Fourth-round notes: Q-school by the numbers

Seven pre-qualifiers, along with 13 first- and six second-stage regionals were held to reduce the field. A total of 173 players advanced to the final qualifying stage, which will consist of six rounds with no cut.

The top 25 players and ties will receive PGA TOUR cards for 2012. The next nearest-number-to-50 will earn fully exempt Nationwide Tour cards for the first 10 events in 2012, and the remainder of the field will receive conditional Nationwide Tour status.

Seven players qualified by making it through all three stages -- Gator "Richard" Todd, Glenn Northcutt, Wes Roach, Erik Flores, Jess Schutte, Travis Wadkins and Paul Haley.

• A total of 513 players teed off in the seven pre-qualifiers and competed for 258 spots (and ties).
• A total of 969 players teed off in the 13 first-stage qualifiers and competed for 284 spots (and ties).
• A total of 450 players teed off in the six second-stage qualifiers and competed for 122 spots (and ties).
• A total of 39 players were exempt into the final stage of the tournament.

FOURTH-ROUND NOTES

Weather: Partly cloudy with a high temperature of 63 degrees. Winds NW 15-20 mph, gusting to 28 mph.

Leaderboard: 1. Will Claxton 273 (-15) 2. Marco Dawson 275 (-13) T3. Seung-yul Noh 277 (-11) Harris English 5 Bobby Gates 278 (-10)

• Will Claxton has made only one career start on the PGA TOUR. He finished T67 at this year's Transition Championship. Claxton earned conditional status on the 2011 Nationwide Tour after finishing T139 at the 2010 Qualifying Tournament. Claxton made four cuts in nine starts on the Nationwide Tour this year. His only top-25 finish was a T17 at the Mexico Open. Claxton is a 2005 graduate of Auburn University, where he was a member of the Tigers' 2002 Southeastern Conference Championship team.

• Scott Verplank (1997), Frank Lickliter (2007) and Troy Merritt (2009) are the only players since 1992 to hold/share the lead after each round of the tournament. Verplank is the only player to hold the lead outright for all six rounds.

• Marco Dawson is making his 11th appearance in the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. He last earned his card through this tournament in 2006. He has advanced through the Qualifying Tournament five times in his career.

• Seung-yul Noh was in the lead at 16-under after 16 holes today before recording a bogey-4 on No. 17 and a quadruple bogey-8 on the final hole on the Nicklaus Course.

• Noh is a 20-year old from Seoul, South Korea. He was named the Asian Tour's 2008 Rookie of the Year. He won once on the Asian Tour in 2008 and again in 2010 at the Maybank Malaysian Open, a co-sponsored event with the European Tour. Noh played in six PGA TOUR events in 2011.

• Bob May (T10) is making his ninth start at the TOUR Qualifying Tournament. He advanced in 1999 and 2006.

• Bobby Gates, who finished No. 126 on the PGA TOUR money list during his rookie season in 2011, is looking to improve his status this week. Gates finished $1,431 behind D.J. Trahan for the 125th spot on the money list.

• Harris English won the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational as an amateur in July on the Nationwide Tour. After turning professional he lost in a playoff in October at the WNB Golf Classic and T3 at the Miccosukee Championship. English has never played on the PGA TOUR.

Leaders at previous Qualifying Tournament held at PGA West -- Nicklaus Tournament (NT), Stadium Course (SC):

Best rounds of the day:

• Only five players broke 70 in the fourth round: Marco Dawson (67/NT), Ryan Yip (67/SC), Bronson La'Cassie (68/SC), John Chin (69/NT) and Greg Owen (69/NT).

• Ryan Yip (67) moved 86 spots from T107 to T21.

Scoring averages (both courses are par-72):

The toughest holes on each course after three rounds:

There are five 2011 Nationwide Tour graduates in the field hoping to improve their eligibility standings for the 2012 season. All five have earned PGA TOUR cards for next year. These players will not count toward the top 25 and ties who will earn their PGA TOUR card through Q-School, or against the next number nearest 50 to determine fully-exempt Nationwide Tour membership.

• Three past Q-School medalists are participating this week at PGA West: 2000 medalist Steve Allan (T68), 2003 medalist Mathias Gronberg (T55) and 2009 medalist Troy Merritt (T89)

• A total of 55 players are making their first appearance at Q-School Finals.

The Coachella Valley has hosted the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament several times over the years. This is the fifth time that the current two-course rotation of the Nicklaus Tournament Course and TPC Stadium Course has been used.

Scores needed to secure PGA TOUR status at PGA West in previous years:

• Withdraws: Cliff Kresge (during fourth round), Nate Smith (during fourth round), Matt McQuillan (after third round), Andre Stolz (after third round), Brendan Pappas (after second round), Marc Turnesa (after first round).

• Players will be repaired after today's round. The leaders will play on the Stadium Course in round five and on the Nicklaus Tournament Course in round six on Monday.