TOUR Cards on the Line for Met Area Players

James Nicholas during the Korn Ferry Tour's 2023 Magnit Championship at Metedeconk National Golf Club.

ELMSFORD, N.Y. (December 12, 2023) -- PGA TOUR cards are on the line this week as PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry takes place December 14-17 at TPC Sawgrass' Dye's Valley Course and Sawgrass Country Club. Ryan Davis of Berkeley Heights, N.J.; James Nicholas of Scarsdale, N.Y.; John Pak of Scotch Plains, N.J.; and John VanDerLaan of Southbury, Conn. are all in the 165-player field, looking to improve upon their status for the 2024 season. This is the first time in a decade that PGA TOUR membership has been on the line at Q-School, with the top five and ties earning an immediate promotion to golf's highest level.

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Davis, the 2019 Met Amateur champion at Arcola, has competed on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica and PGA TOUR Canada circuits over the last two years, with a tie for sixth in the Osprey Valley Open this year standing as his top finish. Davis also competed in the Met Open in 2022, finishing tied for 21st at Bethpage Black. More recently, Davis has been getting competitive reps in on the Minor League Golf Tour in Florida, where he has earned a trio of victories -- his most recent coming on November 7 when he fired a 10-under 61 at Abacoa Golf Club to win by five shots. He advanced through Second Stage by shooting 10-under over four days and tying for fourth at RTJ Golf Trail at Highland Oaks in Dothan, Ala., in mid-November.

Nicholas will look to continue his stellar play as of late, having already advanced through DP World Tour Q-School recently to gain full status there for the upcoming season. Nicholas used impressive wins in both the Long Island Open and Westchester Open this past summer to ignite a quality close to the season on the Korn Ferry Tour, where he made three of four cuts including a tie for 16th in the Magnit Championship at Metedeconk National Golf Club. Nicholas advanced through Second Stage at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta, Ga., firing rounds of 72-65-73-69 to finish 9-under and tied for second.

Meanwhile, Pak is looking to climb back to the PGA TOUR where he made six starts during the summer of 2021 after finishing No. 1 on the PGA TOUR University Ranking having swept the Haskins, Nicholas, and Hogan awards as the top men's college golfer. This past year, Pak competed on PGA TOUR Canada, using a win in the Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open to eventually finish eighth on the Tour's season-long Fortinet Cup. Pak advanced through Second Stage at The Tesoro Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., shooting 5-under and finishing tied for 11th.

VanDerLaan, the runner-up in the 2014 Met Junior, earned his spot in Final Stage thanks to a quality season on the Korn Ferry Tour. He finished 42nd on the year-long points list, narrowly missing the top-30 threshold that earns a PGA TOUR card. In 25 events, VanDerLaan made 16 cuts and secured four top-10 finishes, including a runner-up finish in the Pinnacle Bank Championship. He also made a trio of PGA TOUR starts, his best finish coming with a tie for seventh at the Puerto Rico Open in March.

Each competitor will play two rounds on both Dye's Valley and Sawgrass Country Club. The top five finishers and ties will earn PGA TOUR cards. The next 40 finishers and ties at Final Stage will earn exempt status through multiple reshuffles of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season. The next 20 finishers and ties at Final Stage will earn exempt status for the Latin America Swing of the 2024 PGA TOUR Americas season while also earning conditional Korn Ferry Tour membership. All remaining finishers at Final Stage will have conditional Korn Ferry Tour membership and conditional PGA TOUR Americas membership for the 2024 season.

* DV - Dye's Valley Course; CC - Sawgrass Country Club