For Golfers, Qualifying School Opens the Door

Nick Clearwater, an instructor in Colorado and vice president of instruction at Golftec, said there was a big difference between experienced players who had tasted the main tours and younger players early in their careers.

“If they’ve gone from the Tour to having to go back to Q School, at that point your golf career feels fragile,” Clearwater said. “No one is excited to be there. Most feel they’re better than that and don’t need to be there.

“The younger guys show up with a lot less to lose, and they’re a lot less stressed out.”

Trying to make a comeback, Karlberg, 33, said he was keenly aware of the pressure on him. It took him eight tries before he got his card in 2014. In 2015, he beat Martin Kaymer, who had won the United States Open the year before, in a playoff for his first European Tour event.

Having lost his card in 2018, Karlberg said he had a better sense of what he had to do this year. Now married with two children, he also did not want to return to the Challenge Tour, where the prize money is less.

“You know what you want,” he said. “You want to be playing in front of a great crowd. You want to play a course in great shape. I know how much that can change.”

What steadied him, he said, was knowing it was all or nothing on the last day. “It takes the pressure off,” he said.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/15/sports/golf/golfers-qualifying-school.html?emc=rss&partner=rss