A new weekly article (I use the term loosely) that I am going to do for subscribers: some subplots on the PGA Tour leaderboard you might not catch at first glance. Things such as top-10 watches, sponsor exemptions, reshuffle ramifications, etc. They will just be quick bullet points of things to look for. As I often say, some of the most season-changing moments on the PGA Tour don’t happen at the top of the leaderboard.
This week at the Amex:
This week is a little different as amateur Nick Dunlap is in the field. A few things if he goes on to win.
- Yes, he gets a two year exemption.
- No, he doesn’t get the prize money. He would have had to turn pro prior to the event (2nd place is paid as first, 3rd is paid as 2nd, so on).
- Yes, he gets a Masters invite (though he already had one for his U.S. Am win) and all the other perks that come with being a Tour winner.
- Yes, he can wait to turn pro and the exemption will still be there. But if he turns pro in a year, he would only have a year of the exemption left.
Reshuffles: This year there are two with one coming after the Valero Texas Open and one after the Wyndham. Reshuffles are a reordering of players within a category. For instance, players who finished 2nd through 30th as KFT graduates are listed in that order of priority at the start of the season (Ben Kohles, who finished 1st, has full status all season regardless). After the Valero, the group is listed by points earned through that event. So the 30th player could move all the way up to 2nd and that would mean they’re getting into a lot more events. This happens in every category. So some important Sunday’s ahead for (in order where they stand on the leaderboard)…
- Jimmy Stanger- KFT grad
- Kevin Yu- KFT grad
- Alexander Bjork- DP World Tour grad
- Harrison Endycott- Q-school grad
- Ryo Hisatsune- DP World Tour grad
- Joe Highsmith- KFT grad
- Max Greyserman- KFT grad
- Mattieu Pavon- DP World Tour grad
- Chandler Phillips- KFT grad
Medical Exemptions: Medicals are for guys who get hurt during a season and can’t play. Once they come back they are given X amount of starts to earn Y points to keep their card. Those variables are based on the amount of points that were needed to keep a full card during the season they were injured. For example: Lanto Griffin has 12 starts to earn 281 points. Griffin made the cut this week, so he needs a good Sunday to earn as many points as he can. Rob Bolton does an amazing job tracking this, and the linked article shows all the exemptions with the points needed. Other medical exempt countries players who made the cut this week.
Top-10
- If a player is not in the Farmers Open field the only way to earn a spot (outside of getting through the Monday) is through a top-10.
- Although an outside shot, Yuxin Lin, who received a sponsor's exemption, is the only player I see that has a chance. He is currently T39 and five shots out of a top-10. He would need a career round but if he was able to pull it off, it would be career-changing. We will cover non-member points in a future article. Side Note: Mark played with Yuxin at the 2nd stage of Q-school and he SMASHES the ball (I mean truly smashes it). Alarmingly long.
Hope this gives you some insight on some of the important things happening behind the leaders. Any questions shoot me a message on Twitter or via email!
This week at the Amex:
This week is a little different as amateur Nick Dunlap is in the field. A few things if he goes on to win.
- Yes, he gets a two year exemption.
- No, he doesn’t get the prize money. He would have had to turn pro prior to the event (2nd place is paid as first, 3rd is paid as 2nd, so on).
- Yes, he gets a Masters invite (though he already had one for his U.S. Am win) and all the other perks that come with being a Tour winner.
- Yes, he can wait to turn pro and the exemption will still be there. But if he turns pro in a year, he would only have a year of the exemption left.
Reshuffles: This year there are two with one coming after the Valero Texas Open and one after the Wyndham. Reshuffles are a reordering of players within a category. For instance, players who finished 2nd through 30th as KFT graduates are listed in that order of priority at the start of the season (Ben Kohles, who finished 1st, has full status all season regardless). After the Valero, the group is listed by points earned through that event. So the 30th player could move all the way up to 2nd and that would mean they’re getting into a lot more events. This happens in every category. So some important Sunday’s ahead for (in order where they stand on the leaderboard)…
- Jimmy Stanger- KFT grad
- Kevin Yu- KFT grad
- Alexander Bjork- DP World Tour grad
- Harrison Endycott- Q-school grad
- Ryo Hisatsune- DP World Tour grad
- Joe Highsmith- KFT grad
- Max Greyserman- KFT grad
- Mattieu Pavon- DP World Tour grad
- Chandler Phillips- KFT grad
Medical Exemptions: Medicals are for guys who get hurt during a season and can’t play. Once they come back they are given X amount of starts to earn Y points to keep their card. Those variables are based on the amount of points that were needed to keep a full card during the season they were injured. For example: Lanto Griffin has 12 starts to earn 281 points. Griffin made the cut this week, so he needs a good Sunday to earn as many points as he can. Rob Bolton does an amazing job tracking this, and the linked article shows all the exemptions with the points needed. Other medical exempt countries players who made the cut this week.
Top-10
- If a player is not in the Farmers Open field the only way to earn a spot (outside of getting through the Monday) is through a top-10.
- Although an outside shot, Yuxin Lin, who received a sponsor's exemption, is the only player I see that has a chance. He is currently T39 and five shots out of a top-10. He would need a career round but if he was able to pull it off, it would be career-changing. We will cover non-member points in a future article. Side Note: Mark played with Yuxin at the 2nd stage of Q-school and he SMASHES the ball (I mean truly smashes it). Alarmingly long.
Hope this gives you some insight on some of the important things happening behind the leaders. Any questions shoot me a message on Twitter or via email!
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