Web.com Tour Q-School Second Stage: Final Round at Southern Hills Plantation
BROOKSVILLE, FL | Colombian Oscar Alvarez birdied his last three holes to finish off a dismal scoring day during his final round of the Web.com Tour's second stage of Q-School. Alvarez's 75 slid him into a tie for 39th place with a four-day total of 3-under-par 285. The PGA Latinoamerica tour player, who had tour caddie B.J. Pitzen of Lakeland on the bag, needed to shoot 69 or better in order to finish inside the top 19 players and ties on Friday and qualify for the final stage at PGA West in LaQuinta, California. Alvarez began the day with two untimely 3-putts, which led to a bogey on the first hole and a double-bogey on the par-3 third hole. The 30-year old fought back with a birdie on the par-5 fifth hole after hitting a 3-wood from a ball that was in a sizeable divot in the fairway just past pin high in two strokes, which led to a routine up-and-down. However, the Colombian ran into a roadblock on the long par-5 No. 7 after hitting his layup shot with a 4-iron into the left hazard. After having to manufacture an awkward stance with a bush behind him, Alvarez barely clipped an oak tree on his third shot and was forced to take a lateral hazard drop. His fifth shot came up 50 feet short, which led to another 3-putt for a triple bogey. Alvarez continued his downward spiral with bogeys on No. 11 and the par-5 No. 12 after blowing his second shot into the tall heather, forcing him to play his provisional ball. The Colombian hit a 9-iron to six feet and drained his birdie putt on the par-3 No. 13, which gave him a push towards his finish of three consecutive birdies starting at the par-5 No. 16. Alvarez got up and down for birdie from 13 yards in front of the green with a handy 58 degree flop shot to two feet. The latino's tee shot with a 6-iron stopped 11 feet away from the pin on No. 17 and he drained the left-to-right putt for birdie. Alvarez flew his the same 6-iron an inch over the fringe after a stock drive in the middle of the fairway. The Colombian proceeded to chip in for birdie to end the tournament and finish with a respectable score after such a rocky start. Alvarez's playing partner, London native and current resident of Suwanee, Georgia David Skinns (67) finished at 11-under in a tie for eighth place to lock one of the coveted spots in LaQuinta after making six birdies during round four. Ryan Gildersleeve (71) was not as fortunate despite making five birdies on Friday as he finished two shots off the pace in a tie for 25th. California native and Huntersville, NC resident Matt Ryan was under par in each round and won the event with a four-day total of 17-under-par highlighted by a first round of 8-under 64. Look at the Web.com Tour's second stage leaderboard from the Southern Hills site at the following web address: http://pgatq.bluegolf.com/blue
