Gove advances to final stage

In the face of abundant disappointments at second stage of Q-School, Jeff Gove found success.

After struggling for most of the 2012 season on the Web.com Tour, the veteran Gove found his game late in the season with a series of top-25 finishes. Gove came tantalizingly close to the top 60 on the money list - and full status for 2013 - but missed the cut in his last two events and finished 65th on the money list.

But the experienced Gove went back to second stage and posted four solid if not spectacular rounds, closing with a 1-under 71 for a four-day total of 6-under at Bear Creek Golf Club in Murrieta, CA.

The cut was 5-under, so Gove moves on to final stage at PGA West, in an attempt to fully complete the late-season turnaround and earn a big-league card for 2013. If not, there's always the opportunity of finishing high enough to maintain his Web.com status.

Right there is the beauty of Q-School. You grind to make it by the skin of your teeth, and another grind awaits two weeks later. This one, six days as opposed to four.

And if you don't make it through, you're right back where you started. Probably with a few smidgens of regret.

Disappointments abound at second stage

The crux of professional golf is in its relentless nature. Unless you're a superstar with years of exempt status based on major victories, you must earn your keep each year. No five or ten-year megadeals or contracts. If you don't play well enough, you are gone.

That's the reality that takes place at second stage of Q-School, and many veterans unfortunately met their demise at this year's second round of PGA Tour qualifying. Without status from the year of play, a player needs to make it through second stage to have conditional Web.com status for the following year. If not, you're basically out of the loop.

For perrenial pros Kevin Johnson and Omar Uresti, the news was not positive at last week's Panama City Beach second stage site. KJ opened poorly and never got going until the final round, finishing at 3-over for the week and a disappointing eight strokes back of moving on to final stage.

Same for Uresti, the perennial on-again, off-again PGA Tour player who had slipped into the Web.com abyss over the last few years. Uresti struggled for most of 2012 on the Web.com circuit, flummoxed by inconsistent play on the birdie-conducive tour, and finished his Panama City week at 2-over. Now Uresti is out, trying to figure out what he must do to resurrect his once-promising career.

It doesn't end there. Looking at any of the six second-stage sites, one never ceases to be amazed by the names that have fallen from grace in the world of professional golf. Guy Boros, son of PGA Tour great Julius Boros, finished 10-over in Panama City. Former Ryder Cupper Brett Wetterich finished at even-par and failed to advance. In Plantation, FL, former PGA Tour winners Notah Begay and Jesper Parnevik finished a staggering seven shots behind the 10-under number they needed to move on.

Plenty of happy stories will emerge from final stage, of journeymen pros who finally get their big shot, or once-prominent names who are on the way to career resurrection. These stories will be seen and heard on the Golf Channel next week, when the six-day grind of final stage takes place at PGA West in California.

But for those less fortunate souls who found themselves walking away empty-handed at second stage last week? They now find their dreams even more out of reach.

Second stage of Q-School underway

For most of those Web.com pros who failed to qualify for the 2013 PGA Tour via 'The 25,' the next opportunity to get to the big leagues begins this week.

Second stage of Q-School is underway, with over 400 players taking part across six different qualifying sites. Depending on ties, about 120 players will advance to Final Stage next month at PGA West in California.

Second stage is perhaps the most pressure-packed stage, as making it to finals assures a player of at least some status for the following year, even if that status might bring entry into only a handful of tournaments. At least it's a start. If you don't make it through second stage, it can be a frustrating season ahead.

Kevin Johnson gets his second-stage effort underway tomorrow, when he tees it up at Hombre GC in Panama City Beach, FL. After a frustrating 2012 campaign where he never really put two good weeks together after the first two events of the season, KJ will look to find his game just in the nick of time.

Three sites began play today, with veteran pros Rob Oppenheim and Kris Blanks leading the way at Plantation (FL) Preserve after matching sizzling 8-under 63's. Nathan Green and Matt Jones share the lead at 6-under 66 in McKinney, TX, while Nebraska resident John Hurley is in front in Humble, TX after a 66.

But more interesting is the veterans who find themselves way back in the pack, needing to rally just to make it to final stage. In Humble, former PGA Tour winner Ted Purdy shares last place after firing a 6-over 78, while former Tour card holder Kent Jones didn't fare much better after a 77. Former British Open champion Todd Hamilton is T57 in McKinney, and former young-gun bomber Hank Kuehne is T67 at Plantation Preserve.

Looking through these leaderboards, it's always shocking to see the former well-knowns struggling to find their game, while certain young players just out of college have no trouble moving on. Then again, in a different week, the roles could be reversed. That's golf, and that's the fickle nature of Q-School.

It's hard to peak your game in golf. Some stars claim they work on peaking for majors - and Jack Nicklaus probably actually did - but it's not that easy for the rest of us. Nothing's worse than the miserable feeling where you know what's wrong but you just can't do anything to fix it.

Especially when it just happens to be second stage of Q-School.