The 2024 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry is complete. For those unfamiliar, Q-School is a qualifier to earn a PGA Tour card for golfers who do not have status for the upcoming season. It encompasses a four-stage tournament (Prequalifying, First Stage, Second Stage and Final Stage) where players compete to earn status or starts on various tours, most notably the PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour.
Some players can bypass various stages if they meet at least one of the exemption criteria for each level. This tournament awards Tour cards to the top five finishers (plus ties) and guaranteed starts on the Korn Ferry Tour to the next 40 (plus ties). The eventual top 20 finishers plus ties earn full status on the PGA Tour Americas, with all others who reached the final stage earning conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas
Now that you have the background let’s meet the old and new faces on the PGA Tour!
2024 PGA Tour Q-School Card Earners
Lanto Griffin
Lanto Griffin is one of the more familiar names on this list, having played in 11 Major Championships. He played in The Players Championship twice and 148 PGA Tour events overall. Griffin turned professional in 2010 after playing his college golf at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), where he earned the 2009 Colonial Athletic Association Player Of The Year. After playing numerous events on mini-tours, he eventually earned a spot on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica in 2015 and won two tournaments. In 2016, he missed qualifying for the Web.com Tour (now known as the Korn Ferry Tour) by one stroke, but this finish helped set up the rest of his career.
Griffin was then able to enter tournaments as a reserve, where he ended up winning the 2017 Nashville Golf Open. As a result, he finished No. 23 on the Web.com Tour Money List, earning him a PGA Tour card for the 2017-2018 season. He was unable to maintain his card and ended up back on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019, finishing sixth overall and giving him his second chance on the Tour. He found his lone Tour win this year, winning the Houston Open.
Step Back Caused by Injury
Injuries have been a big hold-up for Lanto in his career, as he ruptured his L5-S1 disc in his back in May of 2020 and again in January of 2022. He finished outside of the top 150 this year, lost his tour status and didn’t even have Korn Ferry status. As a result, he was unsure where he would play.
At Q-School this year, though, he left no doubts about his ability, finishing in first place at nine-under par with a final round 63, earning his status for 2025. If Griffin’s putter returns to its former status as the best part of his game, he could be a sneaky value most of this season in PGA DFS slates and for betting purposes.
Hayden Buckley
Hayden Buckley, like Griffin, was a Tour member in 2024 who needed to earn his card after finishing outside the top 150. Buckley has played in 90 career events on the PGA Tour and claimed wins on the PGA Tour Canada and Korn Ferry Tours.
Buckley turned professional in 2018 after a career at the University of Missouri. His story of getting there was an interesting one. He played poorly in some of the junior events he took part in, so he had almost no scholarship offers. His swing coach, however, had played with the coach at Missouri and vouched for him. His scholarship during his freshman year at Mizzou was 1%. Eventually, he won four events, earning the Missouri Male Athlete of the Year for the 2017-2018 season.
After turning pro, he’s been largely successful, comfortably maintaining Tour status in 2021-22 and 2023. However, he suffered a large fall-off in 2024, making just one cut after July and finishing outside the top 150. However, his second-place finish at six-under par allows him a chance to redeem himself on Tour this year.
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Takumi Kanaya
Our first new member of the PGA Tour, Takumi Kanaya, earned this spot with a finish in sole possession of third place with a five-under par. Kanaya might be a less common name to most, but he’s been known in golf circuits for quite some time. The Japanese professional was ranked as the world’s best amateur golfer for 55 weeks and as high as 49th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Kanaya has seven wins on the Japan Golf Tour and one on the Asian Tour and has already appeared in 25 PGA Tour events, including 11 starts at Major Championships. His skill shined this past week, as he was the only golfer in the entire event to post even-par or better in all four rounds. Kanaya will be a fun player to watch this year as he joins the ranks of the many other Japanese players on Tour.
Alejandro Tosti
A rookie on Tour in 2024, Alejandro Tosti didn’t perform well enough to maintain his status. Yet, he played well enough this week to lock up his card for 2025. Tosti turned pro in 2018 after playing at the University of Florida, where he earned All-American status and won a trio of tournaments, including the individual conference championship. Upon turning professional, he joined the PGA Tour Latinoamerica, where he logged two wins, one of which in 2022 allowed him to earn his graduation up to the Korn Ferry Tour. His victory at the Pinnacle Bank Championship in 2023 earned him his PGA Tour status for 2024.
While he finished as T2 on Tour this past season, he missed the cut in 16 of his 28 events. With his status on the line, Tosti showed up and finished T4 at four-under par to maintain it for this upcoming season.
Will Chandler
Not only is Will Chandler a PGA Tour rookie for 2025, but this is the first time he’s ever been a member of any tour! Chandler’s success story is what Q-School is all about. Coming from a family that all went to the University of Georgia, his recruitment went poorly because he told everyone he was going to Georgia. While there, he struggled to earn a spot in the starting lineup, with most of his events just posting an individual score that isn’t counted toward the team total.
After Georgia, he played on some mini-tours and kept improving, eventually earning status on the PGA Tour Canada, where he performed poorly. He played in a handful of Korn Ferry Tour Monday qualifiers (one round where you can earn entry into the tournament), and he ultimately played well enough in these events to secure conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour for this season. In the end, that status didn’t matter, though, as his T4 four-under par finish secured his PGA Tour card for 2025.
Matthew Riedel
Last but not least, Matthew Riedel made par on his final hole to secure the tie for fourth and earn his card for 2025. All this comes just a handful of months after finishing his college career at Vanderbilt. Riedel was probably one of the more underrated players in college this past year. He finished T2 at the SEC Championship in April, eventually turning pro after graduation in June. Riedel played consistently well in college, especially in 2024, where he finished fourth in the 2024 PGA Tour University Ranking, earning him immediate status on the Korn Ferry Tour.
He played in 13 of 15 possible events immediately after turning pro, making six cuts, but his second-place finish at The Ascendant presented by Blue earned him full status on the Korn Ferry Tour for 2025. At Q-School, Riedel started hot, posting under-par scores in each of the first three rounds, entering Round 4 tied for the lead. However, he was three-over par through the first 10 holes of Round 4, which dropped him out of the top five. Ultimately, he secured his status for 2025 on the PGA Tour.
We all love a success story. Now, let’s see if these golfers can make it count!
Thanks for reading about the 2024’s PGA Tour Q-School Card Earners! Be sure to follow me on Twitter @Parry_FF for more content. Don’t forget to tell someone that you love them!
*Photo Credit: Marc Lebryk – USA TODAY Sports*
