T.J.

Vogel

Vogel, who first earned his KFT card ahead of the 2014 season and was making his 104th career start, carded a final-round 5-under 67, tied for the second-lowest round of the day at The Landings Club’s Deer Creek course in Savannah, Ga. “I finally proved to myself I could do it,” Vogel said on the Korn Ferry Tour’s livestream coverage of the 72nd hole. “I was out here as a young pro, but not quite ready at that point. I moved back, worked my way back up and just progressed. I felt like my progression was very slow, but I felt like I always kept moving a little bit up, a little bit up, and this is a big step here.” The 31-year-old Vogel started the day three strokes off the lead but quickly moved into contention with an opening birdie and an eagle at the par-5 third, followed by a run of three consecutive birdies on Nos. 5-7. Anderson bogeyed 16 and 17 to fall back to T-2. Vogel had one previous top 10 this season, finishing T-10 at the Panama Championship.

Vogel gained entry on a sponsor exemption. After missing the cut as an amateur at the Masters, he turned pro in advance of the U.S. Open sectional qualifier in Georgia where he’d settle for first alternate and short of the field at Merion. So, the JDC will go in the books as his debut as a professional on the PGA TOUR.

The 27-year-old Floridian swallowed one bogey on Monday but camouflaged the square with six birdies and an eagle. Vogel took top honors at the Monday Q with Andrew Novak and Nathan Lashley finishing close behind (6-under 65). The final spot came down to three golfers who finished at 5-under 66. Jhared Hack returned on Tuesday morning to win a 3-for-1 playoff with Ben Polland and Adam Svensson getting eliminated. Svensson would have been an appealing sleeper at PGA National as he lapped the field during the 2015 Web.com Tour Q-School held on the property. Gamers should keep their expectations low for this crop of qualifiers as Vogel, Hack, and Novak, are a combined 0-for-8 in their PGA TOUR careers while Lashley is just 3-for-9 during his rookie campaign. The field of 144 golfers is now complete for this week’s Honda Classic.

Vogel fired a 7-under 64 to play his way into The Honda Classic just two weeks ago. He went on to post rounds of 75-73=148 (+8), leading to a missed cut. The Florida native and resident also OQ’d into the RSM back in November (CUT). In his career, he is now 0-for-6 on the PGA TOUR. Along with Vogel, other Valspar qualifiers include Trey Mullinax, Jack Maguire, and Sam Ryder. Mullinax missed the cut in his 2017 Valspar debut. Florida State standout Jack Maguire is 2-for-5 in his PGA TOUR and will be making his Valspar debut this week. PGA TOUR rookie Sam Ryder will also be making his Valspar debut.

This is now the seventh time Vogel has open qualified into an event this season. He is the King of Monday and he’s converted three of those into paychecks (T16/Valspar, T59/Wells Fargo, T66/Byron Nelson). The Florida Gator has banked 51 Non-Member FedExCup Points for his efforts. There will be three other qualifiers besides Vogel with Wes Homan, Mark Silvers, Logan Lagodich, and Blake Taylor all finishing at 5-under 66. Mark Silvers was the odd man out after a 4-for-3 playoff with the other three punching their ticket to this week’s Military Tribute at The Greenbrier.

Vogel has now punched his Open Qualifying ticket for the eighth time this season. He is just 3-for-7 in those starts but it would be a fitting end if he finally got rewarded for his efforts during the last event of the regular season. The Florida Gator has earned 50.75 Non-Member FedExCup Points along the way. The 200th spot in the cutoff for qualifying into the Web.com Tour Finals. Rod Pampling currently holds that spot with 64.22 FEC Points. Vogel will need to pick up at least 15 points this week to have a chance but that number will also likely move by week’s end. Others to punch their ticket through Monday Qualifying included Mickey DeMorat (-6), James Driscoll (-5), and Stewart Jolly (-5). NC State’s Stephen Franken was the odd-man out of the 4-for-3 playoff.

The Florida Gator product circled four birdies and an eagle en route to his 66 today at Gentle Creek Country Club. Vogel didn’t earn top honors today but this was still good enough to play his way through Monday Qualifying for the fifth time this season. Perhaps following in the footsteps of recent Monday warriors Patrick Reed and Austin Cook, Vogel will need to start turning this starts into top-heavy finishes. So far, he is 2-for-4 on the season with a T16 at the Valspar and T59 at the Wells Fargo Championship going as the highlights. Joining him in the field will be Ryan Baca who fired a bogey-free 65 today. The final two spots will be determined by a 4-for-2 playoff between Steven Ihm, Steve Allan, Tom Whitney, and Logan McCracken.

The Florida Gator has now played his way through six open qualifiers this year, all of them coming on Monday before today’s rare Sunday qualifier. Vogel has a heap of confidence and it’s starting to inch over into his PGA TOUR performances. After missed cuts in his first seven PGA TOUR appearances, he has gone T16-T59-T66 over the last three. He was T17 after R1 of the Wells Fargo Championship and T12 after R1 of the Byron Nelson. For all this hard work he deserves a top-heavy finish, so gamers should continue to keep an eye on him and he might even be worth a flyer this week. Other to qualify for the St. Jude Classic include Ben Crancer, Omar Uresti, and A.J. McInerney who all posted rounds of 4-under 66.