The PGA Tour season ends on Aug. 27. The Ryder Cup begins a month later. And then the highest 50 gamers within the FedEx Cup is not going to must play once more till the beginning of 2024 except they need to add to their trophy case or checking account.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan would not see many high gamers staying house.
“I do not assume it is sensible a participant goes to the end the Ryder Cup or the Presidents Cup and never play golf till January,” Monahan mentioned final week on the Wells Fargo Championship.
Jay Monahan the Commissioner of The PGA Tour speaks to the media as a preview for THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. (David Cannon/Getty Images)
The thought of an actual offseason sounds good on paper. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson had been amongst those that lobbied for a shorter common season. Woods in 2005 was lobbying for a condensed schedule that will carry the very best gamers collectively extra typically.
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The FedEx Cup arrived in 2007 and Woods was true to his phrase. He did not play for 10 weeks, returning at his Target World Challenge in December. He received, prompting Colin Montgomerie to say, “If he took a bloody yr off, it might assist — by no means thoughts 10 weeks.”
Mickelson had a stretch of enjoying post-Tour Championship in Singapore, China and the California occasion his administration firm ran. All had been tied with company and enterprise offers. Woods wound up going to Australia and Asia till again issues slowed him.
Now the PGA Tour will get a way of how this technology of stars will react.
Jay Monahan, PGA TOUR Commissioner, speaks with winner Scottie Scheffler of the United States throughout the trophy ceremony throughout the closing spherical of THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
FedEx Cup factors proceed throughout the seven-tournament fall schedule, although the highest 50 are locked in for all of the $20 million occasions. The fall is for gamers to maintain full standing by ending within the high 125 or to enhance their place to qualify for a number of the massive occasions.
So why play? The method Monahan sees it, that is simply what they do.
“I nonetheless assume gamers need to say sharp. They’re going to be competing in opposition to gamers within the high 70. I feel you may see the identical, if no more gamers enjoying at the moment of the yr,” he mentioned. “Listen, successful is all the time going to have an unimaginable consequence in your profession.”
If that is the case, nonetheless to be decided is the place the highest gamers go. It was Ernie Els who mentioned in 2007 the latter a part of the yr is when “you’ve got acquired the wheelbarrow out. You need to money in a little bit bit.”
It’s additionally price noting the case of LIV Golf. Some high gamers, comparable to Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, went three months with out competing after the inaugural season ended. Time off did wonders for Koepka’s well being, and he had a runner-up end on the Masters.
Johnson hasn’t contended anyplace since returning and is No. 20 within the LIV Golf standings.
RICKIE’S GOLDEN TICKET
Before he had received on the PGA Tour, Rickie Fowler mentioned in a 2011 interview that the standing from being among the many high 50 on the earth was as useful as successful a match.
So think about his tie for 14th within the Wells Fargo Championship a victory.
That was simply sufficient to maneuver Fowler to No. 50 on this week’s world golf rating, a spot he had not been for the reason that finish of November 2020. Fowler missed the reduce at Mayakoba and fell to No. 52, and he is been on the surface ever since.
The low level was the tip of the 2022 season when he dropped to No. 185. Fowler tied for sixth on the Fortinet Championship, and he is been steadily climbing ever since. He hasn’t missed a reduce since October.
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Fowler would appear sure to remain within the high 60 after the PGA Championship, which might make him exempt for the U.S. Open. He has to remain within the high 50 after the PGA to be exempt for the British Open.
The PGA Championship was the one main he performed final yr.
LIV BOTTOM TO MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP
Sihwan Kim stands out on LIV Golf this yr as a result of his title all the time appears to be on the backside of the 48-man fields.
Well, not all the time. He is coming off his greatest end of the season two weeks in the past when he was forty fifth in Singapore. In 5 occasions, Kim has completed forward of a complete of 4 gamers — Chase Koepka, Abraham Ancer and James Piot in Singapore, and Sam Horsfield in Australia when the Englishman withdrew due to damage.
Next up for Kim? The PGA Championship.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan seems to be on following the ultimate spherical of THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. (Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Images)
Never thoughts the 34-year-old American is at No. 239 on the earth rating. He has earned certainly one of three spots from the brand new “International Federation Ranking.” It was created this yr to assist tournaments establish gamers competing on the Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and Sunshine Tour.
Kim nailed down one of many high three spots by successful the Asian Tour Order of Merit final yr. He is in a stoop in the intervening time, however he would not must look too far again to search out good golf. He received twice final yr, together with the International Series-Thailand, and three of his seven high 10s had been in International Series occasions.
The different two International Federation Ranking spots are going to Kazuki Higa of Japan and Ockie Strydom of South Africa. Higa obtained an invite to the Masters final month.
Kim was freshman of the yr at Stanford, and he received the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2008 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. The PGA will likely be his second main. He missed the reduce within the British Open at St. Andrews final summer time.
EYE ON PEBBLE
The U.S. Women’s Open is lastly going to essentially the most iconic U.S. Open course, and there’s an extended line to get in. The USGA has accepted a document 2,107 entries for the Women’s Open at Pebble Beach on July 6-9.
Pebble Beach has held the boys’s U.S. Open six occasions, and now the world’s greatest girls get a crack. The U.S. Women’s Open already is about to return to Pebble three extra occasions by way of 2048.
It was the primary time the variety of entries surpassed 2,000. The earlier document was 1,874 set final yr for the Women’s Open at Pine Needles.
Qualifying started Tuesday and takes place at 23 programs by way of June 7. Among those that signed as much as qualify embrace previous champions Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr, who every obtained exemptions two years in the past.
Three-time Women’s Open champion Annika Sorenstam obtained a particular exemption, as did 2011 champion So Yeon Ryu.
DIVOTS
The PGA Tour is enhancing its “PGA Tour University” program by providing the main participant popping out of faculty a card for the remainder of 2023 and all of 2024 (topic to re-rankings throughout 2024). Players who end at Nos. 2-5 have Korn Ferry standing by way of 2024 and might play limitless PGA Tour occasions on sponsor exemptions. … The Epson Tour is including the Black Desert Resort Championship in Salt Lake City to its schedule. The document purse of $375,000 brings the season prize fund to over $5 million. Five years in the past, the tour’s prize cash was just below $3 million. … Ludvig Aberg of Texas Tech has an opportunity to hitch Jon Rahm as the one back-to-back winners of the Ben Hogan Award given to the nation’s high school golfer. Aberg was named a finalist together with Gordon Sargent of Vanderbilt and Michael Thorbjornsen of Stanford. … Six days after he was appointed Presidents Cup captain, Jim Furyk was tapped to be certainly one of Zach Johnson’s assistants on the Ryder Cup. Furyk, the U.S. captain within the 2018 loss in France, was an assistant for successful groups at Hazeltine and Whistling Straits.
STAT OF THE WEEK
Out of 11 gamers with LIV Golf who filed an antitrust lawsuit in opposition to the PGA Tour final August, solely Bryson DeChambeau and Matt Jones stay as plaintiffs. Peter Uihlein was the newest participant to take away himself from the lawsuit.
FINAL WORD
“Tiger was fairly clear when he captained the Presidents Cup in Australia that was going to be his second. He needs that second to be shared with others. Once he tells you he will do one thing a sure method, that is the way in which he will do it.” — Jay Monahan on why Tiger Woods wasn’t thought of to be Presidents Cup captain once more
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