SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The only constant is change, as the saying goes. But that doesn’t mean everyone has to like it.
Staged every year since 1948, the Monday qualifier for the 2025 WM Phoenix Open was held at Pinnacle Peak Country Club, about six miles north of TPC Scottsdale. This year, however, is the final year of the Monday qualifier. New PGA Tour rules go into affect in 2026 regarding field size and the Phoenix Open, which for years had 132 golfers, will go to 120. Tournaments with field sizes of 120 can no longer have open qualifiers, say these new rules, so this closes the book on 77 years of tradition.
In 1980, Jeff Mitchell was a Monday qualifier and then won the Phoenix Open, held that year at Phoenix Country Club. Only four qualifiers have won since, the most recent in 2019.
But that’s not really the point. Making a PGA Tour field as a Monday qualifier is a victory in and of itself for many.
Take Jimmy Knous. In 2024, Jimmy Hard K as he’s known, Monday Q’d into Phoenix, then had himself a week. During the second round, he holed out a bunker shot for birdie at 18. The crowd went wild, and Knous would go on to make the cut. Now working full-time at Ping, Knous knows the loss of the Mondays means the loss of great stories for fans and TV networks and fellow pros alike.
“You wouldn’t have seen my story from last year, you know, top 30 and got the fans going,” he said after shooting a 4-under 68 and knowing it wouldn’t be enough to nab one of the three spots to advance. “Makes me sad, to be honest. A few things the Tour is doing I don’t love, in the past few years, but I know people were excited to have this qualifier here and it going away is a big bummer for the Southwest Section. I wish they’d still kept it open, the Phoenix Open, you know, for the people, it’s too bad.”
Gary McCord, who lives along the 18th hole at Pinnacle Peak Country Club and was out following Kevin Tway, himself once had to navigate Mondays.
“You’re asking me how I like them? I was right in the middle of them, it was impossible,” he said, noting that a few he played in had just one person advance.
For many years later, McCord worked in TV and was part of the crew that could shine a light on those long-shot Monday guys when they crashed leaderboards. But those stories may just fade away.
“How are you going to, you know, bring back the romance of a guy qualifying, that’s working at the 7-11, who’s been hitting balls at night at the range, and those balls look like eggs, oblong, and he makes it, he makes the cut. Man that’s good stuff. We’re going to lose all that,” McCord said.
The Southwest Section PGA has run the Phoenix Open qualifier all along. Bill Ibrahim, Southwest PGA Senior Director of Operations and Public Relations, said that dates back to when the PGA Tour split from the PGA of America. All the Sections have run the local qualifiers.
“These were unique only to golf,” he said. “That’s what has always separated golf from all the other major sports.
“Ask Max Homa. Max Homa has played in this event five, six times. Max couldn’t qualify. Finally, the one year he qualified, earned a spot, played well in the Phoenix Open.
The Mondays give “opportunities to those who otherwise would not have it,” says Ibrahim, who added that the Southwest Section always had a spot for its champion but that’s also now gone.
Jesse Mueller, who played high school golf in nearby Mesa and later at Arizona State, was the 2024 SWSPGA champion and in 2025, he’ll get the final exemption.
“Having that exemption ensured there will always be a local representative,” Ibrahim noted.
Getting into a PGA Tour is difficult and will become moreso in the future. Even if you have a PGA Tour card, though, even getting into some events is challenging.
“It’s frustrating that I finished No. 2 on the Korn Ferry Tour points list and I can’t even get into an open event,” said Max McGreevy, who shot a 7-under 65 on Monday, then had to play the waiting game before finding out a few hours later it was good enough, as he tied for second alongside Will Chandler, two shots back of Steven Fisk.
While it’s too late to save this Monday qualifier, McGreevy can still fight for guys like him, guys on the cusp but who also find themselves fighting a more uphill battle to make the big leagues.
“There’s better golfers than there ever have been, it’s deeper than it ever has been and we’re losing more avenues. So unfortunately things like that are going to happen,” he said. “Fortunately I got voted onto the PAC this year and hopefully I can voice any kind of concern to help with that situation but taking spots away from people probably isn’t the best way to do it.”
Tyler Leach won’t be playing in this year’s Phoenix Open. He shot a 2-over 74 in the qualifier but that was after he started 6 over through his first five holes. Often, golfers will walk off the course after a start like that, not even finishing their rounds. For Leach, this Monday qualifier was a learning experience but a reminder of another saying: If you’re good enough, you’ll find a spot on the PGA Tour.
“If you’re a good enough player, if you give yourself enough chances, eventually you should, you know, get to where you want to be,” he said. “I think my goal is I’m just going to keep trying to get a little better every day. That’s all I can really control right? And then I’ll have opportunities like today, I’ll have other opportunities like this, big opportunities, that could be a stepping stone for me.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: WM Phoenix Open 2025 Monday qualifier is the final one after 77 years
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