Print this page  |  Close Window

By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Contributor

Each week for the last month, they have been going to the driving range. When they reached into the pouches of their golf bags to find a fresh glove, they have stumbled across a piece of plastic that they haven't needed in weeks -- that plastic card with their picture on it, their name and the PGA TOUR logo. Just under their name is one word that means as much to them as anything: MEMBER. They will need this card for the next seven weeks to get into the locker room and the player dining area.

Bob Tway, Robert Gamez and Glen Day will be fighting for their PGA TOUR cards in the Fall Series. (WireImage)

RELATED

• Tway's 2007 stats • Gamez's 2007 stats • Day's 2007 stats

They are the gentlemen of the PGA TOUR who will spend the next two months battling themselves, each other and the ever-present money list. In many ways, they are the lifeblood of the TOUR. For each of the 30 who competed in Atlanta last week, there are five or six more who spend every waking hour trying to figure out a way to climb to the top tier of the PGA TOUR. Over the last four weeks, they have had time to assess their plight and now have the opportunity to reshape their year.

Some are aging veterans whose games have fallen on hard times. Bob Tway (No. 141), Glen Day (No. 148) and Robert Gamez (No. 168) are all battling to secure a spot in the top 125 on the money list and continue long careers that have served them well. Each will tell you that the year hasn't gone as well as planned. Each of these veterans knows exactly what it took the first time or the second to find a home on the PGA TOUR. While time and younger, stronger men may seem to be against them, they have been granted a second chance. They have seven weeks to make a leap up the money list. They know all too well how one week can change the fortunes of a year. They know that it only takes one week to turn a bad year into a good one.

Standing in their way, though, are the young and talented like Michael Putnam (No. 143) and Andrew Buckle (No. 144). For some players, the assimilation process is a short one. For others, it can take a little longer. Both of these young men have put themselves in a position to move into the top 125 with solid play. Certainly, the best years of their careers lie ahead of them. But, for many, the loss of a PGA TOUR card can take years to get over. The coming two months very well could be the most important of their professional lives. No one wants to go back to Q-School.

At No. 122, Bob Heintz is in danger of falling out of the top 125 on the money list. (WireImage)

Along with the established veterans and the up-and-comers are the journeymen who have given their souls to the game only to have its greatest glory elude them. Players like Bob Heintz (No. 122), Tripp Isenhour (No. 137) and Michael Allen (No. 154) are all too familiar with this situation. Each has tripped on the top step. Each has his own tales of triumph and near-triumph. Each has shown that, when they are at their best, they can compete. Now is the time to harness the heart and the spirit that brought them to the threshold.

One of the interesting things about the way the 2007 PGA TOUR schedule has manifested itself is that those players who are looking up the money list were given a time out. One of the hardest things to do when you are trying to fight for your job late in the year is to take a week off.

But this year, those players were forced to take several weeks off. They had an opportunity to step back and catch their breath. Each spent a couple of weeks trying to halt the backwards slide of his game that put him in this position.

What we are left with is a mini-season of competition with well-rested competitors. Granted, it won't hold the same allure as the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Then again, few things in the game ever have.

This week, though, those gentlemen will put their credentials around their necks and rejoin the PGA TOUR. There is a chance for each of them. All of the benefits that come with winning a TOUR event are there for those who win. And for those who win the smaller battle of finishing in the top 125 on the money list, they have earned another year on TOUR -- another year of living the dream.