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Matt McQuillan (born 19 June 1981) is a Canadian
professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...
. He has played on the
Canadian Tour PGA Tour Canada, commonly referred to as the Canadian Tour, was a men's professional golf tour headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The United States–based PGA Tour took over operation of the tour on November 1, 2012, at which time it was renamed ...
since 2003, and won one tournament there. McQuillan earned 2011 playing privileges on the
PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
with a strong performance in stage three of Q-School, on his first attempt at the finals. His best career PGA Tour finish is a tie for third in the 2011
John Deere Classic The John Deere Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in July, usually the week before The Open Championship, at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities community of Silvis, Illinois. History The tournament bega ...
.


Early years

Matthew Justin McQuillan was born in
Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...
. His father Mark and mother Donna are members at the Garrison Golf and Curling Club in Kingston, and introduced Matt to golf there in 1991. His father is a single-figure handicap player, and coached him for a few years. He received instruction at Garrison first in the club's junior program from pro shop manager John Holland, and then privately from assistant professional Kevin Dickey (a former Canadian Tour player).


Junior successes

McQuillan won the Garrison Men's Open and the Garrison Men's Club Championship in 1996 at age 15, becoming the youngest-ever winner of both events. He won the Club Championship again in 1998 (by 11 shots) and 1999 (by 20 shots, with a record score of 278, ten under par). He eventually won the Garrison Open half-a-dozen times. In 2002 he set the competitive course record at Garrison with a score of 9-under-par 63. As McQuillan continued to improve, he earned success at higher levels, including victories in the 1999 Ontario Junior Championship at the Dalewood Golf Club in Port Hope, and in the 1999 Ontario Junior Match Play Championship. He claimed second place at the 1999 Canadian Junior Championship at the Maple City Golf Club in Chatham, Ontario. He was selected as Kingston's Amateur Athlete of the Year for 1999. McQuillan represented Canada for the first time at the 2000 World Junior Team event in Japan, finishing as third individual scorer.


College and amateur golf

McQuillan graduated from La Salle Secondary School in Kingston, and earned a golf scholarship to
Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...
, beginning in the fall of 2000, where he played for coach Mike Holder. McQuillan later transferred to the
University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...
, but left college before completing his degree. McQuillan placed second in the 2000 Ontario Men's Amateur Championship at the National Golf Club of Canada in
Woodbridge, Ontario Woodbridge is a very large suburban community in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, along the city's border with Toronto. It occupies the city's entire southwest quadrant, west of Ontario Highway 400, Highway 400, east of Ontario Highway 50, Highway 50, n ...
, earning a place on the four-player
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
Willingdon Cup team. McQuillan represented Canada on the 2001 Four Nations' Cup team, which emerged victorious over teams from Australia,
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, and Japan; this event was held at the Lambton Golf Club in Toronto. The six Canadian team members also included David Hearn, Jon Mills, and Lee Curry. McQuillan advanced to the semi-finals of the 2001
Canadian Amateur Championship The Canadian Amateur Championship, begun in 1895, is the men's amateur golf championship of Canada. It is staged annually by Golf Canada. It was played at match play until 1968, went to stroke play beginning in 1969, and reverted to match play i ...
, finally ending his tournament run with a loss to heralded amateur Graham Cooke. In 2002, McQuillan was the top-ranked player in Ontario entering the Ontario Amateur, but had to withdraw, suffering from
mononucleosis Infectious mononucleosis (IM, mono), also known as glandular fever, is an infection usually caused by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Most people are infected by the virus as children, when the disease produces few or no symptoms. In young adu ...
.


