ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — A prominent swing instructor summed up why he could cut tension on the range at the RSM Classic with a rusty nail.
“Some of these guys don’t know whether they will ever tee it up at a PGA Tour event,” he said.
This week is the 54th and final Tour event of the 2022-23 season and so the 36-hole cut Friday had more of a sense of finality for some, especially those battling to make the top 125 and full status for next season or Nos. 126-150 and secure conditional status.
Peter Malnati, who entered the week at No. 116, shot 69-71 (140) and missed the cut and said he’ll be playing the waiting game all weekend. He’s projected No.122. Two three-putts in the first round was uncharacteristic of Malnati and the putter remained cold in the second round. But at least he had the right perspective.
“With or without a Tour card, I’m going to be awesome but I’d rather have one,” he said.
Harry Higgs, who started the week at No. 132 and had missed three straight cuts, made birdie on two of the last three holes to shoot 70 on Seaside Course and make the cut on the number.
All told, 78 golfers shot 4-under 138 or better at Sea Island’s Seaside and Plantation Courses. Higgs didn’t need anyone to let him know what what at stake when he made an 11-foot birdie putt on 18 at Seaside to make the cut.
“No, I know. I know it all too well after this year. Oddly, I wasn’t really that worried about it or focused on it,” he said. “For the last two years I’ve been stressing, worrying about all this shit. And for some reason, I don’t know why, I don’t know that I even said it aloud, I might have just thought it briefly, like I’m just not really going to worry about it this week.”
Patton Kizzire, who entered the week at No. 130, channeled the same philosophy and made birdie on his final two holes at the Plantation Course to make the cut and give himself two more rounds to jump up a few more spots. He’s projected No. 129.
Four players ranked between No. 120 and No. 126 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings entering the week missed the cut: No. 120 Matti Schmid, No. 121 Doug Ghim, No. 123 Troy Merritt and No. 126 Henrik Norlander.
Here’s more about them and some other pros who weren’t so fortunate and had their season come to a premature end. And here are the Saturday tee times for those who did make the weekend.
Doug Ghim (3 under)
Ghim entered the week at No. 117 in the FedEx Cup Fall and missed the cut by one stroke. As of Friday, he’s projected to be the bubble boy at No. 125.
Ghim missed the cut for the second week in a row. The Texas product didn’t make a birdie until 18 in his first round on Thursday at the Plantation Course and shot 72. He will be punching up the live leaderboard all weekend to see if he can hang on to full status for the 2024 season but his future now is out of his control.
Peter Malnati (2 under)
Malnati, who entered the week at No. 116, shot 69-71–140 and missed the cut and said he’ll be playing the waiting game all weekend. (He’s projected No.122). Two three putts in the first round was uncharacteristic of Malnati and the putter remained cold in the second round. But at least he had the right perspective.
“With or without a Tour card, I’m going to be awesome but I’d rather have one,” he said.
Henrik Norlander (2 under)
Norlander, who entered the week at No. 126, missed the cut at the RSM Classic and it will cost him a chance at full exempt status for next season.
He opened with 3-under 67 at the more difficult Seaside Course but struggled on Friday at the Plantation Course. He was 2-over on the day with eight holes to go before rallying to the cutline with three straight birdies to straddle the line at 4-under. But he made bogey at 17 and missed by a stroke. Norlander was 4 of 8 in scrambling on Friday.
Zach Johnson (2 under)
Johnson missed the cut at his hometown event for the fifth time in 14 starts and second in a row.
Johnson shot a pair of 70s. He struggled with the putter on Thursday, losing nearly 2.5 strokes to the field on the greens.
Webb Simpson (1 under)
Simpson made his 12th start at an event where he’s finished second twice and third before, but he said he struggled playing in the wind and rain on Thursday at Plantation Course. He shot 1-over 73 and that dug himself a hole he couldn’t dig out of with a 2-under 68 at Seaside on Friday.
Troy Merritt (1 under)
Merritt likely will lose sleep over Thursday’s opening round when he shot a nightmarish 5-over 77 at the Plantation Course. Entering the week at No. 123 in the FedEx Cup, he could ill afford to miss the cut but he effectively wiped out his chances to advance to the weekend. Props to Merritt for putting up a noble fight, shooting 6-under 64 on Friday but it was too little too late. He’s currently projected at No. 126, which means his bubble may pop on Sunday. More sleepless nights in the forecast.
Paul Haley II (1 under)
Haley II may be in one of the toughest spots of all. Entering the week at No. 148 in the FedEx Cup, he could ill afford to miss the cut, but made three bogeys and a double on Friday to shoot 1-over 71 at the Seaside Course. He’s projected to fall to No. 150, which is the cut off for conditional status. But should he drop another spot, he’ll be headed back to Q-School to fight for one of five Tour cards (and ties) available and Korn Ferry Tour status for next year.
When Haley II came out of scoring on Friday, the full weight of how costly his missed cut might be hit him and he declined to speak to a reporter.
Padraig Harrington (even par)
Harrington has been a force to be reckoned with on PGA Tour Champions and solid when playing against the flat bellies. But after seven made cuts this season on the PGA Tour, he missed at the RSM Classic, shooting even-par 142.
Billy Horschel (even par)
Horschel, who was playing for the first time on the PGA Tour since finishing fourth at the Wyndham Championship in August, was looking to improve his world ranking to help his chances of qualifying for the Masters in the top 50 at the end of calendar year category. But it wasn’t to be. He shot even-par 142. Playing in the event for the first time since 2019, he missed the cut for the second time in five career starts.
“The putter was cold this week. That didn’t help a lot. We hit a lot of good shots that we thought were going to turn out very well and they didn’t,” he said. “It’s just one of those weeks, unfortunately, where it [ball-striking] wasn’t that bad. It was better than what the score shows.”
Davis Love III (1 over)
Love, the tournament host, missed the cut at the RSM Classic for the sixth time in his career. He made his 790th career start on the PGA Tour this week. Love was 3-under on Thursday before making three bogeys in a row starting at the fourth hole on Thursday and went 21 holes without a birdie to seal his fate.
Love was in an all-Tar Heel group as his playing partners the first two days were University of North Carolina twins David and Maxwell Ford. They, too, missed the cut.
Matti Schmid (2 over)
Schmid is going to be hitting the refresh button this weekend on the FedEx Cup standings after missing the cut on Friday at the RSM Classic. Coming off a third-place finish at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, Schmid had climbed to No. 120 enter this week in the season-long points race. He’ll have to see if that’s enough because he flamed out of the RSM with rounds of 74 and 70.
Jimmy Walker (3 over)
Walker, the former PGA Championship winner, ended the regular season at No. 124 in the FedEx Cup regular season and wasn’t happy that he had to continue to play for his status in the fall. He made the cut in the first two events but missed the cut in his final four starts, including rounds of 73-72 at Sea Island Resort.
Walker is projected No. 139 and will have conditional status next season.
