There will be two tournaments at Disney
By Stan Awtrey, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
A year ago, it was Martin Laird who nailed down the 125th and final exempt spot for the 2009 season while standing the shadow of the Mouse.
It worked out well for the Scottish lad, who had earned a promotion through his stellar play on the Nationwide Tour. Last year, Laird tied for 21st at the Children's Miracle Network Classic and finished $11,000 clear of his nearest competitor to retain his status.
Laird escaped similar pressure last month when he won the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open. He went from No. 134 on the money list to Number "It Doesn't Matter Because I've Got a Two-Year Exemption."
"I knew if I just went out and played well that wasn't going to be a problem," Laird said.
But while Laird is now worry-free and not even in this week's Disney field, there are many accomplished players who find themselves on the bubble. With the rainout of last week's Viking Classic, it puts additional pressure on the guys who are trying to keep their cards.
There are some big names, some of them major championship winners, who are trying to hang on to their playing privileges. They've got one shot left to make enough money to remain on the PGA TOUR. There's no government bailout or "Dollars for Double-Bogeys" program, either.
"You look at guys on the bubble right now, David Duval, Rich Beem, I mean great guys, great golfers and they've done great things for the game," said Kevin Streelman, who is safely inside the number. "And the hard part with our sport is obviously you don't get a five-year multi-million dollar contract unless you're one of the top two or three guys in the world."
Among those who are playing this week to keep their exemptions are 2002 PGA winner Rich Beem (No. 124) and 2001 British Open champion David Duval (No. 125).
"I must say that this predicament stinks," Beem said. "I'm not having any fun with it. But that's the way it goes. I'm going to go out there and play hard this week and see if we can't wrap this mess up."
Beem should be OK if he makes the cut, which he's done in more than half his starts. Beemer has finished in the top 25 on five occasions, but has missed the cut in two of his Fall Series starts.
Duval has a tougher task. He's made the cut only six times all season and has missed the cut in six of seven starts since his unexpected runner-up performance at the U.S. Open. It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since Duval spent 15 weeks as the No. 1-ranked player in the world.
Look who else is on the outside of the number: Chris Riley (No. 126), Jeff Maggert (No. 127), Tim Herron (No. 128), Will MacKenzie (No. 131), Todd Hamilton (No. 133), Stuart Appleby (No. 134), Joe Ogilvie (No. 135), Chris DiMarco (No. 138), Rocco Mediate (No. 141), Ryan Palmer (No. 150) and Carl Pettersson (No. 159). There are 33 TOUR victories in that little collection of players.
Appleby, an eight-time winner, can take an exemption for being one of the top 50 on the all-time money list. He's not even playing at Disney this week. DiMarco, who played on his top-50 exemption in 2009, can use his status as being among the top 25 on the all-time list, but he's in the field battling to get in the top 125. MacKenzie, Palmer and Petterson don't have to sweat it, either. They're each exempt through 2010 because of a win during the 2008 season. The others will be grinding.
Riley, a Ryder Cup member in 2006, even missed the partially exempt top-150 last year and had to go to q-school to regain his spot on TOUR. Beem took a different path, choosing to ask for a sponsor exemption at many of the events he frequented in the past.
"I was really fortunate to get into a lot of events, a lot of events I really enjoy playing, especially early in the year," Beem said. "Still, it's no fun. I don't want to do that again. If I have to, for whatever bizarre reason I don't make it this week, then I'll go back to q-school so I don't have to write letters."
Most of the players will try to pretend they're not going to watch the scoreboard or keep up with their competitors. That may be partially true. They won't be looking at the leaders, but rather calculating the tournament within the tournament to see where they stand. You can bet that the computers around the scoring area will be popular gathering place on Sunday afternoon.
Stan Awtrey is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.
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