But the grandson of the late Chuck Melvin, who played in six Colorado Cup matches, has aspirations beyond the Web.com Tour. And this past week, he demonstrated his mettle by sharing medalist honors in a Monday qualifier, then making the cut and finishing 36th on Sunday in the PGA Tour’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, Nev.
Cunningham (left) is now two-for-two in making cuts on the PGA Tour, having placed 29th in the RBC Canadian Open in July.
On Sunday, Cunningham shot a 5-under-par 66, giving him a 10-under 274 total for the week. He ended up 11 strokes behind champion Bryson DeChambeau.
Cunningham wasn’t the only player with strong Colorado ties who Monday qualified into the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Cole Nygren of Longmont also landed a spot in the event, firing a 65 in the Monday qualifier to earn his first PGA Tour start. Nygren missed the 36-hole cut in Vegas, shooting 76-68.
Cunningham won the GolfBC Championship on PGA Tour Canada in June.
Knous, a regular on the Web.com Tour in 2017, was competing in his second PGA Tour event ever, but made the cut for the first time. The 41st-place showing was worth $24,480.
The former Colorado School of Mines golfer (pictured) shot rounds of 71-71-73-68 at TPC Summerlin, which left him 1-under-par 283 overall. Knous finished eight strokes behind champion Patrick Cantlay.
Tom Whitney, the other Coloradan who Monday qualified for the Shriners Hospitals tournament, missed the 36-hole cut after rounds of 71-76.
Heisele European Update: Meanwhile, former University of Colorado golfer Sebastian Heisele on Saturday narrowly missed gaining fully-exempt status on the European Tour. Heisele needed to finish in the top 15 on the 2017 European Challenge Tour money list (aka the Road to Oman), but he placed 16th.
Heisele, who primarily played the European Tour in 2017, was in the 15th stop going into the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final in Oman, but a 16th-place finish there (70-68-73-72–283) dropped him down one spot.
“Tried my best, not enough!” Heisele said on Twitter.
The final stage of European Tour qualifying will be held Nov. 11-16 in Spain.
Clark followed up a 17th-place finish Sunday in the Sanderson Farms Championship on the PGA Tour with a dominating performance in advancing to the Final Stage of Q-school, where he’s guaranteed at least conditional status on the Web.com Tour in 2018.
Clark (left) shot his fourth consecutive sub-par round — a 2-under-par 70 — on Friday, giving him a 17-under 271 total. He made five birdies and three bogeys in round 4, giving him two eagles, 20 birdies and seven bogeys over 72 holes.
The top 20 finishers and ties after Friday advance to the Final Stage of Web qualifying, set for Dec. 7-10 in Chandler, Ariz. In Arizona, all the finishers will be guaranteed some Web.com Tour status in 2018, but the top 45 and ties there will earn exempt status of varying degrees, while the rest will have conditional status. And it’s not unusual for some players with conditional status to get very few starts on the Web.com Tour.
Two-time CoBank Colorado Open Derek Tolan of Highlands Ranch was the next-closest Coloradan to advancing, but he fell three strokes shy in a Second Stage tournament in Dothan, Ala. The former University of Colorado golfer tied for 28th at a site where the top 19 players and ties advanced. Tolan finished at even-par 288 (73-76-70-69), while 285 and better was necessary to make it to the Final Stage.
Three more Second Stage tournaments are scheduled for next week, with four other players with strong Colorado ties scheduled to tee it up: Jim Knous of Littleton, Tom Whitney of Fort Collins, A.J. Morris of Aspen and former University of Colorado golfer Justin Bardgett.
Here are the scores for all the Coloradans who competed this week:
Murrieta, Calif. (Top 20 Finishers and Ties Advance to Final Stage)
EARNED SPOT IN Q-SCHOO FINALS
1. Wyndham Clark, Highlands Ranch 66-66-69-70–271
FAILED TO ADVANCE
50. Riley Arp, Fort Collins 68-72-73-79–292
50. Parker Edens, Greeley 69-71-75-77–292
66. Jimmy Makloski, Pueblo 76-74-75-73–298
Dothan, Ala. (Top 19 Finishers and Ties Advance to Final Stage)
FAILED TO ADVANCE
28. Derek Tolan, Highlands Ranch 73-76-70-69–288
Knous Will Play on Weekend in Vegas PGA Tour Event: Meanwhile, Jim Knous of Littleton, who Monday qualified for the PGA Tour’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, is in good shape to make his first cut ever on the PGA Tour.
