PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Corey Shaun’s wild ride continued Thursday at PGA Tour Q-School.
Shaun fired a 9-under 61 to open final stage with a bang, tying the course record at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley and grabbing a five-shot lead, the largest advantage through 18 holes of this 72-hole qualifying finale since at least 1992. Tour winner Richy Werenski sits solo second, followed by a logjam at 3 under that includes recent Tour members Lanto Griffin and Callum Tarren.
The top five finishers and ties come Sunday evening earn PGA Tour cards while the top 40 and ties will earn some number of guaranteed starts on the Korn Ferry Tour next year.
Shaun’s 61, which also tied Jose Toledo’s final-stage record, was so dominant that it bested the scoring average at Dye’s Valley, one of two host courses this week along with nearby Sawgrass Country Club, by a whopping 10.5 shots.
“I made five birdies in a row on my back nine (Nos. 1-5) today where I got to 9 under at that point,” Shaun said. “I was just like walking in 20-footers; I was like this feels pretty good. … Days like this doesn’t really come by that often, but at the same time there’s so much golf to be played.”
No one has played more golf than Shaun these past couple months.
Shaun’s busy stretch began in early October with a pair of mini-tour starts to get ready for first stage. After carding a third-round 65 and advancing comfortably at his site in Murrieta, California, Shaun then flew the next day to Spain for second stage of DP World Tour Q-School. He initially was eliminated in a playoff, but two days later he got into the final-stage field in Tarragona as an alternate and turned that into a T-12 finish after six rounds over seven days (one round was washed out by rain) and full DPWT status.
Not knowing the DPWT season opener was the following week in Australia, Shaun returned home to Encinitas, California, only to hop right back on an international flight. He arrived at the Aussie PGA on Tuesday, logged a rainy practice round and eventually tied for 43rd. He remained Down Under for the Australian Open, though missed the cut by a shot.
One more made putt, Shaun said, and he would’ve withdrawn from second stage of PGA Tour Q-School.
“All of a sudden, I had an opening [in my schedule],” said Shaun, who wasn’t getting into the next two DPWT events anyway, so he booked it to Valencia, California. “I had already paid my entry fee, so I figured I might as well give it a shot. I was really tired. Usually Q-School is a little more nervous energy, but you’re not really tired because you have so much adrenaline pumping. I was nearly falling asleep between rounds 3 and 4.”
Shaun still finished second, a shot out of medalist honors, after a 65-64 start.
He certainly didn’t look sluggish on Thursday, as he fired his best round ever in competition. It’s a surprising burst if stellar golf for the 28-year-old Shaun, who won three times on the AJGA but struggled at UCLA, averaging over 74 for his career and making just two starts as a senior. He then notched just a single top-10 in two seasons on PGA Tour China, and despite winning on the Forme Tour in 2021 and earning his Korn Ferry Tour card, he lost that card after just one season.
Now, Shaun is in position to potentially hold cards on two major tours.
