This week Jeff will be working on his game in preparation for next week’s PGA Tour event in Greensboro, NC. Although he came closer than any other first year player, Jeff is not participating in this week’s PGA Championship. In fact, there aren’t any PGA Tour rookies who have qualified for the final major at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota. Qualification for big tournaments on tour is different depending on the event. For the PGA Championship the eligible players are derived from a PGA Championship points list (related to money earned) which begins right after the preceding year’s PGA Championship. So the rookie class each year is at a big disadvantage because they have fewer tournaments in which to play and earn points.
Jeff will be in Atlanta for 3 days of preparation before departing for Greensboro and the Fedex Cup Playoffs. The four playoff tournaments have decreasingly short fields based on the current Fedex Cup points list. The Barclays event in NJ features the top 125, followed by the Deutsche Bank event in Boston with the top 100, the BMW in Chicago with the Top 70 and concluding with the Top 30 players at the Tour Championship in Atlanta. Currently Jeff is ranked 59th on the points list and expecting to qualify for atleast the first two tournaments of the playoffs. Obviously he has hopes of qualifying for the third, and if he’s very fortunate, possibly earning a spot in the Tour Championship. Something substantial will have to happen over the next four tournaments for that to happen–keep an eye out for the rookie!