The former Colorado School of Mines golfer has shot rounds of 71-71, leaving him at even-par 142 and tied for 47th place. Though round 2 wasn’t completed on Friday, the players at 1 over par and better look likely to make the cut.
Former Fort Collins resident Sam Saunders is in 13th place at 3 under par after playing 33 holes through two days.
Fort Collins’ Tom Whitney, who like Knous Monday qualified for the tournament, will miss the cut after rounds of 71-76.
Tom Whitney of Fort Collins won the qualifier on Monday, shooting a 63 at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nev., while Jim Knous (pictured) of Englewood also earned one of the four qualifying spots by posting a 65.
This week’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, which runs Thursday through Sunday at TPC Summerlin, will mark the first PGA Tour event for Whitney, who played his college golf at the Air Force Academy. Whitney spend 2017 on the Web.com Tour, competing in 15 events, with a best showing of fifth place in the Lincoln Land Charity Championship in June. He finished 89th on the Web.com season-long money list.
Knous, a Basalt native and former Colorado School of Mines golfer, is headed for his second PGA Tour start, having also Monday qualified for the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he missed the cut in February. Like Whitney, Knous played primarily on the Web.com circuit this year. He participated in 21 Web tournaments, finishing 94th on the money list with a best showing of eighth place in the Ellie Mae Classic in August.
The part-time Denver resident and Kent Denver High School graduate accomplished plenty of personal firsts during the ’13-’14 wraparound season. Let’s count the ways:
— Most notably, he won for the first time on the PGA Tour, out-dueling Bubba Watson down the stretch in the Waste Management Phoenix Open near Stadler’s winter home in Scottsdale.
— Stadler won more than $2 million in a PGA Tour season for the first time, ending up with $2.3 million, good for 36th place on the Tour money list.
— The 34-year-old finished eighth in the Masters, marking by far his best showing ever in a major championship.
— In July, Stadler was on the verge of becoming the first American in 42 years to win the European Tour’s French Open, but he three-putted the final green, missing an attempt of less than 3 feet that would have forced a playoff.
“All in all, it was definitely a good year, but I would have liked to have played a little better in the summer than I did,” Stadler told COgolf.org after last month’s BMW Championship at Cherry Hills Country Club. “I’ve gotten into a spot the last three or four years where I’ve been a lot more comfortable, a lot more consistent, and played all around a lot better. I’ve had three good solid years in a row now.”
Indeed, Stadler recorded eight top-25 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2013-14, not counting his French Open showing. Currently, Stadler stands at No. 56 in the World Golf Rankings.
So now the question is, what does Stadler need to do to join the elite of the elite, the players who win multiple times on Tour and contend in major championships? (Kevin’s dad, Evergreen resident Craig Stadler, claimed 13 PGA Tour titles, including the 1982 Masters, and nine Champions Tour victories.)
“What exactly I need to do to take the next step, I’m not too sure,” Kevin said. “I’ll try to figure that out over the winter.”
Stadler likely will soon surpass $10 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour as he currently sits at $9.66 million, with more than $9 million of that total coming since the beginning of 2007.
Coincidentally, Craig Stadler barely surpassed $10 million in career PGA Tour earnings, with $10,021,897.
Followers of Colorado golf over the last couple of decades are familiar with Kevin Stadler’s record in the state. While at Kent Denver, Stadler won the state high school title in 1997, when there was only one state tournament. Also as an amateur, he earned titles in the 1999 and 2002 CGA Match Play. And he won the 2002 Colorado Open after a three-way playoff in his professional debut while dad Craig was caddying for him at Sonnenalp Golf Club in Edwards.