PGA TOUR Canada Q School – Clemson Amateur Bridgeman prevails in Dothan

DOTHAN, Alabama — It was a long day for Jacob Bridgeman, an early wake-up call so he could tee off at 7 a.m. and finish his third round. Then came a break and an additional 18 holes, and the Clemson senior handled everything perfectly. After polishing off a third-round 65, Bridgeman fired a 5-under 67 over his final 18 holes as expected rain never materialized and he won the PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying Tournament by two shots over playing partner Bryce Hendrix. Bridgeman who will close his college career this spring and then turn pro is exempt into every 2022 PGA TOUR Canada tournament by virtue of his victory.

Meanwhile, Hendrix will be eligible to play all Tour tournaments the first half of the schedule, along with  France’s Guillaume Fanonnel (third), Chip McDaniel (fourth), Greyson Porter (fifth), Wilson Furr and amateur Parker Coody (tied for sixth) and Steven Setterstrom and Chandler Eaton (tied for eighth). Twenty-two other players earned conditional membership.

Jonathan Hardee and Kyle Mueller just missed getting full status for the first half of the season, tying for 10th, at 10-under. Calum Masters, Matthew Short, John Duthie and Nolan Ray were at 9-under. Of those with freshly minted playing benefits, nobody was better than Bridgeman, who admitted he accomplished what he came to Alabama to do.

“When I talked to a bunch of people who support me, they told me the only thing I needed to do when you I got down here is try to win a golf tournament,” Bridgeman explained. “It’s like any other event, like a college event. You’re trying to win the golf tournament. If you finish top nine, great. If you win, even better. That was my mindset.”

Even better, indeed.

Bridgeman looked back at his second-round 70 as a turning point in his week, where the wheels could have come off. “I hit it really well all week other than a few-hole stretch on the back half of the second round. I scrambled around, hit a few poor tee shots and still got it in the house.”

He felt much the same way early Friday morning as he played five holes to finish his third round but wasn’t particularly impressed with his play.

“This morning I came out kind of groggy. I didn’t hit it too well; I didn’t feel synched up,” Bridgeman noted. “It was the same thing. I scrambled and tried to get it to the house because I knew I could reset.” The reset took place after he signed for a 65, all the damage to par coming on his first 13 holes Thursday. After playing even-par in the morning, he returned to his hotel with roommate William Nottingham, watched THE PLAYERS Championship on TV, did a quick workout and, as he said, “restarted and acted like it was a new round,” which it was.

“I came back and hit it well,” he said, despite something of a slow start on the scorecard. “I was hitting it fine, some conservative shots,” he continued. “The pins were a little more tricky today, and I felt like you had to take your 15-footers, and I didn’t start as hot, a lot of my putts just off the edge.”

He made his first birdie of the round, a 10-footer on his fifth hole. “That got the cap off. I finally started rolling them in on the back nine.”

After his eight-par, one-birdie beginning, he rolled in three birdies on his first five holes on his second nine, parred No. 6, birdied the seventh, survived a bogey at No. 8 and then ended the tournament making a five-footer at the par-5 finishing hole.

Even with his second-place finish, Hendrix was smiling at his 4-under 68 that left him alone in second. “I’m glad I was able to take advantage of a good ball-striking week. Had the putter stayed hot, I might have been able to give Jacob a little more of a run,” he said.

How the Tournament Worked

The week began with 108 players in the field, with 97 completing all 72 holes. Below is a breakdown of the various PGA TOUR Canada membership statuses earned this week.

• There were 21 amateurs playing this week, with 20 finishing all 72 holes. Leading the way was champion JacobBridgeman. He finished seven shots ahead of the University of Texas’ Parker Coody, who used a 7-under 65—tying for low round of the tournament—to tie for sixth and lock up status for the first half of the PGA TOUR Canada season. Earning conditional status were Vanderbilt’s Harrison Ott (tied for 18th) and West Virginia’s Mark Goetz (tied for 20th). Here is how the 21 finishers fared this week.

