Castle Rock – The PGA Tour’s qualifying school this year is scheduled Nov. 30-Dec. 5 at the Orange County National Golf Center & Lodge in Winter Park, Fla.
Jeff Brehaut won’t be there.
Brehaut, 42, a struggling pro who has been to the Q-school more times than he cares to count, finished third at The International on Sunday, scoring 10 points in the final round to finish with a total of 29, three behind two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen. Brehaut may have been the happiest golfer in the field.
It was the best finish of his career, so the first thing he looked for when he finished his round was the payoff sheet.
“Yeah, I was just in the scoring trailer, and I saw if I finished third or even fourth, I saw what I was going to make ($340,000),” said Brehaut. “I told my caddie it looks like no Q-school this year, so that is a big hurdle.
“I’ve been there more than 10 times,” Brehaut said. “I don’t even want to go there, I’ve been there so many times.
“Fortunately I’ve been able to get through it the last five times in a row when I’ve had to, so obviously it’s a great feeling not to have to worry about that right now. Now I can just try to win tournaments.”
There was a time Sunday when it looked like Brehaut had a pretty good chance to win, and pocket $900,000.
After scoring 6 points to get to 19 in the third round, he birdied the first four holes of his final round to quickly get to 27, then stayed there through the turn. He bogeyed 11 to slip back to 26, but birdied 14 and 17 to get to 30, where he briefly had a share of the lead with Goosen and third-round leader Brandt Jobe.
“Jobe was going pretty good early, so he had quite a lead,” Brehaut said. “Then he backed off a little bit. You know, this format is so goofy that I just kept telling myself to hang in there and try to get a putt (for a 5-point eagle) at 17 and everything can change, and I came pretty close.”
He missed a 20-foot putt for eagle that could have won the tournament.
“But I had a good tournament,” he said. “I wish I would have done a little better, but I’m happy.”
As it was, he could have done worse, as he might have double- bogeyed 18 after driving his tee shot into a bunker, hacking it out to a sidehill lie, then somehow knocking a baseball swing onto the green for a two-putt bogey.
“I was pretty happy with that bogey,” he said. “I knew every shot was important.”
Brehaut said he got into the chase in the final round after putting his 40-minute break between rounds to good use.
“I went in, had lunch, changed my socks and hit some balls,” he said. “I was driving it pretty poorly in the morning.”
Having to play 36 holes Sunday did not seem to affect him.
“It was easier than I thought,” Brehaut said. “If I would have played worse, I’d probably be moaning right now. But I mean, I was playing well, I was into it. So I’m pretty happy.”
Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
