James Driscoll back at it in Q-School

Four players from Massachusetts will tee it up in the Second Stage of PGA Tour Q-School from December 3-6. Four different sites are hosting the 72-hole event; a fifth site in Savannah, Georgia already held the Second Stage in November.

What’s at stake?

The top 20 players at each of the sites reach the Final Stage, where players will compete for PGA Tour cards and other exemptions for the 2025 season.

A few players with New England connections played in Savannah with hopes of reaching Final Stage from Dec. 12-15.

John VanDerLaan (Southbury, Conn.) shot 71-68-68-71 (-10) to miss reaching Final Stage by two shots. Maine Amateur champions Caleb Manuel (Topsham, Maine) shot 5-under par, and Cole Anderson (Camden, Maine) shot 3-under. An opening-round 76 left former Florida State standout Anderson a lot of work, and Manuel stumbled in the final round with a 76.

Golf is hard.

Playing golf for a living is even harder.

Here are the four players from Massachusetts who will tee it up in the Second Stage of Q-School this week.

James Driscoll - Brookline, Mass.

Site: Valencia CC (Valencia, Calif.) - Leaderboard

James Driscoll is one of the most notable amateurs of the last 40 years in Massachusetts. He won the 1993 Mass. Junior Amateur and then took home two Mass. Amateur championships. The first Mass. Amateur title came in 1996 at Myopia Hunt Club as an 18-year-old; he became the youngest winner of the event at the time. He won again in 1998 at Belmont CC.

Notable amateur wins:

• 1993 Massachusetts Junior Amateur

• 1994 Hornblower Memorial Tournament

• 1995 New England Amateur, Western Junior

• 1996 Massachusetts Amateur

• 1998 Massachusetts Amateur, Golf Digest Invitational

• 1999 North and South Amateur, Hornblower Memorial Tournament

In 2000, Driscoll reached the U.S. Amateur final at Baltusrol CC and entered the record books. He participated in the longest championship match in the event's history after winning the final three holes to force a playoff with Jeff Quinney. Driscoll upset Luke Donald in the semi-final. Jeff Quinney beat Driscoll on the 39th hole. The players had to return on Monday morning because, after 38 holes, hampered by rain and lightning, it was too dark to continue on Sunday evening.

That performance earned Driscoll a spot in the 2001 Masters, where he shot an opening round 68. At the time, it was the best round by an amateur in The Masters since 1956. Unfortunately, Driscoll shot a 78 in the second round and missed the cut by a shot.

Before graduating from the University of Virginia, where he was a 3-time All-American, Driscoll capped off his incredible amateur resume by playing in the 2001 Walker Cup. He teammates with 2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover and competed against 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell and Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald. Donald got a bit of revenge on Driscoll, as Team Great Britain and Ireland beat Team USA 15-9 at Ocean Forest.

Professionally, Driscoll won twice on the Nationwide/Web.com Tour, which is now the Korn Ferry Tour. The wins came 12 years apart. His first was in the 2004 Virginia Beach Open, and then he won the 2016 Nashville Golf Open. He has played in 243 PGA Tour events, never winning, but he lost in playoffs twice. First in 2005 in the Zurich Classic when Tim Petrovic won and then in 2009 when Zach Johnson beat him in the Valero Texas Open.

He has earned $5,794,432 and on the Korn Ferry Tour he earned $808,753 in 145 events. MassGolf interviewed Driscoll last year just before his 46th birthday.

Chris Francoeur - Amsbury, Mass.

Site: Kinderlou Forest GC (Valdosta, Georgia) - Leaderboard

Francoeur turned pro in 2022 after finishing his college career at Louisville. He played four years at the University of Rhode Island, where he won twice (Cape Fear Intercollegiate and the Alex Lagowitz Memorial) and was also named 2020 New England Golfer of the Year. His one year at Louisville sharpened his skills, and he played well the summer before turning professional, reaching the Round of 32 in the 2022 U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood CC in New Jersey.

In 2020 and 2021, Francoeur won the Ouimet Memorial. It was the first time a player defended the title since Frank Vana Jr. did it in 2001/2002.

Before his college career, Francoeur was a standout at St. John’s Prep. He helped the team win four Catholic Conference titles and two Division I State Championships. As a senior, he was named Boston Globe’s 2017 Division I Golfer of the Year and received the St. John’s Prep Athlete of the Year award in 2017. He holds the third-lowest career 9-hole scoring average in St. John’s Prep history with a mark of 35.58.

As a pro, Francoeur has been grinding on the PGA Tour Americas and PGA Tour Canada circuits. In 26 total events across the two tours, he has made 17 cuts and recorded two top-ten finishes and one top-five finish. He has earned $39,538.

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Jimmy Hervol - Hopkinton, Mass.

Site: Dothan, Alabama (RTJ - Highlands/Marshwood) - Leaderboard

Jimmy Hervol is a former UConn standout. He has quite a few amateur moments that stand out. He won the Mass. Junior Amateur in 2015 at his home course: Hopkinton CC; he edged out fellow professional Davis Chatfield by two shots. Hervol also teamed up with Tim Umphrey to win the 2018 Mass Four-Ball. Steve DiLisio got the best of Hervol in the final of the 2019 Mass Amateur at The Country Club.

While at UConn, Hervol won twice (the 2016 Doc Gimmler Invitational and 2018 FAU Spring Championship) and set the program’s single-season scoring record his senior year (71.6). Of his 98 career rounds, 42 of them were par or better. He was a two-time American Athletic Conference All-Conference selection and two-time Division I PING All-Northeast Region Team selection.

Hervol can go low, which will serve him well this week. In the Minor League Golf Tour, he shot a 60 in 2021. This season, he’s played 21 events on the MLG. He won the Park Ridge 2-Day and earned $1,700 for the effort.

Andrew O’Leary - Norfolk, Mass.

Site: Kinderlou Forest GC (Valdosta, Georgia) - Leaderboard

The year before Chris Francoeur won Boston Globe’s Player of the Year in 2017, Andrew O’Leary won the award for his play at Catholic Memorial. O’Leary played for the varsity team for six years, making the team as a seventh grader. He was part of two State Championships and was named a Catholic Conference All-Star five times. He also reached match play in the U.S. Junior Amateur.

O’Leary played five seasons at Notre Dame and was an integral part of the team’s first NCAA Regional Appearance in eight years in 2021. His best finish for the Fighting Irish was fourth place in Spartan Intercollegiate.

In April, he missed the cut in his first Korn Ferry event - the LECOM Suncoast Classic.

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