Fran

Quinn

The 22-year-old Gotterup carded rounds of 67-70 at Century CC and Old Oaks CC to finish at 3-under 137 and tied with amateur Caleb Manuel (69-68) from Topsham, Maine, for two of the five available spots. Eight players finished at 2-under 138 and played off for the final three spots. Surviving the 8-for-3 playoff were 57-year-old Tour veteran Fran Quinn (69-69), who was in the field alongside his son, Owen, South Florida’s Brandon Matthews (70-68) and Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen (67-71). His appearance at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., mark the second U.S. Open start for Thorbjornsen, who three years ago at age 17 became the second youngest player since World War II to make the cut at a U.S. Open. First alternate is Kelly Kraft (69-69), the former U.S. Amateur champion who was seeking his first U.S. Open start, with Texan Chandler Phillips as second alternate. Missing out in the playoff were high school senior Ben James, who’ll play at the University of Virginia this fall, Iceland’s Haraldur Magnus and Michael Sweeney.

A 34-minute delay due to lightning prevented the journeyman from finishing tonight. Given that he’s on a Major Medical Extension (reshuffle category) and sits one strokes below the cut line in Vegas, it’s understandable why he marked his ball in the rough right of the fairway on the par-5 ninth hole. There’s no sense forcing the issue. He will return at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday to complete his round. The third round will begin as scheduled at 8:35 a.m.

After escaping from the right rough following a pushed tee ball, Quinn landed his third 5'3" from the hole. He buried the putt to qualify for a paycheck this weekend. He’s one of 13 golfers that completed 36 holes in 4-under-par 138, good for a share of 68th place. Because 80 survived the cut, another cut of top 70 and ties will occur once 54 holes are in the books.

He hit 27 greens but still required 65 putts. Quinn closed eagle-par-birdie-par but it wasn’t enough to survive eight bogeys and two doubles. This leaves him with six starts on his Major Medical Extension (reshuffle category) to earn $704,364 and get elevated to the MME category. At the time the field for next week’s McGladrey Classic was released on Friday afternoon, he was sixth alternate.

Quinn bogeyed his 36th hole to make the cut on the number and then failed to break par on the weekend (72-73). He closed at 2-under 286. This was just his fourth cut made in 10 starts on the PGA TOUR this year. If he doesn’t graduate from Q School, he’ll be limited to five starts on his Major Medical Extension (reshuffle category) in 2012 to earn $694,683 and get elevated to the MME category.

Quinn made his 2012 PGA TOUR debut this week. He had committed to Pebble Beach a month ago before withdrawing early. At Trump International, he hit just 22 greens and still needed 65 putts. This leaves him with four starts on his medical extension in the reshuffle category to earn $694,683 and get elevated to the Major Medical category.

Quinn would have been making his 2012 debut on TOUR this week. Instead, he’ll sit on five starts remaining on his medical extension in the reshuffle category to earn $694,683 and get elevated to the Major Medical category.

If he doesn’t withdraw prior to his tee time in the opening round, he’ll be making his final start on a medical extension in the reshuffle category. To earn a promotion to the Major Medical category for the remainder of the year, he needs to bank $694,683. However, the purse at the Greenbrier is $6.1 million. Therefore, since second place pays only $658,800, he’ll need to win to rise in the Priority Rankings. Short of that, Quinn can secure conditional status by earnings $471,435. That would require no worse than a two-way tie for second place worth $536,800.

Quinn circled five birdies at TPC Southwind but swallowed four bogeys and four doubles to go 0-for-3 on the year. This leaves him with two starts on his medical extension in the reshuffle category to earn $694,683 and a promotion to the Major Medical category. He’s also short of securing conditional status as a back-up plan by $471,435.