BATON ROUGE — Former LSU All-American Brian Bateman earned his PGA Tour card for the 2007 season after finishing in the Top 30 of the PGA Tour National Qualifying Tournament in La Quinta, Calif., earlier this week with a 108-hole total of 8-under par 424.
Bateman followed a double bogey at the 17th hole of his final round by draining a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th and final hole of the Q-School’s qualifying tournament at PGA West’s Stadium Course to earn his tour card by finishing at the cut line of 8-under.
The Monroe, La., native just missed earning exempt status for the 2007 season as he finished 128th on the official 2006 PGA Tour Money List by earning a total of $645,153 while making 10 cuts in 26 events. The top 125 money leaders each year qualify for automatic entry onto the PGA Tour the following season.
Bateman tied his best career finish in a single event in 2006 as he took third place at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston with a 72-hole score of 8-under 276, finishing behind tournament champion Tiger Woods (16-under 268) and runner-up Vijay Singh (14-under 270). He also finished third at the 2004 Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
The 2007 season will be Bateman’s sixth consecutive on the PGA Tour after qualifying through the Q-School for the fifth time in six years. He earned exempt status in 2005 after finishing 86th on the 2004 PGA Tour Money List with a career-high $919,255 and has earned a total of $2,568,496 in his five-year career on the PGA Tour.
Bateman, who has been a professional golfer since 1996, earned four varsity letters at LSU from 1993-96 and was named a Third-Team All-American as a senior in 1996 and a three-time All-SEC performer from 1994-96.