Monday Qualifiers: Wyndham Championship

A closer look at the two players who Monday qualified for the Wyndham Championship, the final regular-season event of the 2019-20 campaign.

QUALIFIERS

Brinson Paolini (64)
Age: 29
College: Duke
Turned pro: 2013
PGA TOUR starts: 0
PGA TOUR earnings: $0
Twitter: @Brinson_P
Notes: Finished second in his first pro start on the European Challenge Tour, then won in his third start … Won the Virginia Amateur four times … Won the Byron Nelson Award while a senior at Duke … At the time, he had second-lowest scoring average in Duke history… Has made 27 cuts in 50 starts on the Challenge Tour. His best finish on the Order of Merit came in 2013 when he finished 28th … Played on the European Tour in 2014, making five of 23 cuts with a best finish of T12 at the Russian Open … Has 10 made cuts in 23 starts on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada … Finished 79th on the Mackenzie Tour Order of Merit last year with one top-10 … Has made four cuts in seven career starts on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica … Monday qualified into the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic last year but missed the cut. It was his second career start on the KFT.

Jake Shuman
Age: 24
College: Duke
Turned pro: 2018
PGA TOUR starts: 0
PGA TOUR earnings: $0
Twitter: Jake_ShumanGolf
Notes: Two-time Massachusetts state champion in high school … Named Massachusetts Junior Player of the Year in 2013 … Brinson Paolini who also qualified, hosted Shuman for his recruiting visit at Duke … Averaged 72.3 as a senior at Duke … Shot the lowest round of the year for the Duke team at the NCAA regional, a 64 on his way to a top-10 finish … Beat then-No. 1 amateur Doug Ghim on the 18th hole to help Duke advance to NCAA semifinals … Was named to the All-ACC Academic Team all four years in college … Ranked as high as 351st in World Amateur Golf Rankings before turning pro … Was medalist at Mackenzie Tour Q-school in 2018 … Played nine Mackenzie Tour events that year, making five cuts and finishing 113th on the Order of Merit … Has a win on the Florida Elite Tour this year after shooting 63 in the final round … Lost in a playoff on the Swinghthought Tour this year to former Duke teammate Alex Smalley … Won Delaware State Open three weeks ago.

Jake Shuman Q&A

PGATOUR.COM: You have played really well of late. You won the Delaware Open and were runner-up in another event. What do you attribute that to?

Shuman: The game is maturing, but to be completely honest, I’ve been networking over the last four months and thinking about life outside of golf. I think because of that I have been caring a little less and enjoying it a little more it has seemed to really help.

PGATOUR.COM: Why did you decide to explore things outside of pro golf, was it just the overall grind of pro golf?

Shuman: You just miss family events, miss your friends, you just miss a lot of things. It was one thing doing it in college, but now a lot of my friends are back in Boston and I am missing out on a lot of things. I miss seeing my girlfriend when we are apart for six weeks. Then again things like this happen and it’s just a very confusing scenario.

PGATOUR.COM: Monday qualifiers are so difficult. Do you have any expectations heading into them?

Shuman: Yeah, there are no real expectations. There is no such thing as perfect golf, but to get through a Monday, it has to be pretty close to perfect. I have learned the hard way. This is only the second time I have gotten through anything. The first time was this year in Mexico on (PGA TOUR Latinoamerica) and that was nearly perfect golf. That 66 only got me into a playoff. … I always hope to give myself 18 looks at birdie, hopefully make eight of them, avoid bogeys and hope it’s good enough.

PGATOUR.COM: You got in today with a 5-under 66. What were your thoughts when you finished?

Shuman: I didn’t think that would get it done. You see it every week, especially with Korn Ferry Mondays. If you’re not sub-64 you basically don’t have a shot. … I was the third group out, so I just waited. I had an event in the area, so it wasn’t like I was going anywhere. It was just fingers crossed. The wind forecast today literally said calm, not 1 or 2 mph, just calm. I was hoping it would kick up to 5 mph or something after I finished.

PGATOUR.COM: At what point did it switch to noticing that scores were higher than a typical Monday and you might have a chance?

Shuman: I left and went and got lunch. I figured if I came back and I was still hanging on, maybe there was a chance. I played solid. I didn’t think I left that many out there. The pins were really tucked, and the greens were FAST. These were the fastest greens I had played on in months. You had to make putts, so I thought I might have a chance.

PGATOUR.COM: Did you know that Ben Martin had got into the Wyndham field prior to his score posting? (Ben Martin was first alternate for Wyndham, he shot 66 to tie Shuman but had bumped into field, therefore his Monday qualifier score was thrown out)

Shuman: I did not. I was on the putting green and saw he posted 66. I had actually played an event at Bermuda Run (the host course) two weeks prior and was in a playoff on 18. I thought ok, we are headed to a playoff and it’s a hole I’ve played six times in competition in the last three weeks. I tried to make myself as calm as possible. I refreshed the leaderboard and all of a sudden, he was gone. My girlfriend, my dad, everyone is texting me and asking me what happened. I think it was Stanhope Johnson that came out and told me he had got in on his number.

NOTES

Notable misses: Danny Walker (67), Ryan Blaum (69), Mathew Goggin (70), Jonathan Byrd (70).
Combined number of PGA TOUR starts at qualifier: More than 2,288
PGA TOUR winners at qualifier: Two (Byrd, Martin)
Player with most PGA TOUR wins in the field: Jonathan Byrd (5)
Combined number of PGA TOUR wins: Six
Combined PGA TOUR earnings: More than $70.2 Million
Combined Korn Ferry Tour wins: 21

Monday qualifier venue: Bermuda Run Country Club, 7,062 yards, 74.3 rating, 140 slope

2019-2020 SEASON MONDAY QUALIFIER STATS

Average medalist score: 64.1
Average last qualifying spot score: 66.0
Total number of cuts made: 11 of 56 (19.6%)
Most recent results (Barracuda Championship): Gregor Main (MC), Tyler Weworski (MC)
Money earned by Monday qualifiers: $385,348
Best Finish: Garrett Osborn (T18, Sanderson Farms)

NEXT MONDAY QUALIFIER

September 7th: Safeway Open, Course TBD