Andy Ogletree was the U.S. Amateur champion with out a place to play when he took half within the first LIV Golf occasion final yr and was shut off from the PGA Tour. He didn’t have a contract with LIV and nonetheless doesn’t.
But he discovered his place on the Asian Tour, notably the “International Series,” a sequence of $2 million occasions with funding from LIV.
Ogletree shot 64 at Close House in England on Sunday for his third International Series victory, and second this yr.
He has earned $887,370 in 5 International Series occasions this yr. By comparability, Ben Kohles leads the Korn Ferry Tour with $504,828. Ogletree has virtually locked up a spot in LIV Golf for 2024 by main the International Series Order of Merit by a big margin.
“I think the incentive to play well is pretty good. Getting a chance to play LIV Golf is what everyone’s here to do,” Ogletree mentioned. “I want to be out there and feel like that’s where I want to be right now in the next phase of my life. So I’m doing all I can to secure that spot.”
Without LIV or the International Series, Ogletree can be on the Korn Ferry Tour at greatest, presumably Latin America or Canada. Now he has realized to construct a schedule, to journey, and he’s making an honest dwelling.
“There’s a lot of great things that have come from it and I wouldn’t be standing in front of you guys if it weren’t for LIV,” Ogletree mentioned.
But then he took notice of the truth that 22 LIV gamers had been within the area in England, and Ogletree received by seven pictures. He is an alternate this yr at LIV Golf.
“It has been frustrating and I do think that a contract will be coming at some point,” Ogletree mentioned. “I think I’ve proven that I should be out there and I think I’ve proven that my game matches up against those guys very well. So I don’t know when that time will be. But I’m looking forward to conversations that I’ll have with LIV Golf.”
Of course, the way forward for LIV Golf is just a little murky because the PGA Tour, European tour and Saudi Arabia’s nationwide wealth fund work on finalizing an settlement. The PGA Tour finally may very well be answerable for LIV.
And there’s nonetheless no avenue to the majors apart from open qualifying.
There had been 22 gamers from LIV Golf within the area for the Asian Tour occasion final week — together with Ogletree, the alternate. None was among the many high 100 on this planet rating. When LIV Golf started in June 2022, 12 of these gamers within the International Series-England had been among the many high 100.
Ogletree’s third victory in 9 months took him to No. 214 on this planet rating.
One of the issues concerning the PGA Tour’s schedule of signature occasions is the pinnacle begin that fifty gamers can have on everybody else — although everybody begins from scratch in 2024.
The 50 gamers who made it to the BMW Championship are assured of getting within the eight $20 million occasions, which supply extra FedEx Cup factors (700). Everyone else can play their method into the large occasions, however it’s a bonus to have the ability to plan for them and have break day.
The PGA Tour says it has run simulations and has discovered it’s going to get roughly a 62 per cent retention fee, just like what it’s now. It additionally discovered via simulations that 70 extra gamers — past the highest 50 — would get into signature occasions.
“So we think we found a great model between all those pieces of the puzzle, including the FedEx Cup points system, to keep that meritocracy and that pipeline of new players strong out here on tour,” mentioned Tyler Dennis, the PGA Tour president.
Adam Schenk can begin looking for housing at Augusta National for subsequent April. He was amongst 10 gamers who secured a berth within the Masters by reaching the Tour Championship.
The different 20 already had been exempt from profitable PGA Tour occasions for the reason that Masters, ending excessive sufficient within the different majors or profitable majors within the final 5 years.
Schenk is the one one on that listing who’s going to the Masters with out ever profitable on the PGA Tour. There continues to be time, and he’s definitely not the primary participant. Abraham Ancer made it to Augusta in 2020 with out having received — he received a World Golf Championship the next yr.
Others who’ve performed the Masters with out ever profitable on tour embrace Roberto Castro, who reached the Tour Championship in 2013 and 2016.
Schenk additionally picks up one other award, this one with no bonus or trophy. The Tour Championship will likely be his thirty third begin of the season, essentially the most of any PGA Tour member — all in a season through which his spouse gave delivery to their first youngster.
The 50 gamers who reached the BMW Championship are assured of being within the $20 million signature occasions subsequent yr, which means they don’t should play something within the fall with out shedding any floor as a result of the FedEx Cup standings don’t begin till January.
Some would possibly need to play if there’s a event they like, whether or not that’s Sea Island of Las Vegas or the brand new event at Cabo San Lucas in Mexico.
And then there’s Patrick Cantlay.
Cantlay left the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in 2021 and didn’t compete for 3 months till displaying up at Kapalua. That meant skipping Las Vegas, which has been an annuity for him. A yr in the past, Las Vegas was the one time he performed within the fall (he misplaced in a playoff).
What would entice him to play after the Ryder Cup in Rome?
“Probably not a lot this year,” Cantlay mentioned. “I feel like with the way the new major schedule is and with all the signature events, it feels like there’s a lot of big tournaments. So I feel like it’s easier to gear up for those and stay on for those if you know you have an offseason coming.
“I’m just going to rest after the Ryder Cup and then get ready probably for Maui.”
Justin Thomas has signed as much as play the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California, on Sept. 14-17. That’s two weeks earlier than the Ryder Cup, maybe a sign he will likely be a captain’s choose. Or it’s an opportunity to get into early signature occasions subsequent yr. … The LPGA Tour and South Korea-based Lotte, the title sponsor of the LPGA occasion in Hawaii, are contributing $125,000 to assist aid efforts from the devastating wildfires on Maui. The LPGA and Lotte have staged a event on Oahu since 2012.
In the earlier 16 years of the FedEx Cup, solely three gamers who had the No. 1 seed on the Tour Championship have gone on to win. Tiger Woods did it twice. The others had been Vijay Singh in 2008 and Dustin Johnson in 2020.
“As a tour pro, we talk about distance and all those things, but the thing that we can’t do is hit it through trees. So when you start taking a bunch of trees off a property it definitely can change how it plays.” — Xander Schauffele, on the development of lowering timber on championship golf programs.