Approach Shots: Q-school finals

The top 25 players and ties from the field of 170 at Bear Lakes Country Club will earn PGA TOUR cards for 2010, with the next 50 (approximate) players earning fully exempt status on the Nationwide Tour. Each player who advances to the Final Stage of q-school will earn at least conditional status on the Nationwide Tour. A year ago, Harrison Frazar cruised to an eight-stroke win (including a round of 59) at the event and led a group of 28 players onto the PGA TOUR (For an in-depth look at Frazar's story, click here).

Quick Facts

AT STAKE: 25 PGA TOUR cards WHEN: Wednesday-Monday WHERE: West Palm Beach, Fla. COURSE: Bear Lakes CC PURSE: $1,012,500 ($50,000 to winner) RD. 4 TV: GOLF, 1-4 p.m. ET RD. 5 TV: GOLF, 1-4 p.m. ET RD. 6 TV: GOLF, 12:30-4 p.m. ET KEY LINKS: Tee times | Coverage

BEAR LAKES HISTORY: The 2001 q-school tournament held at Bear Lakes CC is perhaps the most well-known q-school in PGA TOUR history. Highlights included Ty Tryon qualifying for the TOUR at the age of 17 and Pat Perez taking medalist honors.

Roland Thatcher came down the 108th and final hole needing a par to get his first PGA TOUR card. He drove into the left rough and misjudged the lie, caught a flier and the ball bounced on the cart path and ended up on the roof of a four-story clubhouse on top of a hill. After a kid from the grounds crew found Thatcher's ball up on the roof, his drop wound up being in a group of bushes; he took an unplayable lie and proceeded to make triple and miss his card by three shots.

In position to earn his TOUR card, Arkansas native Bud Still stepped on his ball in a bunker on the par-5 17th hole, earning a one-stroke penalty. Still finished outside the top 35 (then the cutoff for PGA TOUR cards) by one stroke and has only played in one PGA TOUR event in his career since (2002 FedEx St. Jude Classic).

Notables to earn their first TOUR cards in 2001: Luke Donald, Boo Weekley and Ben Crane. For more on the 2001 q-school finals, click here.

INSIDE THE COURSE: Bear Lakes, located in West Palm Beach, Fla., was designed by World Golf Hall of Fame member Jack Nicklaus. The 36-hole facility -- featuring the par-72 Lakes Course and Links Course -- has hosted the q-school final stage on two previous occasions. Carl Paulson captured medalist honors in 1995, with Perez taking top billing in 2001.

Since 2001, both courses have been renovated by Nicklaus. As a result, each will play significantly longer this time around. The Lakes Course will play at 7,439 yards (from 6,986 in 2001), while the Links Course will run 7,392 yards (from 7,076).

HOUSEHOLD NAMES: David Duval -- Former No. 1 finished tied for second at the 2009 U.S. Open -- his lone top-10 finish since a tie for sixth at the 2002 Invensys Classic of Las Vegas; played 2009 season on one-time, top-25 all-time earnings exemption.

• Todd Hamilton -- The 2004 British Open champion won his first PGA TOUR event in the West Palm Beach area at the 2004 Honda Classic.

• Jesper Parnevik -- Underwent hip surgery in late July 2009 and missed the remainder of the season; appeared in just 14 tournaments in 2009, making the cut five times; he is a five-time winner on the PGA TOUR but hasn't won since the 2001 Honda Classic.

• Tim Herron -- Finished outside the top 125 for the first time in 14 seasons on the PGA TOUR as he failed to post a top-10.

• Jeff Maggert -- Veteran of 500 career PGA TOUR starts finished outside the top 125 for just the second time since 1991.

OTHERS OF NOTE: Jeff Brehaut is making his 11th start at q-school finals; has been successful five of last six trips to the finals. Jess Daley, a former All-America at Northwestern, played on TOUR in 2002 with fellow rookie and former college teammate Luke Donald. J.P. Hayes, one year after disqualifying himself during Stage 2 of q-school for a non-conforming golf ball, looks to earn his PGA TOUR status full-time in 2010. Brett Delahoussaye and Charles Warren look to join fellow former Clemson Tigers Lucas Glover, Jonathan Byrd and D.J. Trahan on TOUR in 2010. Ken Duke finds himself at the finals one year after playing in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola and finishing among the top-30 in the FedExCup. Keegan Bradley and Trevor Murphy grew up racing on Vermont's ski trails; Bradley is the nephew of World Golf Hall of Fame member Pat Bradley. Chris Mundorf, a former North Carolina State golfer, was the caddie in 2008-09 for Troy Matteson.

LOOKING BACK: Eight of the 28 players who graduated from q-school in 2008 finished among the top 125 on the final 2009 money list, and two -- Y.E. Yang and Jason Dufner -- played in THE TOUR Championship. Yang won the PGA Championship with a final-round comeback over Tiger Woods. He also won the Honda Classic, finished among the top 30 in the final FedExCup standings and played on the International Team at The Presidents Cup. Dufner finished among the top 30 in the FedExCup to play in THE TOUR Championship for the first time.

Q-school finals young stars

Rickie Fowler: Exempt into the finals as a non-member who finished between No. 126-150 on the final money list; Fowler posted top-10s in two of his three PGA TOUR starts as a professional, including a runner-up playoff loss to Troy Matteson at the Frys.com Open. Billy Horschel: Native of Grant, Fla., was a four-time All-American at the University of Florida, including three first-team honors, and two-time SEC Player of the Year (2007, 2009) in his four years; made his professional debut at the 2009 St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx. Chris Kirk: A former All-American at the University of Georgia, Kirk has played on the Nationwide Tour the last two seasons. His best finish was a playoff runner-up at the 2008 Knoxville Open Presented by Food City.