Golf has always been about the numbers. In match play, a three beats a four. In stroke play, a 66 puts you on the leader board ahead of the golfers who shoot 67. We marvel at the pros and their 310-yard drives, their knack for getting up and down 65 percent of the time, their ability to hit greens in regulation 73 percent of the time, and on and on.
This weekend on the PGA Tour marks the conclusion of the 2015-16 wraparound schedule that is very much a part of golf’s new world order. What began last October at Silverado in Napa concludes this Sunday evening in Greensboro. A good number of the game’s big guns are taking this week off prior to the start of the Fed Ex Cup playoffs on Thursday in New York. However, for a good portion of the field teeing it up at the Wyndham Championship this week, it’s all about money, Fed Ex Cup points and numbers galore.
At the conclusion of Greensboro, the top 125 golfers with Fed Ex Cup points will move on to the four-tournament playoff series. The top 125 advance to New York. The following week the top 100 are in the field at Boston. After a one-week break, the top 70 head to Indianapolis while the last 30 standing head to Atlanta the following week to compete in the Tour Championship. Meanwhile, the American elite on the PGA Tour are also keeping a wary eye on their Ryder Cup points. The biennial matches between Europe and Team USA occur during the final week of September at Hazeltine in Minneapolis.
If you land within the top 125, not only do you head to the Fed Ex Cup playoffs, but you also are guaranteed an exempt spot on the PGA Tour for 2016-17. If you land between 126th place and 150th place, then you get the first call when there are openings next season at tour events. It won’t get you into the Masters or the U.S. Open, but you will have the chance to tee it up in some of the B-level events such as Reno, Memphis, Puerto Rico and Alabama. That’s how Aaron Baddeley regained his tour status after winning the Barbasol in Alabama last month. If you finish between 126th place and 200th place on this year’s PGA Tour pecking order, you can also advance to a four-tournament series Web.com Tour qualifier alongside 75 Web.com Tour regulars. The top 25 money winners among the 150 contestants after the four tourneys get back on the PGA Tour next season.
As you read this, the ultimate “bubble boy” is Whee Kim of South Korea. Kim currently sits 125th on the Fed Ex Cup points list. The 24-year-old Kim has played in 27 events this year and has a pair of top-10 finishes. He has been able to bank $683,000 so far, but he still needs to make some good money this week at Greensboro to be able to stay on the good side of the bubble. There are close to 20 golfers right behind him who are just a top-20 or top-10 finish from bumping Kim out of that final spot, especially if he misses the cut.
Sitting in 126th place on the tour is Scott Stallings, a PGA Tour veteran who has three career wins to his credit. Kyle Stanley and Nick Taylor are right behind and both men have won on the tour. Journeyman Steve Marino is 36 years old, winless during a 15-year pro career, and sits in 129th place. Rookie Bronson Burgoon is in 130th place and hoping his initial PGA Tour experience doesn’t turn into one of those “one-and-done” moments.
Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland sits in 137th place, is not in the field at Greensboro, is still in Rio taking part in the Olympics as a spectator, and isn’t concerned about losing his tour card. He won the Honda Classic in March of 2015 and will still be fully exempt into the next season. No pressure at all on Padraig. Other noted linksters are not in the same situation as Harrington. Right now, two-time U.S. Open champ Retief Goosen is in 140th place and Stuart Appleby is in 141st. Sam Saunders, the grandson of Arnold Palmer, is now in 148th place while Camilo Villegas, who skipped the Olympics last week in an attempt to get back his tour card, finds himself on the next bubble in 150th place. Michael Thompson is in 144th place. His sister Lexi is in the Women’s Olympics this week. Martin Piller is 160th. His wife Gerina is also competing at the Olympics.
On the well-known golfer front, a number of professionals in this week’s field are hoping for a lightning-in-a-bottle moment to regain exempt status on the PGA Tour next season. Former British Open champ Stewart Cink sits in 161st place and multiple-major winner Ernie Els is 162nd. Even farther back are past grand slam champs such as Geoff Ogilvy at 167th, Angel Cabrera at 179th and Justin Leonard at 180th. Hunter Mahan is 182nd.
Currently Alex Prugh sits in the 200th spot, the last available place to get into the four-tourney qualifying series. Prugh only got into 12 tournaments this year, missed six cuts, and often had to wait more than one month before he could get into his next event. That’s a pretty rough way to build your golf career. Prugh is 32 years old, has been a professional for 10 years, and for someone you may not recognize, has won $2.4 million on tour. Yet in the merit-oriented world of pro golf, his $107,686 in earnings this year doesn’t get him a tour card next year.
As we head down the home stretch in the 2015-16 wraparound season on the PGA Tour, it all comes down to numbers. The top eight Americans make the Ryder Cup team. The top 30 on tour get to the Tour Championship in Atlanta. The top 125 not only advance to the Fed Ex Cup playoffs next week, but also find themselves exempt on the PGA Tour for the next season.
At this moment, Whee Kim is on the bubble in 125th place following a season in which he has made just less than $700,000. He’ll probably need to get to $725,000 to keep his top-125 status. Meanwhile, on the Web.com Tour, golf’s version of AAA, 26-year-old Wesley Bryan is having a career mini-tour year. He has played in 13 tournaments and has made the cut in all 13. He has finished in the top 10 a total of seven times. He has three victories on the Web.com this year. And when you add it all up, Whee Kim has made more than $250,000 more than Bryan. True the courses, the courtesy cars and even the lunch buffets are better on the PGA Tour. You play Pebble Beach on the PGA Tour. You play Stonebrae in Hayward on the Web.com. In the end, it’s about the money, the prestige and it will all shake out this Sunday.
