and had a 73.65 stroke average. He had 10 rounds in the 60s in 142 rounds at ASU, but had four in six rounds at Q-School to clinch his bid. He has 33 TOUR starts in his career and had two top-10 finishes in 20 Web.com Tour events in 2012, highlighted by a third-place finish at the Rex Hospital Open. Park earned his B.A. in Political Science in 2001.
Matt Jones tied for 14th and is no stranger to the TOUR, as the 32-year old Australian has 11 top-10 finishes in 120 career starts. He shot 20-under 412 (71-70-65-68-68-70) and sealed the deal with birdies on two of his final three holes. An honorable mention All-American in 1999-2000 and a first-team pick in 2001, he was part of ASU's Pac-10 title team is in 1999 and 2000 and also competed in three NCAA Championships. He shared medalist honors at the 2001 NCAA West Regional in Corvallis (May 17-19) after shooting an 8-under 208 (70-65-73) and finished the year strong by shooting 32-under in his final six events (20 rounds). He also tied for first at the 1999 Oregon Duck Invitational with a 1-under-par 215 on March 22-23.
Chez Reavie, the 2001 U.S. Public Links Champion and a native of Mesa and graduate of Dobson High School, tied for 22nd at 17-under 41. After starting with a 72, he put himself back into contention with a 66, then followed that with 68-67-72-70. Reavie, who returned to ASU to finish his degree after four years at ASU (2000-2004) and earned his B.I.S. in Political Science/Sociology in 2010, played in 43 career events and averaged 72.05 in 133 rounds.
Reavie's 71.05 stroke average in 2003-04 is the fourth-best season stroke average for a Sun Devil in the past 20 seasons (1993-94 to present). He won the 2008 RBC Canadian Open, but a knee injury slowed him in 2010. The 31-year old has competed in 131 TOUR events, and had five top-10 finishes in 2011.
Congrats to Sun Devils Matt Jones, Jin Park and Chez Reavie for securing their PGA Tour card for 2013.#sundevils #asu #homeofchampions
-- Tim Mickelson (@goodwalkspoiled) December 3, 2012
Congratulations to Matt Jones who finished @pgatourQ school -20 which will see him receive his card for 2013! @pgaofaustralia @golfoncbs
-- Ian Baker-Finch (@IBFinchy) December 3, 2012
Congrats to the boys a Q-School; Chez Reavie, Jin Park and Matt Jones!! Watch out PGA Tour in 2013!#ASU #SunDevils
-- Shaun Pederson (@ShaunPederson) December 4, 2012
Of the 26 graduates from q-school, only one player -- Chez Reavie -- has won on the PGA TOUR. Won 2008 RBC Canadian Open.
-- Bill Cooney (@BillCooney4653) December 4, 2012