Players use Fall Series to rise on earnings list
09.10.2007 00:00
Sport and Travel
- Source: USA Today
Steve Flesch, who recharged his career with two victories since August, says, "It's amazing how two good weeks can change your whole year."
Some other PGA Tour players can say that about the seven weeks of the PGA Tour's Fall Series, any one of which, if good, could lead to job security. The series enters its fourth week at the Frys.com Open, which begins Thursday in Las Vegas. Already, five players have moved into the top 125 in earnings, which gives them exempt status for next year if they can hold that position for the next four weeks. Moving in are Bill Haas, Alex Cejka, Johnson Wagner, Jesper Parnevik and Michael Allen. Moving out are D.J. Trahan, Joe Durant, Bob Heintz, Doug LaBelle and Steve Allan. "They're getting what they asked for, a quest for the card," Flesch says. "Really, the main reason to play these tournaments is to earn money for your card." The Fall Series events, which come after the FedExCup schedule, do not award FedExCup points and Ryder Cup points. Victories aren't recognized by Augusta National, so a winner does not qualify for The Masters. However, Augusta National does accept the earnings, so if a player finishes in the top 30 in earnings at the end of the season, then he's eligible for The Masters. Flesch won the first Fall Series event, The Turning Stone Championship on Sept. 23, and has improved 45 spots to 25th in earnings. He's skipping the tournament this week, but he expects to play five of the seven events overall. "The Masters is the one I most want to play," he said. "I haven't played it in a couple of years. It's the hardest one to get in." Two other players contending for a spot are Heath Slocum (30th) and Justin Leonard, who moved from 94th to 41st with his victory in the Valero Texas Open on Sunday. Fuzzy times Fuzzy Zoeller, who won The Masters as a first-time player at Augusta National in 1979, might be nearing the end of his competitive appearances in the tournament. Zoeller said Sunday after playing the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship in Timonium, Md., that his wife and daughters would like him to retire from competition after his 30th start in The Masters. His 30th will be next April. "That golf course has gotten so long and so difficult that it's no fun," he said. "Going down for the Champions Dinner on Tuesday and coming home Wednesday night seems like a good deal to me." Zoeller played last year in cold, windy conditions. He made the cut but finished 60th or last among the players who played all four rounds. Ace doubts Jacqueline Gagne of Rancho Mirage, Calif., has drawn a great deal of attention this year for her claims of 16 holes in one in six months. She's also drawn doubters, including mathematicians who have struggled to calculate the odds of her improbable — nearly impossible — string of aces. The latest skeptic is veteran writer Dave Kindred, who interviews Gagne, witnesses and golf course officials. Kindred's investigation appears in the latest issue of Golf Digest, on newsstands today.
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