Taylor Funk orchestrates incredible finish to set up home Q-School finale

Taylor Funk played college golf at Texas with a host of future successful PGA Tour pros. Doug Ghim and Kramer Hickok have logged multiple seasons on Tour. So, too, has Beau Hossler, who locked up spots in two of the first three signature events next year by way of finishing No. 52 in FedExCup points after the fall.

Oh, and Scottie Scheffler is a Masters champion, Ryder Cupper and currently the world’s top-ranked player.

“You see your old teammates out there on Tour,” Funk said, “and it feels like you’re missing your chance.”

Well, Funk is making the most of his most recent opportunity.

The 28-year-old Funk, son of eight-time Tour winner Fred Funk, is now four strong rounds away from joining Scheffler and Co. on the PGA Tour next season after playing his last 11 holes in 7 under to narrowly advance out of the second stage of PGA Tour Q-School on Friday in Valdosta, Georgia. Funk was among the 13 players who survived the cut – and one of three who finished right on the bubble at 5 under – at a difficult Kinderlou Forest Golf Club and kept their hopes for a Tour card alive.

“We had 11 holes to go, and we were kind of just trying to post a decent score to be happy with,” Funk said. “And then I hit a nice shot on 17 and made birdie, made a 20-footer on 18, and then birdied 1 and 2, and I’m like, ‘Alright, well now we have a chance.’”

Funk sandwiched a birdie at the par-3 fifth with birdie lip-outs at Nos. 4 and 6. When he stepped on the tee at the par-3 eighth, his penultimate hole, Funk figured he needed one more birdie, maybe two. He was between clubs, chose the longer one and proceeded to hook his tee ball 20 yards left and into “pretty much a dead spot.”

A day earlier, Funk’s caddie reminded his boss that he hadn’t chipped in all year. That changed Friday at No. 8, as Funk holed a nearly impossible chip for another birdie. The heroics continued on the last hole, the par-4 ninth, as Funk yanked his worst drive of the week into some long grass, but after catching a decent lie, he stuffed an 8-iron to 6 feet and rolled in the putt that ultimately proved the difference for Funk, whose 6-under 66 tied for the best round of the day with former Oklahoma standout Blaine Hale, who tied for fifth at 8 under, five shots behind medalist Aldrich Potgieter, the 19-year-old South African phenom who is just months into his pro career.

“Pretty incredible finish,” Funk added, “and on a day that I finally gave it up to God. I’ve always tried to control it myself. … I really felt at peace today.”

Back in 2016, Funk, then a redshirt sophomore at Texas, famously took Oregon’s Sulman Raza to extra holes on the Ducks’ home course before falling in the deciding match of the NCAA final in Eugene. After the following season, Funk turned pro with one year of eligibility remaining, a decision he now regrets.

“Honestly, looking back, I wasn’t ready – definitely wasn’t ready,” Funk said. “But I truly believe I am now.”

Funk has little experience playing on Tour, or even the Korn Ferry Tour for that matter. He’s got two career starts on each tour to his name. But he’s seen plenty of the Tour’s other developmental circuits, including full seasons in Canada each of the past two years. This summer’s campaign was his best to date with three top-25s and seven made cuts in 10 starts.

Last year, Funk birdied two of his final three holes to keep his PGA Tour Canada card. A few months ago, he closed in 60 to do the same.

“It’s a great tour and I’ve enjoyed my last two seasons on it,” Funk said, “but as I’ve told all the sponsors up there who have said, ‘We’ll see you next year’: ‘I hope you don’t.’”

When Funk tees it up Dec. 14-17 at Sawgrass Country Club and TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course, it will mark his first time at final stage, which for the first time in over a decade has the added significance of offering PGA Tour cards (top five and ties).

For Funk, there’s even more significance: A Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, native grew up just minutes from TPC Sawgrass and estimates he’s played Dye’s Valley at least a thousand times and Sawgrass CC nearly 50 times.

He’s played the layouts a bunch recently, too, after moving back to Florida after a few years in Austin.

“I’ve seen every wind, every condition, every sight line, I’ve hit it in every hazard,” Funk said. “I still need to play well, so I can’t say how much of an advantage it will be, but I know for a fact that nothing will surprise me.”

Simply by advancing through second stage – James Nicholas, Dawson Armstrong, Michael Johnson, Ryan Hall and Curtis Thompson were among the others to join Funk – Funk has at least conditional KFT status.

Of course, he’d like to be able to join those aforementioned Longhorns on the big tour instead.

“You never know when that fire’s gonna hit,” Funk said. “To be four rounds away, it’s pretty crazy to think.”