Professional career

McQuillan turned professional, and finished 7th at the 2003 Spring qualifying tournament for the
Canadian Tour PGA Tour Canada, commonly referred to as the Canadian Tour, was a men's professional golf tour headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The United States–based PGA Tour took over operation of the tour on November 1, 2012, at which time it was renamed ...
. His most successful Canadian Tour result to date has been a victory at the 2005 Telus Edmonton Open, scoring 13-under-par 271 at the Edmonton Golf & Country Club, from 30 June to 3 July; McQuillan edged the runner-up, promising amateur
Graham DeLaet Graham Norman DeLaet (born 22 January 1982) is a former Canadian professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour. He currently works as a golf analyst for The Sports Network (TSN) in Canada. Early life and amateur career DeLaet was born in Weybu ...
, and won $24,000 (Canadian funds). McQuillan played in three
Nationwide Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. ...
events in 2005, with his best finish a tie for 25th position in the Alberta Classic. He finished runner-up at the 2006 Canadian Tour Championship. For a time in the mid-2000s, he represented the Cataraqui Golf and Country Club in Kingston, but no longer does so. However, he still works with Dickey, now a teacher at Cataraqui. McQuillan received an honorary membership from Cataraqui on 21 December 2010, after he earned PGA Tour playing privileges for 2011. McQuillan successfully played on the Tar Heels Tour in the Carolinas during the spring of 2008, in preparation for a return to
PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
qualifying in the fall of 2008. He set a new competitive course record at Cataraqui in mid-July 2008, winning the Cataraqui Pro-Am tournament, with a score of 62, 8-under-par, breaking the previous mark by one stroke. McQuillan played on the EGolf Professional Tour with success early in 2010, and played well at the
Seaforth Country Classic The Seaforth Country Classic is a golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball ...
on the Canadian Tour in August 2010, finishing in 4th place. He retains exempt status on the Canadian Tour for 2011. McQuillan worked as a
bartender A bartender (also known as a barkeep or barman or barmaid or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the Bar (establishment), bar, usually in a licensed bar (establishment), establishment as ...
in Kingston to supplement his income between stints on pro golf tours.


Qualifies for PGA Tour

McQuillan entered
PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
qualifying in the fall of 2010, beginning at first stage. He scored 67 in the final round at first stage to advance. He then advanced to the third and final stage of 2010
PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
qualifying, by placing third at the second stage qualifying event, hosted by the Bear Creek Golf Club in
Murrieta, California Murrieta is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The population of Murrieta was 110,949 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Murrieta experienced a 133.7% population increase between 2000 and 2010, ma ...
. McQuillan successfully gained PGA Tour status for the 2011 season, by finishing T16 at 11-under-par after six rounds, at final stage, hosted by the Orange County National facility near
Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...
. This was his first trip to the finals.


2011 PGA Tour

McQuillan made his 2011 debut at the
Sony Open in Hawaii The Sony Open in Hawaii is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, and is part of the tour's FedEx Cup Series. It has been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, since the event's modern-day inception as the Hawaiian ...
in
Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
, the first PGA Tour event of his career. He survived the 36-hole cut with rounds of 68–69, then finishing on the 36-hole final day (caused by a rainout on the scheduled first round day) with 71-74 for 282 and 55th place, winning $12,705. McQuillan earned last-minute entry to the
Bob Hope Classic The Desert Classic (currently known as The American Express for sponsorship reasons; previously known as the CareerBuilder Challenge, Palm Springs Golf Classic, the Bob Hope Desert Classic, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and the Humana Challeng ...
in
Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...
, shot a first-round 7-under-par 65 which included seven birdies and an eagle, but followed up with rounds of 76-73-77 to miss the fourth-round cut with a score of 3-over-par 291. At the Farmers Insurance Open in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, McQuillan struggled with rounds of 74–77 to miss the halfway cut with a score of 7-over-par 151. McQuillan scored 76-76-68 for 6-over-par 220 in the AT&T National Pro-Am, missing the 54-hole cut. McQuillan shot rounds of 76–73 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic near Cancun, Mexico, missing the 36-hole cut. McQuillan scored 71–74 at the 2011 Puerto Rico Open, held just east of
San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...
, to miss the 36-hole cut by one stroke. After playing on the PGA Tour for ten weeks in 2011, making just one cut in six events, McQuillan said the course setups he had been facing were much tougher than anything he had seen before, but added that he was settling into life on the Tour, and anticipated an improvement in his performance as he gained experience. McQuillan dropped down to the Nationwide Tour for his next event, the Louisiana Classic. After opening with 70–66 to move into contention, he struggled on the weekend with rounds of 76 and 73 to finish at one-over-par 285, tied for 62nd place, earning $1,463. McQuillan's struggles continued at the
Valero Texas Open The Texas Open, known as the Valero Texas Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played near San Antonio, Texas. It dates back years to 1922, when it was first called the Texas Open; San Antonio-based Va ...
, where he missed the 36-hole cut after rounds of 82–75. McQuillan shot 78–77 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans to miss the cut by 12 strokes. McQuillan played the Nationwide Tour's Stadion Classic at UGA on his former home course in
Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...
, but missed the 36-hole cut by three strokes with scores of 71–76. His next event was the HP Byron Nelson Championship near
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, where his scores of 73-73 missed the 36-hole cut by three strokes. McQuillan played the Nationwide Tour's
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
event, the
Melwood Prince George's County Open The Mid-Atlantic Championship was a professional golf tournament on the Web.com Tour played at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. Proceeds from the Mid-Atlantic Championship benefited thSalute Military Golf Association From 2007 to 2011, it was played ...
, and missed the cut by two shots with scores of 72–71. He shot 70–73 to miss the 36-hole cut by one stroke at the FedEx St. Jude Classic near Memphis. Although he missed another cut, by four strokes, at the Travelers Championship near
Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
with scores of 73–67, his second round was his first under 70 on the PGA Tour since Pebble Beach, four months before.


