Wilson, Mccormick Set For Second Stage Of Web.com Q School

Pat Wilson of Panther Valley and Ryan McCormick of Suburban, two former New Jersey State Golf Association Players of the Year, are both in prime position to earn berths on the 2015 Web.com Tour.

The two former teammates on the St. John’s University golf team both came through the first stage of Web.com Tour Q-School on October 10 at The Standard Club in Johns Creek, Ga., and have advanced to the second stage of the event. A good showing in the second stage would advance the golfers to the final stage of Web.Com Q School and guarantee at least conditional status on the Web.com Tour.

After the first stage of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament, 100 players advanced to the second stage via First-Stage events in Beaumont, California; Pinehurst, North Carolina; and St. Augustine, Florida.

Three Second-Stage events will take place Nov. 11-14, and three more will occur Nov. 18-21. All Second-Stage sites will be held in either Florida, Texas or California.

Final Stage will take place Dec. 11-16 at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. All players who advance to final stage will be assured of at least conditional status on the Web.com Tour.

At Jones Creek, the top 31 and ties advanced to the Second Stage. Wilson was T-18 and McCormick T-30, after getting a birdie on the final hole. Coming in, McCormick triple-bogeyed 15 and bogeyed 17. “I’m proud of the way I finished with my season on the line,” he stated.

For the second stage, Wilson is headed to the TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, outside of Dallas, beginning Nov. 11. McCormick will play the second stage at Southern Hills Plantation in Brooksville, Fla., also Nov. 11-14.

Wilson, who lives in Andover, was NJSGA Player of the Year in 2013 when he won the Met Amateur championship. That year he placed seventh in both the State Amateur and in the 93rd State Open, and was also seventh in the Ike Championship. He teamed with his brother Cory, a junior at Seton Hall University, for a semifinal finish in the State Four-Ball Championship.

Pat Wilson also captained the NJSGA Stoddard Trophy team and led it to victory over Long Island and Westchester in 2013. The Stoddard match was played at Stanwich in Connecticut, the same course where Wilson won the Met Amateur.

This past summer, Wilson, who was a two-time All-Conference golfer at St. John's, played on the Latin American tour and visited Panama, Colombia and Mexico.

“I’ve learned how to travel. Getting around isn’t as easy as people think, especially with the different languages,’ said Wilson, who turns 24 on Halloween. “My short game has been very good. I struck the ball well the whole week at Jones Creek. I was happy to have put four good rounds together at that pressure-filled level. I feel I handled myself well, especially the mental part.”

McCormick, a Middletown resident, was Player of the Year in 2012 when he became only the fifth player in history to win the NJSGA and MGA Amateurs in the same year and the first since 1949. He also was within one stroke of winning the Met Open, but nonetheless won low amateur honors. He would have become the first golfer ever to win all three in the same summer.

McCormick, at age 20, was the second youngest to win the Player of the Year. Chris Nallen of Panther Valley, born in April, was also 20 when he won the first Player of the Year Award in 2002.

This summer, he played 11 events on the PGA Tour Canada and finished 74thout of more than 200 golfers. In the spring, he was Big East champion for St. John’s.

“It was a great learning experience, particularly to come out of college and go play as a professional on tour right away. It was nice to learn on the fly how to deal with things as a professional, running my life. It was different from college. It was not only the golf, but traveling an entire country which most people never get a chance to do,” said McCormick, who turns 23 on Nov. 7.