Frankie Capan III had about the worst start imaginable Thursday to open the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School.

He hit his opening drive into a hazard. That led to a double bogey on No. 10 at the Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass in Florida. That’s not an ideal start in this event.

Capan, who already has, at minimum, his Korn Ferry Tour card for 2024 locked up thanks to a strong rookie season on that tour,- has to finish in the top five with ties in this week’s 165-player field to earn his PGA Tour card. So spotting everyone else two strokes on the first hole immediately makes a difficult task all the more challenging.

But, as Capan is wont to do, he recovered from the mistake and put together a solid round. The North Oaks native went 3-under par over his final 17 holes, carding four birdies and one bogey, to finish the day at 1-under par. That leaves him in a tie for 20th and three strokes back of fifth place with three rounds to play in the no-cut tournament.

Capan proved himself to be a Q-School savant last year, playing his way from no status onto to the Korn Ferry Tour via his magical run through the numerous stages. He advanced straight through to this week’s final stage this fall thanks to his performance on the Korn Ferry Tour this season.

The recently-turned-24-year-old will tee off in Round 2 at 9:15 a.m. Central time Friday at Sawgrass Country Club, the second course in the event which half the field played Thursday. Sawgrass Country Club is considered the more difficult of the two courses.

Also in this week’s field is Wayzata grad Van Holmgren, a close friend of Capan’s. Holmgren carded an even-par round of 70 and is in a tie for 32nd.

If either Holmgren or Capan earn their PGA Tour cards, either individual would be the only Minnesotan on golf’s most prominent tour next season (unless they both earned cards this week).