The last leg of the PGA Tour Q-School is going on right now, and what pros like Michelle Wie West have labeled as a “nightmare” experience has actually come true for Norman Xiong. The former Korn Ferry Tour winner’s hopes of playing on the PGA Tour in 2026 ended not with a missed putt or a bad round, but a disqualification.

The American had a poor start on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course, as he shot an 8-over-par 78, leaving him ten shots behind the cutoff. Only the top-five players advance to the next stage.

Xiong had the chance to make a comeback. He was supposed to start his second round at Sawgrass Country Club on Friday at 10:25 a.m, but failed to appear for his tee time. The letters DQ, which every golfer hates to see next to their name, quickly appeared on the leaderboard.

There’s no such report on why Xiong missed his tee time. It is also possible that the former PGA Tour pro chose not to show up instead of formally withdrawing. There has yet to be any statement from the player.

Q-School is known as one of the hardest places to prove yourself in golf. It’s harder to take when you get disqualified for a procedural mistake instead of losing on the course. Xiong had already put himself in a bad spot with his first 78, and the DQ meant he never got the chance to fight back.

Xiong’s résumé shows why his early exit stands out. Before turning pro, he was widely regarded as one of the top collegiate players in the country. In 2018, he captured the Jack Nicklaus Award as college golf’s top player. He won the Korn Ferry Tour’s Wichita Open in 2022 after Monday qualifying and followed it up with victory at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in 2023, a win that secured his PGA Tour card for the 2024 season. In 2025, he made four cuts in eight PGA Tour starts and two cuts in six Korn Ferry Tour events, leaving Q-School as his clearest route back to full status.

Now 27, Xiong sits 745th in the Official World Ranking. He has spent recent seasons bouncing between the PGA Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, and PGA Tour Americas, trying to stabilize his career after injuries disrupted his momentum. In his last start, Xiong missed the cut at the 2025 Bank of Utah Championship.

Xiong was not alone in exiting the final stage early, though. Notably, Carson Young, Trey Mullinax, Robby Shelton, and Braden Thornberry also withdrew after shooting rounds in the 70s. They thought about their chances, glanced at the scoreboard, and made the hard choice to leave.

At the top of that leaderboard, Trevor Cone, AJ Ewart, John Pak, Michael Feagles, and Kota Kaneko sit tied at 7-under-par, a position that would currently be good enough for PGA Tour cards. Five-time PGA Tour winner Camilo Villegas is just one shot back at 6-under alongside Adam Svensson, while 27 players remain within three shots of the lead with 36 holes still to play.

Now Xiong has to regroup and figure out where to play in 2026, knowing that he was only one tee time away from finishing what he started.

Apart from missed cuts and DQ, another unfortunate story unfolded at Q-School.

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Weather woes lead to another Q-School nightmare

James Nicholas had a different kind of setback at the second stage of the 2025 PGA Tour Q-School in Valdosta, Georgia. Nicholas was playing well and was in the running to reach the final qualifying round, where a great performance could have pushed him one step closer to a PGA Tour card. He was one shot inside the cut line for progression when he entered the final round.

But a storm came through Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, and play stopped shortly after Nicholas finished 13 holes. The PGA Tour’s Q-School rules said that the final round couldn’t be started again, even though things were getting better. This was because no group in the field had finished all 18 holes before it got dark.

The scores reverted to the standings after three rounds because the last round was canceled. Nicholas’s Friday performance had him under par and in a good position, but was obliterated. He missed the chance by only one shot. He simply said, “Well, that sucks.”

Nicholas’s case shows another unpleasant truth about Q-School: even when a player does well, things like the weather and strict restrictions can change the outcome at any time.

There is no room for error at Q-School because only the top five finishers will get PGA Tour cards for 2026. One mistake, one missed alarm, or one miscommunication may make a year’s worth of hard work go away.