Meet A.J. Ewart, who grabbed the PGA Tour Q-School lead with an ace
Adam Schupak- A.J. Ewart is competing at the PGA Tour Q-School with the goal of earning his professional tour card.
- The 26-year-old from Vancouver shot a 4-under 66 in the opening round, tying for the day's low score.
- Ewart has improved his game by adding strength and distance, drawing comparisons to Corey Conners.
- He narrowly missed earning a Korn Ferry Tour card after finishing 13th on the PGA Tour Americas points list.
Ever since he could remember, A.J. Ewart, the child of a teaching pro, has dreamed of being a professional golfer and making the PGA Tour. That dream is getting closer to reality as Ewart, a 26-year-old from Vancouver, is off to a fast start at PGA Tour Q-School.
Ewart rolled in a 35-foot birdie putt at the first and carded a 4-under 66 on Thursday, which tied for the low round of the day at Sawgrass Country Club.
“It was boring golf, but boring golf is good golf here,” he said.
Ewart, who is making his first appearance at Final Stage, played Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass, the easier of the two courses, on Friday and jumped out to a fast start, including acing the 162-yard par-3 fifth with a 9-iron. Nothing boring about that!
"It did exactly what I wanted it to do and landed right where I wanted it to," he said. "It was kind of scary because we couldn't see it go in and there's water behind the green, the hole kind of runs away. Was kind of worried it was over the green, but I heard someone yell it went in. Got up there and it was in."
He signed for a 3-under 67 and improved to a 5-way tie for first at 7-under 133.
Ewart turned pro in 2023 out of Barry University and has spent more time in the gym in recent years to fill out his frame. He’s always been a consistent ballstriker, but he’s compressing the ball better and his added strength has him hitting it farther. Distance is no longer a weakness. Derek Ingram, the head coach of Golf Canada’s national men’s amateur and pro teams, compared him favorably to Corey Conners.
This season, Ewart lost a playoff at the Victoria Open among four top-10 finishes and ranked No. 13 in the point standings on PGA Tour Americas, barely missing a card for the Korn Ferry Tour next season. He also missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open. Learning what it takes to be a pro has him poised to make his childhood dream come true.
“I try to dumb it down. It’s just another tournament, right?” Ewart said of Q-School. “You don’t go to a tournament to finish in the top 50. Just do my preparation and treat it like any other week, as hard as that may be.”