Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy will draw on a ‘one-time’ PGA Tour career money list exemption to compete on the wraparound 2016/17 PGA Tour.
The former U.S. Open champion ended his 16th PGA Tour season falling well short of retaining his Tour card in finishing 161st on the money list.
It is understood the 39-year old, who turned pro in 1998, had thought about playing last week in the secondary Web.com Tour Finals and also this week’s Albertsons Boise Ppen in Idaho but also declined to do so.
Instead, the eight-time PGA Tour winner plans to take a one-time exemption in being top 50 on the all-time PGA Tour career money list.
Ogilvy is currently ranked at 28th on the Tour’s leading money-earners having won a cool $US 49m in his PGA Tour career including a best season in 2006 in banking $US 4.3m and in the year he came from behind and brilliantly capture the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
Former US Open winner Geoff Ogilvy will take up a ‘one-off’ career money-list exemption to take his place on the 2016/17 PGA Tour.
The Australian is one spot behind South African Rory Sabbatini, who took up the career money exemption and elected to play in the Web.com Tour Finals, and with Sabbatini quickly realig rewards by finishing T6th in the opening event last week and now only needs to make the cut this week in Idaho to secure his card.
“Guys will take it at the end of their careers as a bridge to the Champions Tour but that’s the traditional thought about it,” said Ogilvy.
“But at that point, I could play enough tournaments to amuse me at 48 while trying to bridge that gap. But if you’re just using it as a bridge, you’re not as competitive anymore. That’s what I thought about it. This is really what it’s for, to get you through a bad patch. What if I never need it again? Then you’re asking, ‘Why didn’t I take it?'”
Ogilvy last tasted victory in capturing the 2014 Barracuda Championship but over the past two seasons he’s enjoyed just two t0p-1os including a share of 9th in July’s RBC Canadian Open.
However the affable Aussie’s 2016 has been spoilt by 13 missed cuts in his 22 events over the 2015/16 schedule and with Ogilvy having sat out the weekend rounds in his opening five events.
Australia’s only two U.S. Open winners – Geoff Ogilvy and David Graham at the 2015 Australian Golf Writers Annual Dinner in Sydney (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
Ogilvy remarked the idea of playing four Web.com Tour Finals events appealed to him because he felt as though he was playing better over the last month. He had three top 25s in his last four events, the best three finishes of his season.
“I felt if I had three or four more weeks, I would have gotten there,” he said. “At first, I was thought I would go play the Web.com. But I feel like I want to play a full, regular, normal year. My golf needs one of those. With a Web card, you’re not getting in all the tournaments.”
Ogilvy will commence the 2016/17 season along with Tiger Woods in October’s Safeway Open at Napa in California, though Ogilvy indicated he’s not about to fall into the trap of feeling as though he has to play every week because of the one-time exemption.
And Ogilvy is not alone as Sweden-born Carl Pettersson also has filed for the Top 50 career money exemption.
- Source for story AP
