A year after his gambling suspension, Jake Staiano passes the first stage of Q-School

Jake Staiano is making the most of his return to Q-School.

It was about a year ago that the 27-year-old Staiano, then a senior member of the Korn Ferry Tour who played in the first concert, was there. . suspended from PGA Tour sanctioned competition for three months for betting on golf.

Staiano is now two rounds away from competing for a PGA Tour card after making it through his first round in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he shot 13 under and won. by seven shots at the University of New Mexico’s Championship Course.

“It’s been an amazing year, after everything that’s happened, I know I don’t have anything to plan,” Staiano said by phone Saturday morning. “Everything was up in the air, I didn’t play one round of golf, but I almost needed it. I was enjoying life more, I had to spend time with friends, doing fun things, somehow, not being a golf pro all year.

“It helped me recover, I’m working really hard, and it definitely gave me the hunger to go to Q-School this year.”

Staiano and fellow KFT pro Vince India were each suspended in the fall for violating the PGA Tour schedule. Staiano placed four bets totaling $116.20 in 2021 – one was a $25 bet on Bryson DeChambeau to birdie the par 5 during a PGA Tour event that season while the other three were players of DeChambeau in his pay-per-view against Brooks Koepka. in Las Vegas.

Staiano was first contacted about the possible violations in May, a few weeks before he received a sponsor’s release from the BMW Charity Pro-Am, tied for 19th at the start of his second KFT of year and rescheduled to the regular KFT schedule for the remainder of the KFT. time. Staiano’s year ended in Boise, Idaho, and in early September, he was notified in writing by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan that he would be fined a three-month suspension for gambling. The suspension ran from September 11 to December 10, meaning Staiano was barred from participating in the first round of the PGA Tour Q-School.

“It could be career-changing,” Staiano said at the time, speaking to Ryan French of Monday’s Q Info. “I’m taking it like it’s not, but you never know, I won’t get the chance to go back to Q-School.”

His reputation damaged and shamed, Staiano leaned on his family and friends for strength. He moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from Englewood, Colorado, to stay with a friend for a few months during the winter, and with a light acting schedule, he took the opportunity to travel to several, including the first visit to Vegas, for a bachelor party, and Nashville.

Competitively, Staiano put together several qualifying runs on Monday but did not finish. He excelled more locally, finishing sixth at the Colorado Open in July and placing fourth at the Rocky Mountain Open in August. He says his strong summer was a nice change in the weeks leading up to the Colorado Open. A lifelong hammer user, Staiano switched to the TaylorMade Spider mallet, the first putter he tried when he met a friend.

“I started wearing my friend’s golf club and he said, ‘We don’t do any more testing,'” said Staiano, who shortly after his TaylorMade representative built for him.

“I’ve been doing well for the last four or five months, which is usually my weakness.”

Staiano entered the first stage of the DP World Tour Q-School last month in Rosersberg, Sweden, wanting to “get my feet wet again because I know that Q-School is a different type of golf in four days, while it’s cut, and the stakes and all that, they just kind of go in.” It’s true that Staiano “had a lot of fun” on the trip, not locking up the way he should have and missing eight shots.

That was not the case in New Mexico, where Staiano and his high school teammate, Tim Ammundson, competed in a course where he twice advanced to the second round. He was a shot behind after two rounds before carding seven birdies and pacing the field with a 5-under 66. His final score of 68, also of the same day and the other, left him 15 shots from the cut line as he progressed. advanced easily to the second round along with other famous people such as Ryan Hall, Michael Feagles, Connor Black Rodolfo Cazaubon, James Hart du Preez, Sam Choi, Johnny Travale and amateur Bastien Amat, who played in New Mexico and recently earned Challenge Tour status on the DP World Tour’s Global Amateur Pathway Rankings.

Staiano’s first choice for the second round is the Valdosta, Georgia, playoff Dec. 3-6 at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club. To prepare, Staiano plans to return to South Florida in a few weeks to get used to the ocean conditions and Bermudagrass. He has no competitions scheduled until then, although he may register for the RSM pre-qualifier.

If not, it’s not like he’s not used to being fired for a long time.

In fact, he proved to be better than them.

“At the end of the day, everything happens for a reason,” Staiano said. “I sat back and watched a bunch of my friends get their PGA Tour cards this year, guys that I know, guys that I’ve played with, and one of them is Matt McCarty, which he has obviously won (three KFT titles and most recently. his first PGA Tour title, at the Black Desert Championship in Utah). It sucked, but at the same time, I had to reminding myself that there will be beauty from it, and instead of isolating myself and throwing myself into it, I took it as motivation to get back out there. [on tour].

“Honestly I say the success this past week is, and there’s a hunger and a drive that I probably didn’t have before.”