The big positives for me are having some money in the bank and eligibility for tournaments. I feel for a lot of guys who are coming out of Q-School. Make the top 35 and you get a PGA Tour card. Porter prevailed with a 21st-place tie at PGA West and moved onto the big circuit again, just where he was in 1998. There was one 59 and three 62s that week, and none of those guys got their cards.
Experience definitely helps in going through something like that.
Porter got off to a strong start, shooting 67 and 65 on Thursday and Friday to take the lead at the halfway point at Tucson, his first event of 2001. All this after playing almost no serious golf since Q-School and enduring an unplayable December back on his home course, Greensboro Country Club. But not every card-carrying PGA Tour member gets to play every week. You need either a victory or a strong recent performance to work your way into full-time status. When Porter tied for eighth at the Genuity Championship, formerly known as the Doral Open, he had his big break.