Did you know that corn has an even number of rows on nearly every ear? Corn spikelets are born in pairs and each spikelet produces two florets. This Fun Fact Friday is brought to you by our love for the Korn Ferry Tour, which will be getting the short end of the cob this season.

News and updates

  • According to Golf Channel, the PGA Tour has decreed that all players with status this season will retain that status through the 2020-21 season. We dive into the ramifications of this announcement in our Newsletter Notes segment below.
  • Scottie Scheffler held off Will Zalatoris and Viktor Hovland to win the Maridoe Fund Invitational on Thursday. Scheffler shot rounds of 66-74-67 to claim the title. Also, Jordan Spieth had a hole-in-one, or did he? Results
  • The LPGA Tour announced that it will push its planned mid-June restart to mid-July. Golf Channel’s Randall Mell reports that some of the canceled events are chipping in to increase the purses of the events still on the docket. LPGA Press Release
  • Apparently some PGA Tour pros are appalled by the prospect of playing without caddies, bunker rakes, and regular flagstick customs. Buck up, guys. Full Story from Daniel Rapaport

Newsletter Notes

YOU keep your card, YOU keep your card, YOU keep your card… 

  • Here are the basics from Rex Hoggard’s report on how the PGA Tour will handle eligibility over the next two years:
  • No relegation of PGA Tour players to the Korn Ferry Tour based on 2019-20 results
  • Only the top 10 from the 2019-20 Korn Ferry Tour points list will earn PGA Tour status in 2020-21
  • All KFT events in 2020 and ’21 will count toward status for the 2021-22 PGA Tour season
  • There will be no Korn Ferry Tour Q-School this fall

So what does all of that mean?

It means that no matter how poorly a player performs in the abbreviated 2019-20 PGA Tour season, he will not lose his card. It means that no matter how great a 2020 season a Korn Ferry Tour player has, he will have limited opportunities to play on the big tour in 2020-21. It means that college athletes looking to earn status on the pro tours through Q-School will not be able to do so this fall. Above all, it means that the KFT players, who make a lot less than PGA Tour players, will have to grind for another year while fringe performers at the next level get more leash.

This is a difficult situation for the PGA Tour, no doubt. A pandemic-interrupted season is unprecedented, and there was never going to be a solution that benefited everyone.

But the Tour seems to have decided that Korn Ferry Tour players will bear the brunt of the hiatus so that their better-known and better-paid counterparts on the next level can be more comfortable. Couldn’t the top guys on the KFT at least receive the same status as the bottom performers on the PGA? Even the 10 KFT players who earn cards for 2020-21 will see limited action because the ranks of the PGA Tour will be so much more crowded. They’ll get some opposite-field starts, sure, but most of their opportunities will likely be back down in AAA ball.

All in all, the Tour appears to have protected its most powerful members at the expense of the grinders and up-and-comers on its developmental circuit. Perhaps that wasn’t the intention, but it’s the result.

The Latest from The Fried Egg

Top 25 Pro Golfers Under 25: 2020 Edition – Which young players have the most promising futures? Will Knights presents his top 25. Preview: he characterizes one player as “a minor league hockey player who just saw a ghost.” Check it out.

Superintendent Series, Episode 7: Rich Shilling

Rich Shilling, superintendent of Jeffersonville Golf Course, joins the podcast. Andy and Rich discuss Jeffersonville’s improvement during his time there and the unique challenges of upgrading a course while continuing to allow public play. They also talk about his future plans and how the municipality approaches budgeting for renovations. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Shotgun Start: SGS Spotlight on Davis Love III with Shane Bacon, Part II

We open this podcast with some further comments on the Sumo Citrus phenomenon, offer some friendly content plugs, and then roll into the second half of our Spotlight on Davis Love III with Shane Bacon (Fox Sports broadcaster, Get A Grip podcaster, grilling hat wearer). Part II covers DL3’s major championship shortcomings and nerves, and then his one and only breakthrough at those championships, the 1997 PGA at Winged Foot. It’s a dominant performance that was allegedly going to lead to many more, but we appreciate and re-live a bit of that week. We also discuss his Ryder Cup career, including the one time he almost vomited, literally, with the winning singles point on the line. DL3’s final round to win the 2003 Players is remembered as one of the greatest rounds ever played. It came during an odd season for Love off the course, with family tragedy and odd rumors, but one of his best seasons on the course. Then we close with some legacy discussion and where Love ranks among the one-time major winners that we’ve also covered in this series, like Couples and Duval. Will he make the Andy HOF? Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify

Pro Shop

We’ve added some Bandon Dunes prints to our pro shop, and all profits from the sales of that collection will go to the Bandon Dunes Caddie Relief Fund. You can also browse shots from courses like Prairie Dunes, Pasatiempo, Streamsong, and more! Shop today.