Final stage of q-school the last chance for many

When Duffy Waldorf was asked Tuesday to describe the PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament in two words or less, he didn't hesitate.

Duffy Waldorf

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"Long," he said, adding another "long" for emphasis.

Waldorf is "attending" -- and we use that term loosely -- q-school for the fifth time in his career, which spans more than two decades and has produced four PGA TOUR victories.

He's there at Orange County National in Winter Garden, Fla., with 165 other hopefuls competing over six grueling rounds for a PGA TOUR card for the 2008 season. The tournament begins Wednesday and ends on Monday.

Only the low 25 players and ties at the end of 108 holes earn their playing privileges.

Everyone who reaches the final stage of q-school, though, has some playing status for 2008.

After the PGA TOUR cards have been decided, the next number of players nearest to 50 will be fully exempt on the Nationwide Tour. The remaining players who have made it to the final stage have conditionally exempt status on the Nationwide Tour.

The competition should be intense. The field for the do-or-die finale features 15 other players who, like Waldorf, have won TOUR trophies -- with a combined total of 33 titles on their resumes.

Steve Pate tops the list with five wins while Waldorf, Carlos Franco and Notah Begay III have four each. Robert Gamez has won three TOUR events while Frank Lickliter II and Steve Lowery have two titles apiece and another nine players each have won one time.

Waldorf finished 166th on the PGA TOUR money list in 2007, well outside the 125 who retain playing privileges for next year. So while he would have some status as a past champion, the man known for his colorful shirts is trying to regain a full exemption.

Waldorf had three top-20 finishes in his first 10 starts last year, but didn't finish higher than 30th in his next 13. He missed more cuts (12) than he made, so the 45-year-old veteran now finds himself on the hot seat at q-school.

The six rounds, Waldorf said, require a different mindset than the normal PGA TOUR event, which is contested over 72 holes.

"It's funny, it always seems like the first four rounds feel like the first two rounds in a regular TOUR event," Waldorf said. "You're playing golf and playing hole by hole, but mentally, you prepare for the final two rounds. The start this week just happens to be the first four rounds.

"It's kind of like when you play one of those 36-hole U.S. Open qualifiers; 18 goes by real quick and then you're focused on that second 18, almost like it's a front side and a back side. Here, it always seems like the first three or four days are your front side and your back side is the last two days."

Gamez, who lives 20 minutes from Orange County National, enters the final stage with more momentum than Waldorf. Although he missed 16 cuts in 30 starts, the veteran tied for ninth in the last two events of the 2007 season.

"I'm playing great," he said. "You know, it has just carried over from Ginn (sur Mer Classic at Tesoro) and Disney, and now I've had a few weeks off to rest. I've been able to work on my game and it's just as good as it was then."

Gamez' ninth-place finish in the finale at the Children's Miracle Network Classic moved him inside the top 150 on the money list at No. 132. That means he already has some exempt status for next year and should get into 15 to 20 events -- regardless of what he does at q-school this week.

As a result, Gamez has set his sights high.

"I'm here to win," he said. "I'm not here to just get my card, that's not what I'm doing here. I'm here to win the event and pick a better schedule. I'm already in Hawaii from the top-10 at Disney, so it's just a matter of being able to pick and choose a better schedule than just get my card and wait."

Maybe that explains Gamez's outlook on q-school -- which differs from most of the players in the field.

"I used to think it was brutal, but, I don't know what to say (now)," he said. "I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be fun. I'm going into it trying to have a good time and win, play the way I know how, and play the way I finished the year off."