Wilson takes his 'Q' in earning PGA Card

By Bill Kwon

It took eight tries in the PGA Qualifying School after graduating from Brigham Young University in 1992, but Dean Wilson finally got his playing card for the American tour to fulfill a dream he had as a youngster.

After three years on the Japan Golf Tour, Dean Wilson earned his PGA Card, finishing tied for 11th at the Qualifying School tournament. Advertiser library photo

Leading after the first two rounds, Wilson lost ground when he shot a 77 on the fourth day, but rallied with a par 72 and was the only player among the 24 leaders going into the final round to break par with a 69 to secure the precious card, besides pocketing $30,000 in the Q-School's final stage in LaQuinta, Calif.

"It's something I wanted ever since I grew up playing the Pali (Golf Course) as a kid," said Wilson, whose goal is now to keep his playing privileges on the PGA Tour.

He is only the fourth golfer from Hawai'i to pass the six-day Q-School final stage, golf's toughest tournament in terms of pressure.

The other three — Larry Stubblefield, Lance Suzuki and Clyde Rego — were not able to keep their cards and had to go back to Q-School again. And again.

Stubblefield was the last to do it 30 years ago. He not only passed the 1972 Q-School, he aced it as the medalist at the Silverado Country Club in Napa, Calif. Suzuki finished second to medalist Phil Hancock in 1977 at Pinehurst, N.C., his only successful bid in six attempts.

In their days, though, getting a PGA card only enabled them to become eligible to try and qualify on Mondays.

Rego earned his PGA card three times in Q-Schools in Huntsville, Texas, in 1981 and at Ponte Vedra, Fla., the next two years. But it's a dubious distinction. That kind of card collection isn't profitable. You just want to keep the one you have.

It's something Wilson's well aware of. The PGA card is only a one-year pass to about 25 tournaments. To keep an exempt status, he has to win a tournament or earn enough to be among the top 125 money winners. In 2002, the 125 magic number cutoff was $515,445.

Other Hawai'i golfers who have earned their PGA Card through Q-School are, from top, Clyde Rego, Larry Stubblefield and Lance Suzuki.

As a contingency plan, Wilson had written for an exemption before his Q-School success. Now, he's virtually assured of getting in because his eligibility number (23) for the 144-man field is high enough.

Even though he finished tied for 11th in the Q-School, a number of 2002 Buy.com Tour graduates are ranked higher than him on the eligibility list.

Wilson said he felt comfortable after 54 holes of the Q-School with rounds of 69, 65 and 68, "but I knew it was a long way to go." Then came a 77 at the very penal Nicklaus Stadium Course in which he took three to get out of a cavernous greenside bunker at the par-5 15th for a double bogey.

Following a par-72 the next day, he decided on a game plan to shoot for the middle of the fairways and greens in the final round.

"I played really good the last day," said Wilson, whose game plan worked. He had a number of 30-to-40 foot putts aiming for the middle of the green but didn't three-putt any of them.

Stubblefield is confident that Wilson will be able to keep his card.

"I've seen him play. He's a world-class player," said Stubblefield. "He is as good as anybody who has ever come out of this state. Ted (Makalena), David (Ishii). He's in that league."

"He's a very solid player and should keep his card," said Ishii, who along with Makalena, are the only two locally born golfers ever to win a PGA Tour event. Makalena won the Hawaiian Open in 1966, Ishii in 1990.

According to Ishii, Wilson's a far better player than Hidemichi Tanaka and Kaname Yokoo, two Japanese pros who had made it through Q-School to play on the American tour. "And they kept their cards," Ishii said.

A Castle High graduate, Wilson was the 1991 Western Athletic Conference individual champion in leading Brigham Young to three straight team titles by his senior year. After playing on the Asian Tour, Wilson joined the Japan PGA Tour in 2000, earning rookie-of-the-year honors. He was third on the money list in 2001 and fourth this year, earning nearly $2 million the past two seasons.

His showing in Japan enabled Wilson to get an exemption straight into the Q-School's final stage.

No other golf tournament is more stressful than the Q-School finals. There's no next week, only next year.

"A lot of the pressure is self-inflicted," Wilson said. "You want it so bad, and the more you want it, the more pressure there is."

Casey Nakama tried six times, making it to the final stage twice.

"There's so much pressure because you've worked so hard to get there, trying to get to your ultimate goal," Nakama said. "Every shot counted. Then, only until I hit the last tee shot did I ever feel comfortable."

Said Ishii: "It's nerve-wracking. I don't even want to watch it on TV." Ishii tried five times to get his card after graduating from the University of Houston.

If six rounds — the format since 1982 — weren't enough, try seven rounds in seven days. That's what happened to Rego in 1982 at TPC Sawgrass when heavy rains canceled the fourth round because half the field only completed nine holes.

Rego had played 17 holes in one-under but it didn't count. He had to go back out and play the fourth round, all 18 holes, again.

"But the saddest story was this guy from Indianapolis, who was staying in a room next to me and Kalua Makalena. He was one of the early finishers and shot a 69. But he had to play the fourth round again and shot an 84 and missed the fourth-round cut," Rego recalled.

"If that wasn't bad enough, he went out and got drunk and got picked up for DUI. His girl friend had to drive from Miami to bail him out the next morning. That's the torture of Q-School."

Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net