Brendon Todd medals, earns TOUR card with Q-School win

Laberge/Getty Images

Brendon Todd fired six sub-par rounds to earn medalist honors.

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Brendon Todd shot a final-round 4-under 68 on the Jack Nicklaus Stadium Course to win the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament by one stroke on Monday, earning his TOUR card for 2012.

Todd, who has missed the cut in 27 of his last 37 tournaments on the Nationwide Tour the last two years, had a six-day total of 17-under 415 and earned $50,000 for the win.

Stephen Gangluff, another Nationwide Tour player in 2011, shot a 70 and finished second, one shot behind Todd to earn at $40,000.

The two led a group of 29 players who earned PGA TOUR exemptions for next year. Todd played on the TOUR in 2009 but struggled and lost his exemption.

SIXTH-ROUND NOTES

Weather: Mostly sunny with a high temperature of 64 degrees. Winds NW 7-15.

Final-round leaderboard: 1. Brendon Todd -17 2. Stephen Gangluff -16 3. Bobby Gates -15 Seung-yul Noh -15 5. Tommy Biershenk -14 Vaughn Taylor -14 Jarrod Lyle -14 8. Bob Estes -13 Brian Harman -13 Marco Dawson -13

• A total of 27 PGA TOUR cards were handed out this week. The cut-off came at 8-under par 424 for the group.

• There were 29 players who were at 8-under par but two players in that group (Roberto Castro and Mark Anderson) had already earned their cards by virtue of finishing among the 25 leading money winners on the 2011 Nationwide Tour and did not count towards the total of 25.

• Richard H. Lee was the only player to earn his Tour card while playing the Stadium Course in the final round. Lee, a graduate of the University of Washington, played his final five holes in 5-under par to shoot a 4-under 68 and finish at 9-under 423. Lee birdied his final two holes to secure his card for the 2012 season. Lee's weekend scores of 66-67 matched the best total over the final 36 holes.

• Scores needed to secure PGA TOUR status at PGA West in previous years:

• Brendon Todd made 10 of 24 cuts on the Nationwide Tour in 2011 and wound up No. 84 on the money list. Todd's only season on the PGA TOUR came in 2009 when he made five of 21 cuts and finished No. 186 on the money list. His career-best finish is a T12 at the 2009 St. Jude Classic.

• Stephen Gangluff has played only one full season on the PGA TOUR -- he made 10 of 27 cuts in 2002 and finished No. 176 on the money list. Gangluff's career-best finish is a T19 at the 2002 FedEx St. Jude Classic.

• Marco Dawson is making his 11th appearance in the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. He last earned his card through this tournament in 2006. He has advanced through the Qualifying Tournament five times in his career. Dawson opened with a 1-over 73 and was T126 after the first round.

• Patrick Sheehan is making a return trip to the PGA TOUR thanks to a solid weekend. The 42-year old matched the best final 36-hole score with his 66-67 finish. Sheehan finished T18. Sheehan played the Tour full-time in 2003-06, 2008-09.

• Veteran Jeff Maggert has made 546 career starts on the PGA TOUR and has won three times. This past year Maggert made only six of 18 cuts and finished No. 216 on the money list. His best finish was a T36 at the Valero Texas Open.

• Vaughn Taylor, two-time PGA TOUR winner, regained his card for the 2012 season after a 3-under-69 on the Nicklaus Tournament course. Taylor finished No. 148 on the money list this year, his eighth on TOUR. Taylor (T5) will be heading to the Bahamas this week where he will get married on Saturday.

• Jarrod Lyle (T5) is also returning to the Tour next year after a 3-under 69 on the Nicklaus Tournament course. Lyle is also scheduled to get married next Saturday. He will marry fiance' Briony Harper in his hometown of Shepparton, Australia.

• Will Claxton has made only one career start on the PGA TOUR. He finished T67 at this year's Transition Championship. Claxton earned conditional status on the 2011 Nationwide Tour after finishing T139 at the 2010 Qualifying Tournament. Claxton made four cuts in nine starts on the Nationwide Tour this year. His only top-25 finish was a T17 at the Mexico Open. Claxton is a 2005 graduate of Auburn University, where he was a member of the Tigers' 2002 Southeastern Conference Championship team.

• Seung-yul Noh (T3) is a 20-year old from Seoul, South Korea. He was named the Asian Tour's 2008 Rookie of the Year. He won once on the Asian Tour in 2008 and again in 2010 at the Maybank Malaysian Open, a co-sponsored event with the European Tour. Noh played in six PGA TOUR events in 2011.

• Harris English (T13) won the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational as an amateur in July on the Nationwide Tour. After turning professional he lost in a playoff in October at the WNB Golf Classic and T3 at the Miccosukee Championship. English has never played on the PGA TOUR.

Scoring averages (both courses are par-72):

The toughest holes on each course:

There were five 2011 Nationwide Tour graduates in the field hoping to improve their eligibility standings for the 2012 season. All five have earned PGA TOUR cards for next year. These players will not count toward the top 25 and ties who will earn their PGA TOUR card through Q-School, or against the next number nearest 50 to determine fully-exempt Nationwide Tour membership.

The Coachella Valley has hosted the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament several times over the years. This is the fifth time that the current two-course rotation of the Nicklaus Tournament Course and TPC Stadium Course has been used.