GULLANE, Scotland (AP) – One of the more famous axioms in golf is that players tend to make 80% of their money in 20% of their tournaments.
This usually means a good year. And it can be a PGA Tour card.
The latest example is Peter Kuest.
When he finished 14th in the AT&T Byron Nelson in May, it was a good check for a good week. But think about the last two weeks. He was a Monday qualifier for the Rocket Mortgage Classic and finished fourth. That got him to the John Deere Classic, where he finished 17th.
Now he has a special temporary membership on the PGA Tour, which means he can accept unlimited exemptions for the rest of the year. There will likely be plenty of openings for him this fall.
He received one of those exemptions this week in the Barbasol Championship.
Kuest is only the latest example. Earlier this year, Akshay Bhatia finished second in Puerto Rico and fourth in the Mexico Open, and he’s on his way. Ryan Gerard finished fourth in the Honda Classic and finished 11th the next week in Puerto Rico, sending him on his way to a special temporary membership.
Min Woo Lee, Ryan Fox and Nicolai Højgaard will also be special temporary members this year. To earn full status for 2024 would require them to finish tied for No. 125 in the FedEx Cup this year.
A few good weeks seems to go a long way.
A WORD ABOUT COLLEGE
Allisen Corpuz could be the first US Women’s Open champion with an MBA.
Corpuz decided to stay at USC for a fifth year during the COVID-19 pandemic and earned a master’s degree in global supply chain management.
She was asked what advice she would give to juniors considering turning pro before going to college.
“School, it’s never going to be a bad decision,” Corpuz said. “No matter how good you are, I think golf … there’s always a chance you’re going to get hurt. You never know what’s going to happen. If you go to school, at least you have the whole team behind you, and I think that just gives you a lot of time to grow.”
Michelle Wie West turned pro just before her 16th birthday, but is as proud of her Stanford degree as winning the US Women’s Open. Rose Zhang turned pro after her sophomore year and plans to finish her degree at Stanford.
“I definitely wasn’t as smart as I am now at 18, and I know I wasn’t ready,” Corpuz said. “I’m sure there are girls, but they’re very far and few between. It’s just a chance to really grow as a person, have fun and then start working.”
BACK TO BIRKDALE
The timing was peculiar, but not the location. The Royal & Ancient announced on Tuesday that the British Open will return to Royal Birkdale in 2026.
Such an announcement usually comes during the week of the British Open.
It will be the 11th time Royal Birkdale has hosted the Open, most recently and perhaps most notably in 2017, when Jordan Spieth lost the lead while taking a drop on the driving range, only to go birdie-eagle-birdie to rally past Matt Kuchar and get the third stage of the Grand Slam.
The Open will be at Royal Liverpool in England next week, followed by Royal Troon in Scotland in 2024 and Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland in 2025.
BIG MOVE
Allisen Corpuz picked a good time to win her first LPGA Tour event. It was a US Women’s Open. It was at Pebble Beach. And that moved the 25-year-old from Hawaii to No. 3 in the Solheim Cup standings.
The 2023 games are the last full week of September in Spain.
The seven leading Americans automatically qualify for the Solheim Cup. Corpuz previously played in the 2021 Curtis Cup and was a two-time member of the Palmer Cup.
Along with her Solheim Cup position, she moved to No. 6 in the women’s world rankings.
ANNIKA TRIP
Annika Sorenstam retired from full competition in 2008 and has been busy with golf. Now she’s adding to the list: The Annika Foundation will collaborate with the Women’s All Pro Tour, which starts next year.
The tour will be renamed the “Annika Women’s All Pro Tour”
The course began in 2019 offering 72-hole events. In the past two seasons, 75% of the top 10 players on the money list have graduated to the LPGA Tour or Epson Tour. Grace Kim won twice on the Women’s All Pro Tour in 2021. She won this year on the LPGA Tour.
“I am thrilled to begin this journey with the Women’s All Pro Tour,” said Sørenstam. “I firmly believe that the best way to improve your game and prepare for the next level is by playing on a highly competitive tour. By teaming up with WAPT, we have a unique opportunity to further strengthen a incredibly important platform which has already advanced the professional playing careers of so many talented players.”
BACK TO THE BLUE MONSTER
LIV Golf is heading back to the Blue Monster for its final event of the year.
The LIV Golf League Team Championship was originally scheduled for Saudi Arabia at the end of the year. Instead, LIV Golf Jeddah will be held 13-15. October at the Royal Greens, and the final will be the following week at Trump National Doral.
The points leader after Jeddah wins the individual title.
DIVOT
Matt Kuchar is among three players added to the British Open field through the reserve list, which is based on the world rankings. … The Visa Argentina Open, which dates to 1905, will be part of the Korn Ferry Tour in 2004 and remain on the schedule through at least 2029. It will continue its tradition of awarding the winner a berth in the British Open. … Steph Curry has been selected for the Ambassador of Golf Award, which honors an individual who has fostered the ideals of the game. In 2021, Curry launched Underrated Golf, a circuit built around the principles of providing fairness, access and opportunity. … Canadian Pacific Kansas City extends its title sponsorship of the Canadian Women’s Open for at least four years. It has been the title sponsor since 2013.
STATE OF THE WEEK
Hyo Joo Kim was the only top-10 player in the women’s world rankings to achieve a top-10 finish at the US Women’s Open.
FINAL WORDS
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career. I’ve also made a lot of bad decisions in my career. But I think I’ve learned from them, hopefully, and I think my story wouldn’t be what it was if I hadn’t made those mistakes.—Michelle Wie West.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports