Taking stock of Palmetto State’s PGA Tour golfers in early going of new season

The PGA Tour rookie sought advice on how to succeed from a veteran of golf’s major league and expected to hear about travel logistics, tournament scheduling, practice routines and learning the golf courses.

Instead, the experienced player said simply, “Play well early in the year.”

Translation: Those without multi-year exemptions need to assure playing status for the following year in the early tournaments to avoid the stress of trying to make up ground late in the year.

About one-third of the way through this season, half of the South Carolina contingent on the PGA Tour faces the challenge of upgrading their games to earn full status for next year.

In essence, the 2020-21 season starts now for those players.

The Waste Management tourney in Phoenix that ends Sunday is the 16th on the 2019-20 schedule. Thirty events remain before the season-ending playoffs, which is limited to the top 125 in the FedEx standings.

For state players, the standings going into the Phoenix event look like this:

▪ Secure: Dustin Johnson and Kevin Kisner.

▪ Good Position: Matt NeSmith, Doc Redman and D.J. Trahan.

▪ On the Bubble: Mark Anderson and Lucas Glover.

▪ Work to Do: Scott Brown, Jonathan Byrd, Tommy Gainey, Bill Haas, Russell Henley, Ben Martin and Kyle Stanley.

▪ Injured: Wesley Bryan and William McGirt.

Johnson (No. 5 in the world rankings) and Kisner (32) have multi-year exemptions, thanks to past success. Both won World Golf Championship events last season. Johnson tied for seventh in his only PGA Tour start of the year, and Kisner, at 64, is currently the highest ranked state player in the FedEx standings.

In position to make the FedEx top 125 and thus assure full status for next year are NeSmith, a rookie at No. 70, Redman at 73 and Trahan at 86. Inside the top 125 but in tenuous territory are Glover at 106 and Anderson at 114.

Bryan began his comeback from labrum surgery in this week’s Korn Ferry Tour event and will have up to four more warm-up tournaments before returning to the PGA Tour on a major medical extension. He will have 21 starts to secure 375 FedEx points. McGirt remains sidelined.

The “work-to-do” seven range from Brown’s 132 to Byrd’s 209 in the season-long standings. Brown, Henley and Stanley, fully exempt this year, will have more playing opportunities. Gainey likely will gain 2020-21 status through the Korn Ferry Tour after winning the circuit’s opening event.

A positive for those who have struggled in the first one-third of the season is the knowledge that one or two really good tournaments can “make” a year.

Redman and Henley provide examples from last season. Redman had no status in 2018-19, then finished second in the Detroit tournament after qualifying on Monday and used the performance to springboard into the top 125. Henley languished in the 160s until finishing second in the late-season John Deere and vaulting into the playoffs.

Best finishes this season for the state players are Kisner’s fourth in the Sony and Johnson’s tie for seventh in the Tournament of Champions. Glover (T9 in Las Vegas) and Trahan (T8 at the RSM at Sea Island) also have top 10s. Both NeSmith and Redman have posted three top-25s.

On the other hand, “missed cuts” are mounting for some, and the time to play for next year starts now.

Chip shots. Division winners in the SCGA’s Tournament of Champions at the TPC Myrtle Beach at Murrells Inlet included Kevin Roberts (Chesnee, men’s club champion), Bill Hall (Rock Hill, men’s senior club champion), Chris Eassy (Greer, one-day gross), Eddie Hargett (Blythewood, senior one-day gross), Gregory Conde (West Columbia, one-day net) and Kerry Rutan (Daniel Island, women). . . . Former Clemson All-American Alice Hewson, who owns 40 school records, earned a berth on the Ladies European Tour with a fifth-place finish in the qualifying tournament. . . . The USC and Clemson men’s and women’s team open their spring schedules on the same date, Sunday, Feb. 16. USC men will play in the All-American Intercollegiate in Houston, Texas, and Clemson’s men will compete in the Puerto Rico Classic. Both the USC and Clemson women’s team will start the spring in the IJGA Collegiate Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico.