Alistair Docherty from Vancouver is 18 holes away from earning his PGA card for the 2025 season.
Docherty, a 2012 Union High School graduate, is tied for the lead after three rounds of the final stage of the PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.
Docherty, 30, shot a 3-under-par 67 on Saturday at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., to bring him to 6-under 204 for 36 holes, tying him with Matthew Riedel for the lead.
Those two golfers hold a two-shot lead over Takumi Kanaya of Japan, then four golfers are tied for fourth at -3.
In the Q-School, the top five golfers, plus ties, receive their PGA Cards for the 2025 season. It means Docherty heads into Sunday’s final round with at minimum a three-shot cushion to finish in the top 5.
But if anyone has learned you can’t take anything for granted, it’s Docherty.
Back in May, Docherty received a sponsor exemption to play in the inaugural PGA Myrtle Beach Classic, where he finished tied for second. If he had won that tournament, he would have earned his PGA Card.
Then two months ago, he entered the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship at No. 46 on the points list.
In order to finish in the top-30 in points and earn a PGA Card, Docherty needed to finish in a two-way tie for second place at minimum. He shot a 4-under-par 68 on the final round to finish in a three-way tie for second, just missing the threshold by a single shot.
“I knew what I had to do at the Tour Championship and I came up one shot short,” he told pgatour.com after the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. “You can’t leave it up to someone else’s putt to determine your future … And obviously, you could think of all the what-ifs but it’s just next opportunity mindset, and go from there … I know that I’ve trended upwards and kept getting better every single year. And that’s all you could ask for.”
Docherty opened Q-School with a 1-over-71 on Thursday, then rallied with 4-under 66 and Saturday’s 3-under 67.
“I just truly believe that things happen for a reason and timing is everything,” Docherty said told pgatour.com. “If it’s going to happen this week, it’s going to happen this week. I’m just trying to stay focused on the process and go through my routine. And I’m battling myself out there. That’s my No. 1 goal, beat myself and the opportunity will happen.”
