It was a memorable year in 2013 on the Web.com Tour. We saw two 59s, the debuts of the Web.com Tour Finals and Web.com Tour Q-School and more. Our Adam Schupak (@GolfweekSchupak) and Brentley Romine (@GolfweekBromine) take a look back on the season that was:
1. Last season marked the debut of the Web.com Tour Finals. What did you think of the new system?
Brentley: It's not the FedEx Cup Playoffs, but it's still pretty exciting. It gave PGA Tour guys like Bud Cauley one last chance to keep their cards, and it also allowed players who finished outside of the top 25 of the Web.com money list, like John Peterson, another chance to make it onto the PGA Tour. You won't see the unknowns graduate to the PGA Tour straight from Q-School anymore, but I think this group of 50 graduates, including the 25 from the Finals, are as competitive of a group as any we've seen.
2. Twenty-five players earned their PGA Tour card for next season via the 2013 Web.com Tour money list while another 25 earned their cards via the Finals. Which card earners were pleasant surprises? Who are you surprised didn't earn their card?
Brentley: It was nice to see Bud Cauley hold onto his PGA Tour card. Cauley struggled with the putter in 2013, but I think he'll return to his 2012 form, if not better, in 2014. Also, it will be exciting to see guys like Ryo Ishikawa, Jamie Lovemark, John Peterson and Patrick Cantlay on the big tour in 2014. As for those who didn't earn their cards, Shawn Stefani stands out. He played well on the PGA Tour early in 2013 and definitely has the talent to compete on the big level. Also, it was tough seeing Steven Alker miss out on a PGA Tour card. He finished just more than $1,000 out of the 25th spot on the money list before failing to earn his card via the Finals, as well.
3. What was the most dominating winning performance this past season?
Brentley: I almost went with Seung-Yul Noh's five-shot victory at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship, but how about Mark Anderson's wire-to-wire victory at the BMW Charity Pro-Am. Sure, scores were low, but Anderson birdied the first two holes of the tournament, shot rounds of 63-67-64-65 and finished five shots clear of the field at 27 under.
4. There were two 59s shot in 2013, one by Will Wilcox at the Utah Championship and the other by Russell Knox at the Boise Open. Which one was more impressive?
Brentley: While Wilcox's 59 came in the same tournament that Chad Collins shot 60, I will still go with that one. Wilcox made 10 birdies and an eagle to achieve his number. Plus, he did it in the final round.
5. This year also marked the debut of Web.com Tour Q-School? What was your impression of it?
Brentley: I don't think it had quite the same appeal to it as the old Q-School, but it wasn't horrible. Zack Fischer had a great tournament en route to medalist honors, and it was nice to see Max Homa inside the top 10. The biggest thing for me is that everyone earned some kind of status. It wasn't finish inside a certain position or go home, so that appeal was missing. But all in all, not a bad first go-around for the new Q-School.
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