Former Air Force Academy golfer Kyle Westmoreland falters down the stretch after holding 36-hole lead at Q-school; he falls short of regaining PGA Tour card
By Gary Baines – 12/18/2023
It would have been quite a story. The Air Force Academy, not a men’s college golf program normally associated with the best in the country, could have had two of its alums competing on the PGA Tour at the same time.
Tom Whitney earned his PGA Tour card for the first time in October by finishing among the top 30 in the season-long Korn Ferry Tour points list. And Kyle Westmoreland, the first former Air Force Academy golfer to land a PGA Tour card (in 2022 via the KFT Finals), could have joined him with a top-five finish at the Q-school tournament that ended Monday at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
And Westmoreland was right where he needed to be for quite a while at Q-school. He held the outright lead after 36 holes, and he was in good enough shape — through seven holes of the final round — to regain his PGA Tour status.
Alas, Westmoreland’s golf game went south on him for the final 11 holes as he played them in 5 over par on Monday. His final-round 73 — and his 3-under-par total for the tournament — left him with a 21st-place finish and headed back to the Korn Ferry Tour, where he was a regular for most of 2022.
The 32-year-old, who lived in Broomfield for a time before moving to South Carolina, went 69-64-71-73 in the lift, clean and place conditions at a wet Q-school. With totals of 8 under par or better needed to land 2024 PGA Tour cards, Westmoreland ended up five strokes back of that figure. He was 8 under par overall through seven holes on Monday.
Westmoreland lost his PGA Tour card this fall after missing 22 cuts in 32 tournaments and finishing 192nd in the FedExCup Fall. His best showing of the season was a 27th place in the Cadence Book Houston Open. He placed fifth in the Korn Ferry Tour’s UNC Health Championship.
The other two players with significant Colorado/Wyoming ties who completed 72 holes at Q-school will be left with conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024: Cheyenne native and former University of Colorado golfer Josh Creel (72nd place at Q-school) and ex-CU player Michael Feuerstein (130th place). Former CU golfer Jeremy Paul and Sam Saunders of Fort Collins withdrew after three rounds of the rain-plagued Q-school, but both previously earned solid Korn Ferry Tour status in 2024.
The five players who landed PGA Tour cards — or improved their status — through Q-school were Harrison Endycott, Trace Crowe, Blaine Hale Jr., Raul Pereda and Hayden Springer.
This year marked the first time since 2012 that PGA Tour cards were at stake at Q-school. Beyond the top five finishers and ties earning spots on the PGA Tour, the next 40 and ties will be guaranteed at least 8-12 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour, depending on their showings. The next 20 and ties will get status on PGA Tour Americas. And all final-stage starters this week at least will earn conditional status on the KFT and PGA Tour Americas.
Here are the scores of players with significant Colorado ties at the final stage of Q-school:
21. Kyle Westmoreland 69-64-71-73—277
72. Cheyenne native & former CU golfer Josh Creel 72-69-76-66–283
130. Former CU golfer Michael Feuerstein 77-73-69-75–294
Former CU golfer Jeremy Paul 69-69-77-WD
Sam Saunders of Fort Collins 72-68-76-WD
For all the scores from the final stage of Q-school, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com