“How you get from New Delhi to Savannah, unclear,” Martin Trainer texted. He could try to discover out.
Sean Zak
Martin Trainer was targeted on the PGA Tour first. He was ranked 162nd in the FedEx Cup Fall once we chatted on the RSM Classic, now the year-end occasion that dictates enjoying schedules for the approaching season. To be Mr. 162 is to have a murky future, however he nonetheless had a probability that week.
If he could simply nab a top-20 end down in Georgia, he’d squeeze his method into the highest 150. Loads of professionals take into account the highest 125 to be the significant cutoff, however the guys who end 126th to a hundred and fiftieth have it fairly good, too. They don’t must look far for work. They simply have to be affected person and sufficient occasions will speak in confidence to them. If you don’t crack the highest 150, then it’s time to look elsewhere.
“Have you thought about a Euro trip?” I requested him. Turns out, he had.
Thanks to the PGA Tour’s “Strategic Alliance” with the DP World Tour, the ten finest gamers from Europe can be granted full standing on the America-based tour, and one thing of the reverse can be on supply as effectively. All Tour gamers who completed between 126th and 2 hundredth can be allowed to just accept membership on the DP World Tour for the next season, basically taking their skills to Europe.
It isn’t essentially the most tantalizing choice for many American golfers, who could also be extra inclined to drop right down to the Korn Ferry Tour — the place they’ll get pleasure from some standing as effectively — simply to maintain an America-based schedule. But for Trainer, who was born in France and who likes to travel, the DP World Tour downgrade is intriguing. He joked about treating it like his semester overseas — a {golfing} hole yr. The DP World takes you to over 20 completely different nations on three completely different continents. The belongings you’d see, the meals you’d eat, the wacky pars you’d make up in opposition to the mountains in Switzerland.
But first got here the RSM, the place his pursuit of the cutline fell two birdies quick. His FedEx Cup end was sealed at No. 163. But proper about that point, a shocking choice arose. It was initially going to be simply wonderful for PGA Tour gamers to compete in the Promotions occasion placed on by rival league LIV Golf. It was a three-day shootout in Abu Dhabi, and in basic LIV trend it included a completely different format. LIV Promotions can be a survive-and-advance match — shoot low sufficient on Day 1, you progress to Day 2. Shoot low sufficient on Day 2, advance to the ultimate day, a 36-hole dash. Trainer tossed his hat into the ring.
The occasion got here with an implied threat. Since the PGA Tour calls for that gamers apply for media rights releases greater than 45 days in advance, there wasn’t sufficient time to overlook out on the Top 150 FEC and then apply for a potential future at LIV Golf. One needed to apply for a launch to play LIV’s qualifying occasion earlier than even understanding your PGA Tour future. Trainer wasn’t alone — Kevin Chappell, Jason Dufner, Kyle Stanley and Chris Stroud have been among the many notable names who determined to make this leap, too, suspensions and/or fines be damned. The potential riches available in simply a single season on LIV have been too good to go up. Last place in each occasion nonetheless nets $120,000.
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On Day 1, Trainer shot two below, simply barely ok to advance to the subsequent spherical. The subject of 60 was trimmed to 29, then boosted to 42 with exempt gamers (just like the major-winning Dufner) being added. On Day 2, even higher — Trainer made 4 birdies and no bogeys en path to 68. Then, on the ultimate day gauntlet, Trainer shot 69 to place himself in the hunt for a top-3 promotion, however slowed in the ultimate spherical with a 71 and a T7 end. That left him three photographs out of a playoff, however very importantly three photographs inside the highest 10, which booked his ticket to the whole thing of the Asian Tour’s International Series, a seven-event schedule that bops round from Oman to Morocco to Hong Kong and others.
If this is all a recreation of grabbing up standing on varied excursions, Trainer now has an additional line in the water.
“I’ll be getting into 40 professional events next year,” he texted, admitting he’s crafted a spreadsheet of all 4 excursions. “And a good finish on the PGA Tour away from 50 events.”
He’s proper. For starters, Trainer will have the ability to slide in to the less-popular PGA Tour occasions just like the Puerto Rico Open (the place he’s a previous champion) or the Corales Puntacana Championship — the “Island Tour” as he places it. If he performs his finest golf there, he can parlay it into different occasions. He’ll additionally have the ability to play a moderately full Korn Ferry Tour schedule, too, if he needs it. As snug and PGA Tour Lite as it could appear, the purses on the KFT are nearly all $1 million. For professionals who know they’ll make 90% of their cash in 10% of their occasions, because the adage goes, there might be extra worthwhile golf to play abroad.
There’s that International Series, which has a median purse dimension of about $3 million, and is sure to incorporate varied gamers from LIV Golf — Brooks Koepka performed in Oman in February 2023 as he gained reps forward of the Masters. Then there’s the DP World Tour and its many nationwide opens, most of which promise between $2 million and $5 million to the sphere. Having all this standing is nice, in fact, as long as you’ve obtained an up to date passport and a willingness to outlive the travel constraints.
“How you get from New Delhi to Savannah, unclear,” Trainer stated earlier than outlining a seven-week stretch that might cowl 35,000 miles, six nations, three continents and, notably, 4 excursions.
International Series Oman — Asian Tour
117 Visa Argentina Open — Korn Ferry tour
Puerto Rico Open — PGA Tour
International Series Macau — Asian Tour
Singapore Classic — DP World Tour
Hero Indian Open — DP World Tour
Club Car Championship (Savannah, Ga.) — Korn Ferry Tour
A schedule too loopy? Perhaps. But possibly schedule so loopy you need him to do it for leisure functions alone.
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