"The die is cast. Done deal. Q school as we’ve known it since 1965 is dead."

Scott Michaux files a scathing takedown of the PGA Tour's plan to do away with Q-School as a direct and democratic avenue to the PGA Tour.

On the contrary, it creates more of a closed shop than ever. More likely than not, there will be no more than 25 “new” faces per year on PGA Tour cards, as opposed to the roughly 50 annually that graduate to the big leagues under the current system with Q school and the Nationwide sending at least 25 each. And perhaps only a handful of those “new” faces might be true rookies.

The players this system might affect the most are college All-Americans and international players. If a college stud doesn’t make enough money in his seven exemptions to earn a place in the qualifying series, he’ll have no chance to play his way onto the PGA Tour the following year.

And international players, who rarely get sponsor invites, will be less inclined to come to Q school to try to earn a one-year apprenticeship. Y.E. Yang wouldn’t have had the chance to graduate Q school one year and become the first Asian player to win a major the next.

“I think you still have to have a way to qualify,” Parel said. “Take some number from Q school. Even if it’s just five. You need to have some incentive at Q school other than getting Nationwide Tour status. I just don’t see that being fair.”