CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Just when it looked like David Bradshaw's quest to reach the PGA Tour had neared an end, the native of Bakerton and former West Virginia Conference standout has reemerged.
Bradshaw returns to Monday's Open Qualifier for the Greenbrier Classic on the Cobb Course at the Resort at Glade Springs, the site of what began as a substantially frustrating attempt to play in West Virginia's PGA Tour event.
The aggravation with being close still burns for Bradshaw, but with a Canadian PGA Tour victory, and a second Frank B. Fuhrer Invitational title and the $40,000 that goes with it, the 2003 WVC Tournament medalist has gained perspective.
"I've been around the game long enough to know that I'm not going to just go tee it up at a PGA Tour event and just win," said Bradshaw, a resident of San Diego, Calif., who 12 months ago contemplated taking time off and giving lessons. "They have such an advantage facing that kind of pressure week in and week out. At this point, I'm going to have to do it the old school way through Q (Qualifying) school and the Web.com."
The seven-time State Open Championship winner will be joined by defending West Virginia Open champ and Web.com Tour player Christian Brand and a field of 69 players seeking one of the four remaining slots for the Greenbrier Classic July 2-5 at the Old White TPC in White Sulphur Springs.
The last time Bradshaw and Brand faced each other happened to be in the State Open at the Cobb last July when Brand - who had won a state high school title while at Capital and the State Amateur - was 6-under in the final round of the 54-hole Open to complete the trifecta of a high school individual title (2005), State Amateur Championship (2011) and the Open (2014).
This time, however, they won't be among the favorites in a field that includes former PGA Tour regulars Josh Teater - who earned almost $4.5 million on the Tour from 2010-14; Patrick Sheehan, who earned more than $4 million (2003-09); and Vaughn Taylor, who claims almost $11.9 million on the PGA Tour and a Ryder Cup appearance in 2006. Mike Van Sickle, the 2013 Fuhrer Invitational champion, also is in the field.
Bradshaw has the experience of playing in the Monday qualifier, but that hasn't helped him. Before skipping the Classic qualifiers last year while competing in the Frank B. Fuhrer, Bradshaw played in four. He lost in a playoff in 2010 - which he admits still eats at him.
Brand, who at 27 is five years younger than Bradshaw, has competed in Qualifying School in 2013 and finished 56th, which provided him with conditional status on the Web.com Tour. Five spots higher and he would've landed exemptions into the first eight Web.com events. As it were, he played in nine for the season, and made one cut. This season, he made the cut in his only event, finishing tied for 30 at the Rex Hospital Open and pocketing $3,221.
Bradshaw is playing on the Mackenzie Tour - Canadian PGA Tour - and has one victory from 2014. He made six cuts in seven events and earned $30,939.
He reached the final round of Q School last December, but managed just a tie for 118th.
"I played terribly and that was that," Bradshaw said. "About the only good news out of that is I get to skip the pre-qualifiers."
Ultimately, Bradshaw said, there is so much more competition for spots on the Tour that the challenge is more palpable every year.
"There's so much at stake with so many more players and young guys who are hungry to get on the PGA Tour," said Bradshaw, who, like Brand, will take another shot at qualifying school this winter. "If you don't perform at Q school, you're kind of out for the year. Twenty years ago, when the Nike Tour was starting, there were barely enough guys to have competitive purses at that level. Now, it's at the point there are alternates for PGA Tour Canada, PGA Tour China, PGA Tour Latin America ... there are thousands of us.
"When they posted the sign-up date for the three PGA Tour Canada qualifiers, those qualifiers (Florida, California, Canada) filled up in a matter of hours. That's 450 players that signed up for qualifying for PGA Tour Canada in a couple of hours."
Contact Assistant Sports Editor Rich Stevens at richstevens@dailymailwv.com or 304-348-4837. Follow him on Twitter @richdailymail.