2011 John Deere Classic

McQuillan broke out of his slump at the
John Deere Classic The John Deere Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in July, usually the week before The Open Championship, at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities community of Silvis, Illinois. History The tournament bega ...
, in
Silvis, Illinois Silvis is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. It is part of a larger metropolitan area known as the Quad Cities. The Quad Cities Metropolitan Area is situated across four counties in Illinois and Io ...
. He opened with 64 to tie for second place, one stroke out of the lead. He made the halfway cut comfortably with a second-round 69, then played well on the weekend with rounds of 70–64, finishing with 17-under-par 267, to tie for third place, winning $261,000. His three eagles led the field. His position on the
Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...
jumped to #506. McQuillan continued his good play at the Viking Classic, near
Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...
, where he scored 72-65-71-67, for 13-under-par 275, to tie for 34th place, winning $18,990. McQuillan made his third straight cut at the
RBC Canadian Open The Canadian Open () is a professional golf tournament in Canada. It is co-organized by Golf Canada (formerly known as the Royal Canadian Golf Association) and the PGA Tour. It was first played in 1904, and has been held annually since then, ...
, held over the Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club in Vancouver, scoring 68-73-74-70 for 5-over-par 285, tied for 31st place, and winning $33,800. McQuillan saw his streak of three straight made cuts end at the 2011
Greenbrier Classic The Greenbrier Classic was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held from 2010 to 2019 at The Old White at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. For its final two editions, the tournament was titled A Military Tribute at the Gree ...
, where his scores of 71-74 missed the 36-hole cut by four strokes. McQuillan tied for sixth place at the 2011 Reno-Tahoe Open with scores of 71-69-71-66 for a 277 total, 11-under-par, winning $97,125. McQuillan's scores of 69–70 at the
Wyndham Championship The Wyndham Championship is a professional golf tournament in North Carolina on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in Greensboro and was originally the Greater Greensboro Open. History Founded in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open, it was usua ...
missed the halfway cut by two strokes, and he failed to make the top 125-point scorers for the FedEx Cup, missing the four playoff events.pgatour.com, 2011 Wyndham Championship tournament data and FedEx Cup standings for 22 August 2011 McQuillan made seven cuts in 21 events and ended the season 137th on the money list. In 2017, McQuillan qualified for the
PGA Tour Canada PGA Tour Canada, commonly referred to as the Canadian Tour, was a men's professional golf tour headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The United States–based PGA Tour took over operation of the tour on November 1, 2012, at which time it was renamed ...
.


Professional wins (2)


Canadian Tour wins (1)


Other wins (1)

*2008 Cataraqui Pro-Am


See also

*
2010 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates __NOTOC__ This is a list of the 29 players who earned their 2011 PGA Tour card through Qualifying school, Q School in 2010. Note: Michael Putnam and Justin Hicks (golfer), Justin Hicks had already qualified for the PGA Tour by placing in the Top 25 ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McQuillan, Matt Canadian male golfers Oklahoma State Cowboys golfers Georgia Bulldogs men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Golfing people from Ontario Canadian sportspeople of Irish descent Sportspeople from Kingston, Ontario 1981 births Living people 21st-century Canadian sportsmen