16 Nov 2023 | Professional golf |
Aussies on Tour: Endycott content with PGA TOUR reality
by Tony Webeck
Harrison Endycott knows that even a new putter might not be enough to produce the form reversal he needs to keep his PGA TOUR card at The RSM Championship this week in Georgia.
He also has enough perspective to know that whatever the outcome this week, there will be exciting opportunities awaiting him on the other side.
The PGA TOUR rookie from Sydney enters the final event of the FedEx Cup Fall Series 140th on the FedEx Cup standings and with a wide array of possibilities ahead of him:
* A maiden PGA TOUR win takes care of any status concerns for the foreseeable future.
* A solo fourth or better would earn Endycott the points he needs to squeeze into the top 125 to keep his card for the 2024 season.
* If he was to finish the year between 125-150 on the Fed Ex Cup standings, Endycott would maintain conditional status on the PGA TOUR next year.
* If he finishes outside the top 125, he is also exempt into the Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry from December 14-17 where he can claim one of the cards on offer for the top five finishers or improve his status.
It’s a lot to take in for a player with just one top-30 finish in his past 11 starts yet Endycott is thinking long term.
He and his team want to build a career on the PGA TOUR and, for a young man who has known tragedy of his own, Endycott got a recent reminder of the importance of perspective.
Two weeks ago at the World Wide Technology Championship, Endycott stayed with Colombian Camilo Villegas.
Villegas, who lost his daughter to brain cancer three years ago, finished in a tie for second that week to climb from 223rd to 147th in the FedEx Cup rankings which meant he could skip Second Stage and be exempt into Final Stage of Q School.
This past Sunday, Villegas won the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, his fifth on Tour and first in nine years.
In all that the pair discussed that week in Los Cabos, it was what Villegas showed Endycott that will stick with the Aussie for the remainder of his career.
“The first thing that Camilo did coming off that golf course on the Sunday, he was in the gym,” Endycott reveals.
“He was working, and there was one other person in there with him and it was Matt Kuchar (who also finished tied for second).
“Those are the one per centers that those top guys do so well.
“Rookie year, you’ve got to relearn all that.
“What he had to go through was absolutely awful. No one should ever have to deal with that.
“To see how he handles life and talk about how golf is and how life is, he deserves that win last week a million per cent.
“I’m trying to draw off that energy into this week.”
Ever honest, Endycott doesn’t shy away from how his 2023 season has panned out.
With two top-15 finishes in his first four starts it began with such promise but he would record just one more – at the RBC Canadian Open – prior to this week.
Yet the 27-year-old knows that this is just the beginning.
“It’s not the position I wanted to be in, obviously,” Endycott added.
“We all want to win out here but I think the outsider can forget just how hard this is. I’ve been away for close to 60 weeks these past two years so that’s a lot of different weeks of ups, downs, whatever you want to call it.
“It’s been a great learning curve. As much as I want to go and play well this week and do my job, we still have a job next year.
“We’re going to have a lot of opportunity next year and I’ve got another opportunity this week.”
This week also marks the final event of the season on both the DP World Tour and LPGA Tour.
Min Woo Lee has already done enough to secure his PGA TOUR card for 2024 and enters the DP World Tour Championship ninth in the Race to Dubai Ranking.
His sister, Minjee Lee, is one of five Aussies who can win the $US2 million winner’s cheque at the CME Globe Tour Championship in Florida while Asia-Pacific Amateur champion Jasper Stubbs is one of 15 Aussies teeing it up at the BNI Indonesian Masters.
Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Round 1 tee times AEDT
DP World Tour DP World Tour Championship Jumeirah Golf Estates, Earth Course, Dubai, UAE 4:20pm Sepp Straka, Lucas Herbert 5:15pm Pablo Larrazabal, Daniel Hillier (NZ) 7:05pm Nicolai Hojgaard, Min Woo Lee 7:35pm Ryan Fox (NZ), Adrian Meronk
Defending champion: Jon Rahm Past Aussie winners: Nil TV times: Live 6pm-12am Thursday, Friday; Live 7pm-12am Saturday; Live 7pm-11:30pm Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
PGA TOUR The RSM Classic Sea Island Golf Club (Seaside Cse), St Simons Island, Georgia 12am* Ryan Moore, Aaron Baddeley, MJ Daffue 12:11am Sean O'Hair, Justin Lower, Harrison Endycott 12:22am Kevin Chappell, Greg Chalmers, Eric Cole 2:12am* Cameron Percy, Doc Redman, Ben Taylor
Defending champion: Adam Svensson Past Aussie winners: Nil TV times: Live 1am-7am Friday, Saturday; Live 5am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
LPGA Tour CME Group Tour Championship Tiburón Golf Club (Gold Cse), Naples, Florida 11:55pm Sarah Kemp, Patty Tavatanakit 12:05am Stephanie Kyriacou, Bianca Pagdanganan 2:15am Grace Kim, Maja Stark2:25am Carlota Ciganda, Hannah Green 4:15am Jin Young Ko, Minjee Lee
Defending champion: Lydia Ko Past Aussie winners: Nil TV times: Live 6am-9am Friday, Saturday, Sunday; Live 5:15am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo.
Japan Golf Tour Dunlop Phoenix Tournament Phoenix Country Club, Miyazaki 10:40am Brad Kennedy, Ryo Katsumata, Yuta Uetake 11am Anthony Quayle, Daijiro Izumida, Taichi Nabetani 12:40pm Mitsumasa Tamura, Brendan Jones, Atomu Shigenaga
Defending champion: Kazuki Higa Past Aussie winners: Graham Marsh (1976)
Asian Tour BNI Indonesian Masters Royale Jakarta Golf Club, Indonesia 10am* Wade Ormsby, Hung Chien-yao, Kosuke Hamamoto 10:30am Rashid Khan, Todd Sinnott, Ian Snyman 10:40am* Lee Chieh-po, Travis Smyth, Jaco Ahlers 11am Pavit Tangkamolprasert, Kevin Yuan, Bjorn Hellgren 11:10am Micah Lauren Shin, Terry Pilkadaris, Honey Baisoya 11:10am* Gaganjeet Bhullar, Jbe Kruger, Jasper Stubbs (a) 11:20am* Tom Power Horan, Bio Kim, Miguel Carballo 11:30am Chapchai Nirat, John Lyras, Shahriffuddin Ariffin 11:40am Rory Hie, Douglas Klein, Hanmil Jung 3pm Danthai Boonma, Taehee Lee, Zach Murray 3:20pm Richard T Lee, Scott Hend, Ben Campbell (NZ) 4:10pm Yongjun Bae, Jack Thompson, George Gandranata 3:20pm* Marcus Fraser, Pawin Ingkhapradit, Shiv Kapur 3:40pm* Andrew Dodt, Seungtaek Lee, Atiruj Winaicharoenchai 4pm* Ben Jones, Jeremy Gandon, Sam Brazel 4:10pm* Othman Almulla, Randy Abernata M Bintang (a), Nick Voke (NZ)
Defending champion: Sarit Suwannarut Past Aussie winners: Nil TV times: Live 5pm-6pm Thursday on Fox Sports 503; Live 6pm-9pm Thursday on Fox Sports 506; Live 5pm-6pm Friday on Fox Sports 503; Live 6pm-9pm Friday on Fox Sports 506; Live 3pm-7pm Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.
Ladies European Tour Mallorca Ladies Open Golf Son Muntaner, Spain 9:02pm Pauline Roussin, Kirsten Rudgeley, Meghan MacLaren
Defending champion: Inaugural event Past Aussie winners: Nil
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