GOLF legend Padraig Harrington has questioned the PGA Tour’s decision to scrap Monday qualifying for seven of its tournaments on the 2025 schedule.
PGA Tour brass have scaled by the size of their fields by no longer have Monday qualifiers for certain events.
Monday qualifying (often called a ‘Monday Q’) is an official process on the PGA Tour.
It is a structured pathway for non-exempt players to earn a spot in the field for select PGA Tour events.
One of those events happens to be this week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open.
The event which attracts hundreds of thousand through its gates had ‘Monday Q’ for the past 70 years, but now that is a thing of the past with the tour’s latest eligibility criteria change.
And 2024 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Padraig Harrington is less than impressed with the change.
There have been five Monday qualifier winners since 1980.
Dubliner Harrington called the decision strange before saying that it takes away potential fairy tale stories.
Taking to X, the three-time major winner stated: “This has to be one of the strangest decisions of the PGA Tour when it comes to being in the entertainment business.
“If it was up to me I’d be focusing more on Monday qualifiers. There’s a movie script story nearly every week.
“I’d give the leading qualifier a tv draw and get a tv crew to follow him for the week.
“I would do this even more so in the signature events. We could have a “tin cup” story any given week.
“Could you imagine a struggling pro finishing in the top 10 and winning half a million. Nobody would begrudge that payout.”
How Monday Qualifying Works:
- Open to professionals and amateurs with a USGA handicap index of 2.0 or lower.
- Typically held the Monday before a PGA Tour event (except for majors, invitationals, and certain designated events).
- Four spots are usually available for each tournament.
- 18-hole stroke play format, with the lowest scores securing entry.
- Administered by the PGA Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, and PGA Tour Canada/Latinoamérica.
All Monday Qualifier winners Since 1980
- Corey Conners, 2019 Valero Texas Open
- Arjun Atwal, 2010 Wyndham Championship
- Fred Wadsworth, 1986 Southern Open
- Kenny Knox, 1986 The Honda Classic
- Jeff Mitchell, 1980 Phoenix Open
