By mustang6560 on 3/15/12

Q-School, as we know it, is dead.

The top item on the nine-member board’s agenda is a makeover of the circuit’s Qualifying School process so profound that Rees Jones would be proud. Under the new plan, the Nationwide Tour would be the primary avenue to Tour membership while Q-School would be relegated to a feeder system for the secondary circuit.

The new plan - which was granted initial approval at the board’s meeting last October but needs a second vote to become policy - would feature the top 75 players off the regular-season Nationwide Tour money list and Nos. 126-200 in PGA Tour earning in a three-event series. The top 50 players after the series finale would earn Tour cards.

I get it.

The PGA Tour is a business. And the purpose of any business is to make money. And Tim Finchem's job as the commissioner of the PGA Tour is to implement business policies that will make a profit. However, I think it's a shame that future Cinderella stories like Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey will cease to exist when the PGA Tour adopts the proposed changes next week, according to Rex Hoggard. The PGA Tour's Policy Board is set to meet at Bay Hill ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

I feel like someone just told me Santa Claus is not real. In the immediate, it hurts like hell. But it doesn't have much staying power. In reality, the proposed changes make sense, especially since there aren't very many Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey's on tour anyway. Plus, the Nationwide Tour will benefit by its increased importance, which means the PGA Tour will be able to attract a larger sponsorship contract next year to succeed Nationwide. Still, the idea that there is a jolly old man out there who brings me presents when I'm good is a nice idea...

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Flickr, Keith Allison

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