B.C. Golf Notes: Sloan Comes Close In Kansas; Taylor Needs Playoff Push; Jonas Receives Exemption Into Champions Tour Qualifier

Merritt's Roger Sloan Is Getting Closer To The Coveted Top 25 Spot On The Web.com Tour Money List He Needs To Gain A Place On The PGA TOUR Next Year - Image Credit Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

A bogey on the final hole Sunday cost Merritt’s Roger Sloan a spot in a playoff at the Web.com Tour’s Digital Ally Open in Kansas.

Sloan just missed a five-foot putt for par on the 18th hole that would have put him in a playoff with Americans Wesley Bryan, J.T. Poston and Grayson Murray. Instead, he ended up in a five-way tie for fourth place.

That was Sloan’s only bogey on the day as he closed with a six-under 66 to finish at 19-under par.  His fourth-place finish, which earned Sloan $24,505, moved him up to 40th from 50th spot on the Webcom Tour money list. A win would have propelled Sloan well inside the top 25 and guaranteed him a spot on the PGA TOUR in 2017.

It was the second close call of the season for Sloan. Back in early May, he double-bogeyed the final two holes of the United Finance & Leasing Championship in Newburgh, Ind., and finished in fifth place, two shots behind the winner.

Three more regular-season events remain for Sloan to try and move into the top 25 on the money list. He has clinched a spot in the four-event Web.com Tour playoffs, where the top 75 players on the Web.com Tour will compete with players who finished 126th to 200th on the PGA TOUR’s FedEx Cup points list for 25 more spots on the 2017 PGA TOUR.

Surrey’s Adam Svensson, who missed the cut in Kansas, is also in good shape to make the playoffs. Svensson stands 59th on the money list. Sunday’s playoff in Kansas was won by Bryan. It was his third win of the season, which earned him an immediate promotion to the PGA TOUR.

PLAYOFF PUSH: With just two regular-season events left on the schedule, Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor is in a fight to hang onto a spot in the PGA TOUR’s FedEx Cup playoffs. Taylor made the cut at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Ct., and finished tied for 64th place after closing with a two-over 72 on Sunday. But despite cashing a paycheque, Taylor dropped four spots on the FedEx Cup points race to 120th. The top 125 on that list qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Only this week’s John Deere Classic and the Wyndham Championship the following week remain on the regular schedule. Taylor likely needs to make the cut in at least one of those events to remain inside the top 125. No matter what happens, Taylor remains exempt for the 2017 season on the PGA TOUR as a result of his victory two years ago at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Fellow Abbotsford resident Adam Hadwin missed the cut at the Travelers Championship but is 100th on the FedEx Cup points list and has clinched a spot in the playoffs. Hadwin and Taylor are both in the field for this week’s John Deere Classic.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: Phil Jonas is hoping this might be his senior moment. The teaching pro from Hazelmere Golf Club in Surrey has been given an exemption into the final qualifier for next month’s Pacific Links Championship, a Champions Tour event being held at Bear Mountain in Victoria.

That exemption granted by the PGA of B.C. means Jonas gets to skip a pre-qualifier scheduled for Sept. 15 at Ledgeview Golf Club in Abbotsford. He will tee it up in the final qualifier, which goes Sept. 20 at Bear Mountain’s Valley Course. As many as seven spots into the $2.5-million Pacific Links Championship will be up for grabs at that final qualifier. About 30 players normally tee it up in the final qualifier.

“It’s a good opportunity,” said Jonas, a former regular on the European Senior Tour. “There are not a lot of guys who play in the final qualifier because they have the pre-qualifier. It’s not easy because the guys who play in the final qualifier are all good, but it’s better to play 30-odd guys for four spots or how many there is as opposed to 100 for four.”

image courtesy vancouver golf tour

Hazelmere Golf Pro Phil Jonas Has His Eyes On A Champions Tour Berth In The Pacific Links Championship Next Month

Jonas will warm up for the qualifier by playing in the PGA of B.C. Championship, which goes Aug. 22-23 at Royal Colwood in Victoria. He hopes to play one or two practice rounds on Bear Mountain’s Valley course before or after that event. “That course is pretty tricky, so I need to get familiar with it and see what I can do,” Jonas said.

The Pacific Links Championship goes Sept. 22-25 on Bear Mountain’s Mountain Course.

WASHED OUT: Sunday’s final round of the ATB Financial Classic, the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada event in Calgary, was washed out by heavy rain that flooded Country Hills Golf Club. Victoria’s Cory Renfrew was the top British Columbian. He finished tied for 11th at 11-under par, five shots behind winner Charlie Bull of England. The Mackenize Tour resumes Aug. 18-21 in Ottawa.

AMATEUR HOUR: Speaking of Ottawa, that’s where many of this country’s top amateurs have gathered for this week’s Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship. Royal Ottawa Golf Club and Eagle Creek Golf Club are the host courses for the event.

B.C. Amateur winner Nolan Thoroughgood of Victoria, A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam and Nanaimo’s Zach Anderson will represent B.C. in the Willingdon Cup competition which is conducted during the first two rounds of the tournament.

Thoroughood is coming off a tie for 11th place at last week’s Canadian Junior Boys Championship in St. John’s Nfld. “I am happy with it but it definitely could have been better,” Thoroughgood said. “I didn’t hit the golf ball well. I kept it front of me but I didn’t give myself many scoring chances.”

ACROSS THE POND: Vancouver’s Doug Roxburgh didn’t finish the way he’d like, but still managed to tie for 27th place at the British Senior Amateur at Formby Golf Club in England. Roxburgh closed with a seven-over 79 to finish the 54-hole event at 14-over par. That was 10 shots behind winner Chip Lutz of the United States, who won a three-man playoff.