Cooper Musselman, high school teammate of Justin Thomas, comes up clutch at Q-School

Cooper Musselman vividly remembers the first time he teed it up for his high school team.

It was because Justin Thomas played the PGA TOUR that week.

Musselman, who is also from Louisville, Kentucky, is two years younger than the 15-time TOUR winner. The week that Thomas made his TOUR debut, playing the Wyndham Championship, was the first time Musselman had the chance to play for his high school squad.

The team’s No. 1 guy had somewhere else to be.

“He was the No. 1 man, and I was the No. 6 man,” said Musselman with a laugh. “He skipped a high school event to play the Wyndham, so I got called up.”

Musselman is on his own journey to the PGA TOUR now, and after a fabulous final round at Final Stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, he earned guaranteed Korn Ferry Tour starts for the first time.

Musselman, who advanced through Second Stage of Q-School on the number, shot a closing 6-under 65 at Final Stage to finish 4 under for the week. He was 3 over through 36 holes but his 6-under effort on the final day was tied for the second-lowest round of the day, and it moved him up 55 spots on the leaderboard – the biggest final-round move of anyone who earned guaranteed Korn Ferry Tour starts via the top-40 and ties at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club.

The top-40 cutoff settled at 3 under (T39); Musselman finished T29 to earn eight guaranteed starts next season. Click here for a look at all 44 players who earned guaranteed starts via Q-School.

Q-School medalist Bo Hoag and Cody Blick also shot 65s. Only Japan’s Yuto Katsuragawa 7-under 64 was better in Monday’s final round, although Katsuragawa ended up missing the top-40 cutoff by one shot.

Musselman said he was in a nothing-to-lose scenario for the final round. After making birdies on his first two holes, he was off to the races.

“I was going into the day tied for 84th and there was just no pressure at all,” said Musselman. “I got a little more aggressive, fired at some pins that were in some easier spots than my first round (at the Magnolia Course). I was just looking at the pin sheet, marked them in my book, and attacked the ones that were a bit easier and built from there. I got some good momentum going the rest of the round.”

Musselman did indeed have momentum for the rest of his round.

Until he got to the 18th hole.

The University of Kentucky alum made a bogey on his 72nd hole of Final Stage, and for a while he wasn’t sure if that last-second stumble cost him starts on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour.

Musselman said he pulled his drive on the final hole – after making birdie on Nos. 7, 9, 10, 14 and 16 – and it landed under a tree on the cart path. He debated playing a shot off the path, but it was actually in a crack in the concrete, so he had to take a drop instead. The drop needed to take place on pine needles, and he had to hook it around a tree to get it on the front of the green. He hit an “OK” shot, he said, but it didn’t hook as much as he wanted, and it landed about a foot from the water. He had a tough chip after that and ended up in the bunker in front of the green.

The bunker shot was straightforward enough, and he salvaged an up-and-down. Bogey it was.

Musselman had a number in his head and figured he needed to get to 4 under for the week. He stood 5 under on the final tee.

“I didn’t know what was going on,” Musselman admitted. “I do not like to look at leaderboards. I do not like to know what’s going on. Just try to play my normal round and figure things out later. I figured we were good.

“I would have liked to make par on the last to have a bogey-free round, but I’m just happy at the end of the day it was enough.”

Musselman had a solid season on PGA TOUR Canada, including a second-place result at the Osprey Valley Open at TPC Toronto, and he ended 14th on the season-long Fortinet Cup.

The summertime campaign north of the border was fine enough, he said, and although it took him to the final hole of the final day of his season, Musselman was happy with 2022.

“I had one goal this year. The only one was to get off PGA TOUR Canada and get on the Korn Ferry Tour,” said Musselman. “I had one goal. And I achieved it. Overall, the year was a success.”

Musselman, whose grandfather, uncle and father all played college golf – the latter two, like Musselman, teed it up at the University of Kentucky – said he’s mentally ready for a break as he prepares for the opening of the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour season. He took about a month off after the PGA TOUR Canada season and had about three weeks off after Second Stage, so physically he feels great.

“Mentally a nice little break is going to be good,” he said. “I know at the start of the season it’s a grind for the first month with traveling a bunch, so I need to get completely mentally and physically ready for that.”

Musselman will do his best to get ready for a big opportunity in the coming months. Just like when he was in high school.