Q-school: Second stage wrapup

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Todd Demsey and Camilo Benedetti both fired 68s Saturday to tie for medalist honors in the second stage q-school event at Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brookville, Fla. The pair tied at 13-under 275 to lead 21 players into the PGA TOUR q-school finals in December.

Demsey, who returned to the TOUR this year after surgery to remove a golf ball-sized tumor from his brain, was 197th on the money list this year, requiring him to return to the second stage.

The biggest final-round moves came from Jason Enloe (66) and Leif Olson (67), who both played their way into the final stage. They tied for 15th place, along with Diego Vanegas (68), Derek Lamely (70), Jon Mills (70), Seung-su Han (72) and Steve LeBrun (73), for the last spots available in this qualifier.

Also advancing from Southern Hills were Josh Teater at 12 under; former PGA TOUR event winners John Huston and Robert Gamez along with Major Manning at 11 under; former PGA TOUR event winner Garrett Willis at 10 under; Steven Taylor, Matt Borchert, Brennan Webb and Scott Fawcett at 9 under; and Lee Williamson and PGA TOUR veterans Michael Bradley and Marco Dawson at 8 under.

Among the prominent players missing out were Grant Waite, Kelly Grunewald, Jess Daley, Deane Pappas and Erik Compton. Playing six months after a second heart transplant, Compton failed to advance by one shot after he closed with a 73.

Compton was tied for 13th going into the final round, but had two bogeys in the opening three holes and never quite caught up. He was even at the turn, but bogeyed the 15th and finished with three pars to tie for 22nd. .

Had he made it through the second stage, Compton would have been assured at least temporary status on the Nationwide Tour. Now he will only be able to play on sponsor exemptions. He received one last week at the Children's Miracle Network Classic at Disney World, where he made the cut and tied for 60th.

Up the road in Panama City, Fla., another 23 players advanced in the second stage qualifier at Hombre Golf Club. Steve Wheatcroft finished first, at 15-under 269, after closing with a 68, to edge second-place Brad Golden by one shot.

The biggest move of the final day in this qualifier came from Dave Berganio, Jr., who fired a 64 to vault up into a tie for 19th place. He joined Jim Herman (68), Ryan Cobb (71), Jason Dufner (73) and Joseph Sykora (75) at 4-under 280 to earn the last spots available to advance.

Also moving on to the finals from Hombre GC were third-place finisher Sal Spallone at 11 under; Brandon Brown and Geoffrey Sisk at 10 under; Sonny Skinner, Tom Gillis and Guy Boros at 8 under; Gavin Coles and Harrison Frazar at 7 under; Jhonattan Vegas, Jeff Gove and Paul Gow at 6 under; and Gary Christian, David Skinns, Jonas Blixt, Jeff Gallagher and Rodney Butcher at 5 under.

Among the prominent players failing to advance were former Ryder Cup player Per-Ulrik Johansson, Dicky Pride, Randy Leen, David Morland IV, Skip Kendall, Ryan Armour, Bobby Clampett and Nolan Henke.

Former Ryder Cup player Chris Riley tied for medalist honors at the second stage qualifier at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Ga. Riley, who owns one win in 254 career starts on the PGA TOUR, finished with a 3-under 69 to tie Robert Damron (72) and Oskar Bergman (70) at 17-under 271.

The best last-chance moves at Callaway Gardens came from veteran Jay Delsing and Joey Lamielle, both of whom carded 69s Saturday to move into a four-way tie for 17th place as 20 players punched their tickets for the finals. Also tying for the last spots to advance were Bob Heintz and Jeff Curl.

Joining these players planning trips to the finals were Jerod Turner at 15 under; John Riegger at 14 under; Chip Sullivan (a former winner of the PGA Professional National Championship) at 13 under; Kevin Johnson and veterans Olin Browne and Chris Smith ay 12 under; Jonathan Fricke at 11 under; and Derek Fathauer, Troy Merritt, David Robinson, Patton Kizzire, Webb Simpson and multiple PGA TOUR event winner Carlos Franco at 10 under.

Among the prominent players failing to advance at Callaway Gardens were Len Mattiace, Billy Andrade, Jim McGovern, Ian Leggatt, David Peoples, Kyle Reifers, Jim Gallagher Jr., Mike Heinen and Tripp Isenhour.

A total of 21 positions were available at the second stage qualifier at Deerwood Golf Club in Kingwood, Texas, where Chris Stroud took home medalist honors with a final-round 70 that gave him a total of 14-under 274 and a four-shot victory.

Vance Veazey made the money move of the day with a 69 that boosted him up into a tie for 18th place and earn one of the final tickets to the finals. He finished at 4 under along with Dustin Risdon (73), Dong Yi (73) and Scott Gardiner (78), who came exceedingly close to playing himself out of the finals.

At 10 under, Drew Laning finished second, and was followed at 9 under by Willie Wood, Michael Putnam, Richard Johnson and Mathias Gronberg. Also easily qualifying at 6 under were former PGA Championship winner Mark Brooks, Brian Duncan, Brian Stuard, Brad Elder and Dave Schultz, Fargo, ND -6 F +2 68 68 72 74 282

At 5 under and also moving on were PGA Tour veterans Glen Day and Neal Lancaster along with B.J. Staten, David Hearn and Keith Huber.

Among the prominent players falling short in Texas were Craig Bowden, Michael Sim, Joel Kribel, Miguel Carballo, J.L. Lewis, Omar Uresti, Tom Byrum, Ewan Porter and J.P. Hayes.

The final stage of q-school is set for Dec. 3-8 at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif.