Todd the Medalist at PGA Tour Q School


Brendon Todd closed with a 4-under 68 to finish on top of the PGA Tour's grueling Q School. Todd, a Pittsburgh native who attended the University of Georgia, finished the six-round tournament in 17-under 415, one shot ahead of Stephen Gangluff, who closed with a 70.

All the final rounds were played on the Nicklaus Tournament Course in La Quinta, Calif. Earlier rounds were also played on the TPC Stadium Course at PGA West.

Tied for third at 417 were Bobby Gates (66) and Seung-yul Noh (67), while right behind at 14-under 418 were Tommy Biershenk (68), Vaughn Taylor (69) and Jarrod Lyle (69).

Tour veteran Bob Estes (67) and Brian Harmon (70) shared eighth with 90-hole leader Marco Dawson. The 48-year-old Dawson started the final round with a three-shot edge over the field but stumbled to a 76 Monday.

The top-25 players and ties earn PGA Tour membership for 2012, while everyone else in the final round will get some sort of status on the Nationwide Tour. The magic number for qualifying for next year's PGA Tour was 9-under 423.

Several established pros were vying to either retain or regain their tour cards. Among those who finished in the top 25 were William McGirt and Jeff Maggert, who shared 13th at 11-under 421, and Greg Owen, a 39-year-old Englishman who tied for 18th at 10-under.

Not so fortunate were 2002 PGA champion Rich Beem, who finished at 6-over; former British Open winner David Duval (2-under); 2003 PGA champion Shaun Micheel (even par); and two-time U.S. Open winner Lee Janzen, who tied for 38th at 6-under 426.

For all the scores, visit http://www.pgatour.com/qschool/leaderboard/.