There are no major championships on the line at this point this year, but that doesn't mean there's more pressure facing dozens of PGA Tour pros.
There are two events left in the FedEx Cup Fall that will determine who will and will not earn a 2025 PGA Tour membership. Players who finish between 51st and 60th in the final standings will make up the first Aon Next 10 of the 2025 season and advance to the year's first two signature events: the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational. receive an invitation. Riviera.
But trying to play a signature event pales in comparison to trying to keep a PGA Tour card and, by extension, a job. Take, for example, Netflix star Joel Damen, who tied for 14th at the Worldwide Technology Championship in Mexico.
Damen's T-14 earned him $120,600, but more importantly, he earned 52 FedEx Cup fall points for the effort. Since this week, he has moved up three spots in the rankings, from 124th to 121st. He has a total score of 407 points, which is 35 points behind Hayden Springer, who is currently in 125th place. Nine players are within 50 points of Springer, who is aiming to break into the top 125 with strong results over the final two weeks. This week's Butterfield Bermuda Championship and next week's RSM Classic in Sea will be nerve-wracking battles. An island in Georgia.
Still, despite the stress, Damen is taking a glass-half-full approach to her situation.
“For the last six or seven years I've been lucky enough not to have to worry about it, but it's a different kind of pressure. I knew I wasn't going to win the golf tournament today, but it kind of feels like I'm competing. It's so important. You can't hide from it, it's there,” Dahmen said after the final round of the Worldwide Technology Championship.
“know [my caddie] Geno [Bonnalie is] We're doing a great job of running our business. My wife is great at pretending everything is okay. And everything is fine. It's not the end of the world, but I want to play good golf and I want to be here on the PGA Tour. ”
Since receiving his PGA Tour card ahead of the 2017-18 season, Dahmen has played in 191 events on the PGA Tour. He has 22 top-10 finishes but only one win, at the 2021 Corales Punta Cana Resort & Club Championship. In the seven seasons he has played, he has averaged 77th place in the FedEx Cup, but he has never been this close. I lost my PGA Tour Card.
Before this year, Dahmen's worst performance in the FedEx Cup came during the 2021-22 season, which ironically was when he introduced millions of golf fans to his strong play at the U.S. Open. Dahmen shared the 36-hole lead with Collin Morikawa at Brookline, but ended up tied for 10th. Despite this, he finished the 2021-22 FedEx Cup season in 92nd place, making 19 of 26 shots on the year and finishing in the top 10 with just three.
But this year has been more difficult than he's ever experienced. His short game is bothering him, as is Damen's rank. 178th in strokes gained putts on the PGA Tour Ranked 141st in strokes gained around the green. He also ranks 166th on tour in one-putt rate and 132nd in three-putt avoidance rate. Given the caliber of PGA Tour pros, events, cuts, and top 10s are always about putting, and if you struggle on the greens, it's hard to find sustained success.
Dahmen is never a slugger, so he has to rely on his approach play and short game to compensate for his shortcomings. But aside from a T-11 at The Players Championship, a T-10 at the RBC Canadian Open in June, and a solid showing last week, that hasn't happened for most of this season.
When asked what finishing inside the top 125 meant to him, Dahmen said, “I think it means more this year. But it's been as tough as it's been.”
“Golf has been relatively easy for me over the last five years. I've never really been in this position before, and that's going to mean a lot. It's really hard to keep trying when things aren't going well. Like I said, there's a lot of pressure this week and the next two weeks are coming up, and a 30th place finish might be enough. It's almost harder than when you're competing. . Yes, that would mean the world.”
He may be in a precarious position, but in the end, as he said, Damen knows that everything will be fine. His charming and easy-going personality always resonates with his fans, and no matter what happens, there are many who will continue to support him. And hey, who knows? Perhaps Damen will catch lightning in a bottle and win one of the final two events. It will be the story that concludes a roller coaster season that has had more lows than highs. But it's also the heart of professional golf. It's almost impossible to compete on the PGA Tour for any length of time, let alone stay on it. Damen understands this better than anyone, and he knows there's only one way to think about your future, and that's in a positive way.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
