Jazz Janewattananond already had one of the coolest names in golf. Now he’s got one of the best golf stories of the year.
The former teen phenom from Thailand – we use the word “former” lightly since he’s still just 21 – earned his European Tour card for the first time on Thursday and he did it in dramatic fashion with an eagle on the final hole of Q School. A chip-in eagle at that. Unfortunately, there’s no video, but here’s how the rising star described his final stretch of holes at Spain’s Lumine Golf Club.
“I am so happy to have snuck in. I was having a bit of a bad day and was struggling a little bit over the back nine, I made a double-bogey on the 15th and I almost gave up at that point,” Jazz told EuropeanTour.com. “I held it together until the last hole though, and I just thought ‘I can only try my best here’. To see the ball go into the hole after my chip was amazing and it is still going through my mind now – I can’t believe I made an eagle to get in on the mark.”
The eagle got Janewattananond to 13-under-par for the long (six rounds) week, which wound up being the cut-off point for the top 25 and ties. In total, 33 players earned their European Tour cards for next season, led by Englishman Sam Horsfield, who won by eight shots.
The 33 players who have earned a European Tour card after today 🙌#ETQSchool pic.twitter.com/tRX8q4pmdD
— DP World Tour Q-School (@DPWTQSchool) November 16, 2017
Janewattananod won earlier this season on the Asian Tour, where he first made headlines in 2010 for making a cut at the record-young age of 14. Currently No.172 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Janewattananond played in two PGA Tour events in 2017, missing the cut at Colonial and finishing T-39 at the CIMB Classic. Here’s a look at Jazz’s final-round scorecard from Q School:
https://twitter.com/jamesbyrnegolf/status/931197274973126656
And he posted this on Instagram after his clutch performance:
Congrats, Jazz. Although, “Q School cursed” seems juuust a bit dramatic for someone who hasn’t even turned 22 yet.