01생존과 탈락의 기로, 125위 경계선에 선 위기의 이름들
PGA 투어 시즌이 종착역을 향해 달려가면서 내년도 풀 시드를 확보하기 위한 선수들의 치열한 생존 경쟁이 이어지고 있다. 페덱스컵 포인트 순위 125위는 투어 카드를 유지할 수 있는 마지노선으로, 이 순위 안에 들지 못하면 내년 시즌 출전권이 박탈되는 가혹한 상황에 직면하게 된다.
현재 공개된 '더 파이브(The Five)' 명단에는 평소 탄탄한 실력을 자랑하던 예상 밖의 선수들이 대거 포함되어 충격을 주고 있다. 과거 투어 우승 경험이 있거나 세계적인 인지도를 가진 스타급 선수들이 현재 125위 경계선 밖으로 밀려나 있거나 위태로운 순위에 머물고 있어 팬들의 우려를 자아내고 있다.
이들 선수에게 남은 기회는 가을 시리즈(Fall Series) 기간 동안 열리는 대회들뿐이다. 여기서 극적인 반전을 이뤄내지 못할 경우, 내년에는 2부 투어인 콘 페리 투어로 내려가거나 제한적인 출전권만을 가지게 된다. 벼랑 끝에 몰린 선수들이 남은 경기에서 어떤 경기력을 보여줄지가 이번 시즌 막판 최고의 관전 포인트다.
02Original (English) — PGA TOUR
Welcome to the home stretch of the PGA Tour season. Five events over the next five weeks will settle the ample status questions that still linger as the leaves change and the calendar turns to late October.
Who will keep their careers on track by finishing in the top 100? Who will hit a snag and be forced to play off conditional status or fall back to the Korn Ferry Tour? It’s a nervy time on the PGA Tour. Careers will be altered significantly between now and the RSM Classic next month.
That is certainly the case for several surprising names, none of whom likely expected to struggle to maintain status at the start of the year. Who are some of those names and where do they sit in the standings? Here are five big names at risk of losing their PGA Tour card.
Glover is part of an undesirable group that finished top 50 a year ago and now finds themselves outside the top 100, fighting just to retain full status.
Despite a full season of Signature Events and Glover’s preferred schedule, he struggled to come close to his previous form and faces an uncertain future with five events left this season. He ranks 108th in the FedExCup with only three top-35 finishes this season.
If Glover loses his full PGA Tour card, will he earn it back? It’s the million-dollar question for every player finishing outside the top 100, but it carries more weight for the aging veteran major champion, soon to be 47 years old. Glover has already pulled off multiple career renaissances. Is another on the horizon?
There’s no sugarcoating it. Shipley's debut season has been underwhelming. One of the preseason Rookie of the Year favorites struggled to acclimate to Tour life early in the season and couldn't pull himself out of the early hole.
Until recently.
Shipley fell as low as 196th in the FedExCup and entered the Fall outside the top 180. But in two starts this fall, Shipley finished third at the Biltmore Championship Asheville and 10th at the Bank of Utah Championship. That has pushed him up to 123rd in the standings.
Is Shipley acclimating just in time? A two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner a year ago, Shipley’s talent is apparent. He finished as low amateur at the U.S. Open and the Masters. He was a leading subject on Netflix’s "Full Swing" and drew plenty of attention. Perhaps it's no coincidence that Shipley is finding his form while the spotlight finds other victims.
It’s been a lost year for Clanton, who 18 months ago looked like the next young star on the PGA Tour. Instead, he’s projected to spend 2027 on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Clanton has made only 10 of 21 cuts in his first full season on the Tour, a stark contrast from his success on Tour as an amateur when he made seven of eight cuts and nearly won multiple times while still in college.
What changed? Has the shift to turning pro ratcheted up the pressure to perform? Is it simply a result of lost confidence? Whatever it is, Clanton, 22, has five weeks to fix it. He finished tied for seventh in Utah, providing a glimmer of hope. That pushed him up 14 spots in the standings, though he still ranks 137th. From that spot, Clanton will need a flurry of top 10s, or one or two legitimate cracks at contention. Otherwise, Clanton will head to the Korn Ferry Tour for the first time in his young career.
The season started with a flurry. Dahmen finished seventh at The Sentry at Torrey Pines and ninth at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches at PGA National. He was top 50 in the standings. Finally, it looked like Dahmen may avoid the vicious status bubble cycle that he's spent the last several years trying to escape.
Alas, Dahmen went through a midseason slump and is now squarely back in the status drama as the season nears its conclusion. Dahmen ranks 128th in the FedExCup, once again in need of heroics to close his season. Last year, he finished 122nd, only good enough for conditional status. Two years ago, he ranked 124th – which at the time was just enough to keep his full card.
How will this year end?
Penge was the top European to earn a Tour card via the DP World Tour last year. He even got off to a strong start stateside, contending at the Genesis Invitational and adding a top-five finish at the Valspar Championship the next month. But the Englishman was injured midway through the season and hasn’t found that form since his return. Penge ranks 110th in the FedExCup standings.
If Penge finishes outside the top 100, would he remain committed to U.S. golf playing off conditional status or opt to return to the DP World Tour? It’s a question that Penge would like not to answer. It will require a strong finish to the season.