Houston, TX …
In a big lift heading into next week’s Masters the European-born trio of Thomas Pieters, Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood have been officially confirmed with ‘Special Temporary Membership’ for the remainder of the 2016-17 PGA Tour Season.
The trio have qualified by virtue of earning more FedEx Cup points in their limited number of appearances than the player ranked No. 150 on last year’s 2015/16 FedEx Cup standings.
In Pieter’s six PGA Tour starts in the new 2016/17 season the 25-year old Belgium golfer has enjoyed two top-5 finishes, a T2 at the Genesis Open and a T5 at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship.
Thomas Pieters wins 2016 Made In Denmark (Photo – www.europeantour.com)
With his finish in Mexico, Pieters earned 110 FedExCup points, taking his total to 416, surpassing the points earned by the player at No. 150 and has, in fact, moved to 441 non-member FedExCup points after his T30 finish at the Dell Technologies Match Play.
Pieters, who captured the 2012 NCAA Men’s Individual Championship while competing for the University of Illinois, has three career European Tour wins. Last year, he won the Made in Demark on the European Tour, finished fourth in the Olympics Men’s Golf Competition in Rio and was a Captain’s Selection for Europe at the 2016 Ryder Cup.
Top-10 efforts two weeks ago by Hatton and Fleetwood at the Arnold Palmer Invitational tipped the scales in favour of ‘Special Temporary Memberhship’ for the England duo.
England’s Tyrrell Hatton captures a maiden Tour title. (Photo – www.europeantour.com)
Hatton, 25 finished T4th and to jump from 217 to 340 non-member FedExCup points. He now has three top-10 finishes in five starts, having finished T4 at The Honda Classic and 10th at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship. Hatton now has 384 non-member FedExCup points after his T17 finish at the Dell Technologies Match Play.
Fleetwood, 26 needed just four non-members FedEx Cup points after finishing runner-up a few weeks back at the WGC – Mexico Championship and he did that superbly a week later in sharing 10th place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The current Abu Dhabi HSBC champion went from 315 to 388 points with his finish at Bay Hill and to 401 non-member FedExCup points after a T39 finish at the WGC – Dell Match Play Championship.
Tommy Fleetwood wins 2017 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. (Photo – European Tour)
As Special Temporary Members, the three are eligible for unlimited sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the 2016-17 season as they attempt to earn PGA Tour cards for the 2017-18 season through the Non-member FedExCup Points List.
Special Temporary Members are not eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs, but Special Temporary Members or non-members who subsequently become regular PGA Tour members by winning an official event during the season will be counted on the FedExCup points list, along with any FedExCup points earned as a non-member (excluding those won at World Golf Championships events as a non-member) and thus be eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs.
And the inclusion of Pieters, Hatton and Fleetwood on the PGA Tour brings to the 88 the number of international members from 23 countries outside the United States.
