Four tied midway through third round at rain-soaked Q-School

DUPONT, Washington—While there is a bit of mystery about where all the players sit on the leaderboard at the PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying Tournament, through 11 holes, the final grouping of Blake Maum, Cameron John and Christian Muscarello are all tied at 8-under, with Taylor Funk playing a hole ahead joining them, also at 8-under.

Consistent rain all week has created some confusion, the seemingly constant precipitation has made conditions difficult and kept groundskeepers continually busy. Twenty-one players were unable to finish their third rounds. Officials have indicated they will resume third-round play Friday morning at 9:30, giving grounds crew time to prepare the course. Players will not regroup based on score at the conclusion of the third round and instead go back onto the course to start their final rounds. The last grouping of the final round is set for 12:40 p.m. PDT. A Saturday finish, with rain expected again Friday, is a possibility.  

Funk, John and Muscarello had all hit their tee shots on the par-3 12th late in the day, all three players’ balls on the green. Instead of putting, with darkness setting in, the trio elected to mark their balls and not putt in the quickly darkened sky. 

With rain all week plaguing the tournament and more rain arriving in the afternoon, crew members positioned themselves on Nos. 7, 8 and 10 to squeegee the greens after each group played the holes.

“It was pretty wet, and I’m pretty shocked we got through what we did,” said John.  

“We didn’t get as much done as we thought we would. Whether we got 11 done or 16 it really didn’t matter because we knew we weren’t going to finish,” said Muscarello after his round. “That doesn’t really change anything when we knew we were going to have to come out [Friday] and have another long day of golf.” 

Did you know a year ago at the 2021 Qualifying Tournament Michael Chanaud finished alone in fourth to earn his PGA TOUR Canada membership? He opened with a 67 followed by a 70 then fired a pair of 72s over his final 36 holes that led him to a summer on the Forme Tour. Through 54 holes this week, Chanaud is again in the mix. He opened with a 70, stumbled to a 74 in the second round and recorded a 3-under 69 Thursday. He’s tied for 13th and in position to again secure playing privileges for another year.  

Key Information 

There were 100 players in this field when the tournament began, and there are 98 still playing. Below is a breakdown of the various PGA TOUR Canada membership statuses available this week.   

Officials suspended play at 8:15 PDT. 

Of the players who finished, the low round of the day belonged to Mexico’s Jorge Villar. He posted a 5-under 67, leaving him currently tied for 17th with one round to play. 

Jake Hennessy helped himself considerably with his 3-under 69 Thursday. The former Dallas Baptist University player began the day tied for 62nd after starting the tournament 5-over (75-74). Hennessy fashioned a 3-under 69, finishing with a late flourish. Following a bogey at No. 12 that dropped him to even-par, he birdied three of his next four holes then parred in for the 69. 

One of the biggest moves of the day belong to Jamie Fraser, thanks, in part, to an early hole-in-one. Fraser aced No. 4 with a pitching wedge from 150 yards. That began an interesting stretch for Fraser, who proceeded to bogey his next three holes. He righted things on the back nine, with four birdies and five pars to finish with a 3-under 69.

Like Jamie Fraser, Jonathan Yoshihiro fired a third-round 69, knocking six shots off his previous-day’s score. Yoshihiro had five birdies on his front nine and played the back in 1-over to move to 1-over for the tournament. 

Amateur Sean Mullan has done nothing to hurt himself over these last two rounds. After opening with a 4-over 76, he’s peeled off scores of 71-69, putting himself in position to make a top-10 run. Mullan’s final two birdies of his round came at the 16th and 17th holes. 

Third-Round Weather: There was a two-hour rain delay to begin the day. Players teed off at 10 a.m., PDT. Off-and-on rain fell in the afternoon, with heavier rain hitting the course beginning at 7 p.m. High of 52. Wind S at 4-7 mph.