• Eric Ansett earned conditional status Friday, thanks to a sterling, 6-under 66 that included three consecutive birdies on his front nine (Nos. 7, 8 and 9) and a closing birdie after back-nine birdies at the 12th and 16th preceded it. He tied for 29th. Ansett has previously held PGA TOUR Canada status in 2019 and 2021.
• France’s Guillaume Fanonnel was the only player in the field with four sub-70 rounds. Fanonnel used rounds of 68-67-69-68 to finish at 16-under and alone in third. The native of Lyon will hold dual membership this season as he also plays on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica.
• Jacob Bridgeman has one class left to graduate, which he will do later this spring. He will earn his Clemson degree at the same time he runs out of playing eligibility.
• Jacob Bridgeman, Bryce Hendrix and Ian Martin played their final 36 holes together as officials didn’t regroup players for the fourth round in order to beat expected rainy weather. Martin struggled in the third round, shooting a 5-over 77. Otherwise, the trio played sublime golf, with Bridgeman going 65-67 (12-under) and Hendrix 66-68 (10-under) in the third and fourth rounds. Martin recovered nicely Friday and shot a 68 to tie for 20th and earn conditional status. “We had a blast today. We all hit a lot of good golf shots,” Hendrix said.
• Amateur Parker Coody ensured PGA TOUR Canada status with a flurry of good play over his final nine holes Friday. With his father, Kyle, serving as his caddie, the University of Texas Longhorn parred his 10th hole and bogeyed his 11th. He then made six birdies over his final seven holes. He parred the fifth and finished with four birdies in succession.
• Matthew Short tied Parker Coody for low-round-of-the-day (and of the tournament) honors, with his 65. When the day began, Short was precariously close to missing on status. He was tied for 27th. All he did was open birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie. Then after a par on his fifth hole, he made an eagle at the par-5 15th and a birdied at the 16th. He turned in 7-under 29. Although he cooled off over his final nine holes—playing those holes in even-par—it was enough for him to tie for 12th to earn conditional status.
• It’s a case of what might have been for Canadian Henry Lee. He was 10-under with a hole to play in the tournament. Lee closed with a double bogey-6 on to finish at 8-under and tied for 16th. The two players at 11-under—Steven Setterstrom and Chandler Eaton—earned first-half status, while Lee picked up conditional membership.
• Besides France’s Guillaume Fanonnel and Canada’s Henry Lee, the only other international players to earn status were Canada’s Eric Flockhart and Belgium’s Giovanni Tadiotto (tied for 25th) and Puerto Rico’s ChrisNido (tied for 29th). Australian amateur Jordan Doull finished a stroke outside the final number to qualify.
• Kyle Vance steadily improved each day after he began the week with a 3-over 75. He was 11-under the rest of the way (70-68-67) to tie for 16th.

The Players say…

“I’m really excited for how our team is going. At our last event, they went up and won by 16 without me. We finally got on track. We haven’t really shown that this whole year. We’ve kind of struggled. In the past week, we’ve shown how good we can be. I’m excited when I get back in to see how far we can get as we make a run at it.” –Jacob Bridgeman on his return to college golf as Clemson winds down its season 

“It’s definitely better to guarantee it, giving me somewhere to play when I turn pro.” –Jacob Bridgeman on his medalist honors and his ranking in PGA TOUR University

“I didn’t have a number. I never really had a number until halfway through the back nine. I didn’t know where everybody was at, but I wanted to try to get to 19(-under). I got to 19 and made bogey then finished with a birdie.” –Jacob Bridgeman on any under-par goal he had for the final round

“I knew I was beating Bryce by three going into (the 17th hole). I knew if I made a bogey, I was probably fine.” –Jacob Bridgeman 

“I’ll drive back to Clemson tonight. I’m driving by myself. I’ll probably make a few phone calls and eat a couple of hours down the road. No, no celebration. I don’t get too excited or too down.” –Jacob Bridgeman

Final-Round Weather: Officials began the resumption of the third round at 7 a.m. There was intermittent rain in the morning that gave way to mostly cloudy but conditions in the afternoon. High of 67. Wind NW at 3-5 mph.