He had a few tense moments, but Orem's Keith Clearwater hung on in Monday's final round of the PGA Qualifying tournament at La Quinta, Calif., and earned his PGA card for the 2001 season.
Clearwater carded his worst round of the six-round tournament, a 2-over-par 74, but he finished at 416, one stroke better than the cutoff score of 417. In all, 36 golfers earned their PGA Tour playing privileges for next year, led by Australian Stephen Allan, whose 400 total was the best score.
Two other golfers with local ties, former BYU golfer Richard Zokol and Ogden pro Jimmy Blair, were unsuccessful in their bids to make the PGA Tour. Zokol's final-round 71 put him four strokes too high at 421 and in a tie for 71st place. However, he did earn the right to play on the Buy.com Tour next year.
The 45-year-old Blair never broke 70 until the final round, but his 69 left him too far back at even-par 432. Another ex-BYU golfer, Rick Fehr, withdrew after the third round.
Andrew Morse, who won the Buy.com Utah Classic in September, missed qualifying by just two strokes at 419. Several prominent golfers missed by just one stroke at 418, including five-time PGA Tour winner Ken Green, former British Open runner-up Brian Watts, two-time PGA winner Donnie Hammond and Casey Martin, who is known for his fight with the PGA Tour for the right to use a cart.
Clearwater put himself in prime position with back-to-back bogeyless rounds of 66 on Saturday and Sunday, but he struggled on the back nine Monday. He bogeyed 11, 12, 16 and 18.
Since winning rookie-of-the-year honors in 1987, the 41-year-old Clearwater has won more than $2.2 million on the PGA Tour.
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