2010 Q-School Primer

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I always feel a little dirty peering in on Q-school scores. But now that it's no longer a largely private affair with Golf Channel starting coverage Saturday during round four, there's some stellar online coverage to correspond with a slew of fascinating storylines this week. You can spot several of them on the leaderboard, either in the form of big name former tour players or intriguing names such as Erik Compton, Ty Tryon and Brett Waldman.

Sean Martin looks at the dynamics of increased media exposure at the finals.

Increased media attention is just another challenge for today’s Q-School participant. Say a player is on pace to earn his PGA Tour card after two good rounds. The last thing he wants to think about, especially with 72 holes remaining, is what a PGA Tour card would mean to his career.

“It’s hard to answer those questions,” said Patrick Sheehan, a six-time finals participant. “Guys are going to answer them the way everybody answers them. They’re going to throw out every cliche in the book, ‘one shot at a time,’ all that other stuff. It’s hard to answer those questions truthfully, ‘Yeah, I’m going to be really nervous.’

“I don’t think you ever get the true thought process of a player in certain situations.”

Martin also files a list of eleven players to watch.

Randall Mell updates us on the challenge facing two-time heart transplant recipient Erik Compton and his uneventful weekend hanging Christmas lights prior to the finals.

With Compton hanging lights, a neighbor just a few houses down surprised intruders in a robbery attempt. The neighbor chased the getaway car past Compton’s home.

“The guy in the getaway car must have been going 60 mph down our street,” Compton said. “He was screeching his tires and skidding around the turn by our house. I thought he was going to crash into my yard.”

A few minutes later, police cars were swarming the neighborhood. Police told Compton another suspect on foot was loose in the neighborhood. They sent him indoors.

“I don’t think they caught the guy,” Compton said.

Steve Elling on Lieutenant Billy Hurley's Q-school quest.

Fairly fresh off the deck of a Navy destroyer after concluding tours in global hot zones near China, Korea and the Persian Gulf, Hurley this week finally finds himself in the warmest possible locale as it relates to his new profession.

From Pearl Harbor to the Persian Gulf and possibly to the PGA Tour, Hurley is adrift among 165 others trying to secure a card at six rounds of corporal punishment called Qualifying School Finals.

In the Navy, a fathom is a measure of depth and distance. Perfect, since Hurley's career track is largely unfathomable for most guys to digest. After graduating from the Naval Academy in mid-'09 after finally fulfilling his five-year hitch, Hurley has fired up the twin screws on his career. As a famous guy once said, damn the torpedoes and all that.

"Now he is making up for lost time," his caddie, Steve Hulka, said.

Adam Schupak talks to Adrian Stills, the last African-American to earn a card at Q-school.

Helen Ross on Billy Mayfair making a return after 22 years.

John Maginnes on the odd pressures and dynamics of Q-school, and the appearance of two-time U.S. Open Champion Lee Janzen.

Craig Dolch on two-time tour event winner Will MacKenzie returning.