Golfer Harris EnglishHarris English practiced his golf craft at Black Creek Club in Chattanooga for thousands of hours while attending Baylor School.
Then he practiced even more while attending Georgia on a golf scholarship.
The practice has paid off.
English will begin the 2012 season as a member of the PGA Tour by virtue of his tie for 13th in the six-round PGA Qualifying tournament that ended Monday in La Quinta, Calif.
English shot an 11-under-par 421 at PGA West, including a final-round 74 on the Jack Nicklaus course after beginning the day tied for third. The top 25 and ties got PGA Tour cards, and fellow Baylor alumnus Luke List missed the cutoff by three strokes with his final-round 70 and 426 total, good for $5,000.
English, who got $25,000 Monday, won the Nationwide Children's Hospital Classic in Columbus, Ohio, as an amateur and played for the United States in the Walker Cup before turning professional in September. He joins Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, J.B. Holmes and Jeff Overton as golfers who played in the Walker Cup and earned PGA Tour cards in the same year, according to GolfWeek.
"It's been a whirlwind for him since the national championships," UGA coach Chris Haack said of English. "It's a dream come true for him."
List, who starred at Vanderbilt after Baylor, will have full status on the Nationwide Tour in 2012 and continues getting closer and closer to earning his PGA Tour card.
Brendon Todd won the Q-School tournament at 415 to lead a quartet of former Georgia players earning PGA cards -- Brian Harman and Kevin Kisner also helping raise the number of Bulldogs alumni on the PGA Tour to nine.
"I think I just really stuck to my game plan," Todd said to The Associated Press. "I was hitting it well coming into the week."
According to AP, 12 players will be PGA Tour rookies next year, and 52 players earned full Nationwide Tour status with their Q-School finishes.
Among the notables who did not earn PGA Tour cards were David Duval, Lee Janzen, Rich Beem and Shaun Micheel. Also missing out on status on either tour were Sam Saunders, grandson of Arnold Palmer, and Travis Wadkins, son of Lanny Wadkins.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484.