Sawgrass surges: Raul Pereda, Julian Suri push their way into contention for PGA Tour cards

Will it be in the cards for Raul Pereda and Julian Suri?

They put themselves in a position to earn PGA Tour cards for the 2024 season with stellar Saturday rounds in the PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, at the Sawgrass Country Club -- where both of them live.

Pereda, a former Jacksonville University golfer and a native of Mexico, shot 66 to finish in a tie for fifth with Hayden Springer (68) at 7-under-par 203, five shots behind leader Harrison Endycott of Australia (65 at Sawgrass).

Blaine Hale Jr. (67, Sawgrass) is alone in second at 10-under and PGA Tour veteran Spencer Levin (66, Sawgrass) and Trace Crowe (68, Sawgrass) are tied for third at 8-under.

Suri a Bartram Trail graduate and two-time FHSAA individual champion who has played most of his professional golf on the DP World Tour, shot 68 and is tied for 10th at 5-under, two shots behind Pereda and Springer.

The top-five players, plus ties after Sunday's final round, will earn Tour cards. The next 40 will have full exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Both Pereda and Suri will play their final rounds at the TPC Sawgrass Dye's Valley Course, just across A1A. The final round tee times at both courses for the 150 players remaining are between 8:45-11:01 a.m.

Both players confident at the Valley

"Having the opportunity to close the tournament out at the Valley Course gives me even more confidence because I feel like I'm playing in my backyard," said Pereda, who played in four college tournaments with the Dolphins at the Valley Course.

Suri, who has won on the DP World Tour and the European Challenge Tour, is also comfortable with finishing his tournament at the Valley.

"About the same," he said of his week so far which has featured a 70 and 68 at Sawgrass and a 67 at the Valley.

Both players had strong mid-round runs up the leaderboard. Pereda birdied the first hole on a 7-foot putt, bided his time with five pars in a row until rolling in a 12-foot birdie putt at No. 7. He turned and birdied the 10th from 3 feet and the 11th from 6 feet.

Pereda moved into the top three with a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 17 but then fell back with a bogey at No. 18.

"I had a chance to putt for par [at No. 18] ... I've been making everything all week so one that I didn't ... it's okay," he said.

Suri also had an early birdie, at No. 3, then ran off three in a row at Nos. 11 (3 feet), 12 (18 feet) and 13 (6 feet).

His only stumble was a bogey at No. 17 when he missed a 4-foot slider after chipping onto the green from the left side. But he got up-and-down from the right side of the 18th green for par, at a hole playing 491 yards into the wind.

Suri's drive was in the fairway but he had 227 yards to the hole, added about 18 yards for the wind, and pushed it off the green.

But the chip to within tap-in range left him with a buoyant feeling after the round.

"It was playing long today," he said of the 18th hole, which is a par-5 for Sawgrass members and played more than a half-shot over par. "A par there felt good."

Players take advantage of soft conditions

Scores were relatively low in the third round for two reasons: the wind didn't kick up until around 1 p.m. (the tee times were between 7:30-9:45 a.m.) and the field played preferred lies. Sawgrass averaged just a bit over par (70.669) for the second day in a row after the scoring average was 73.099 in the first round. The half of the field on the Valley course averaged 69.607 in the third round, the second day in a row it averaged under par.

The number to chase isn't Endycott's 12-under -- it's whatever will get a player into fifth place.

Pereda thinks 12-under will be the number come Sunday afternoon.

"I think 12-under will definitely get you in the top five," he said.

That means Pereda would need to shoot 65 at the Valley and Suri would need a 63.

Suri and Pereda have different motivations

In addition to the obvious goal of getting PGA Tour membership, both players are motivated for other reasons.

Suri, 32, wants to end the need to play a hybrid schedule of DP World Tour, Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour events.

"I don't have full status on the DP [World Tour] right now, so if I can get full status somewhere, I probably will go down that route," he said. "We'll see how things shake out tomorrow."

Pereda has national pride driving him. Two PGA Tour players from Mexico, Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz, jumped to the LIV Golf League and while Pereda doesn’t question their decisions, he wants to be the one to rep Mexico on the PGA Tour.

“I have a lot of respect for Abraham and Carlos Ortiz and I've watched them play for a long time while I was still in college, graduated from college and started playing professional golf,” Pereda said. “Now they're not here, but I've always dreamed about putting Mexico back on the PGA Tour. I am 18 holes away from being able to do that.”

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: PGA Tour cards within reach: Raul Pereda, Julian Suri rally at Sawgrass