Lee stays in battle to secure his future
Kiwi Danny Lee could go a long way to securing his golfing future this weekend.
As the stars of world golf take centre stage at the Open Championship, Lee is duking it out at the less glamorous confines of Nicholasville, Kentucky, at the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship.
Although the overall purse and points available are smaller than regular PGA Tour events, due to the weaker field, there’s still an opening for Lee to claim a vital result, especially considering his predicament.
The top 125 players in the FedEx Cup standings automatically retain their PGA Tour card for next season, and with Lee 124th, a top finish would go a long way.
First, though, he needs to make the cut, which will be a tightly contested fight after the second round was suspended due to thunderstorms. Through five holes of his second round, Lee sits in a share of 33rd at five-under for the tournament, but a whopping 10 shots behind leader Troy Merritt. He sits inside the projected cut line of two-under, but with plenty of players still to tee off and low scores in vogue, a few further birdies would be handy to ensure two extra rounds.
Lee is running out of time to retain his card, with the 29-year-old likely to have just three events remaining before the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings are confirmed. If he doesn’t make the top 125, Lee would then need to play in the second-tier Web.com Tour finals to retain his status on the PGA Tour next season.
Fellow Kiwi Tim Wilkinson will be fighting for the same privilege. Wilkinson made the most of a rare opportunity to play in a PGA Tour event this week, sitting at four-under through four holes of his second round but may have been better off playing on the Web.com Tour.
Wilkinson has been playing on the Web.com Tour all season, making 11 of 17 cuts but only claiming four top25 finishes, to sit 80th on the money list. With the top 75 money winners on the Web.com Tour money list making the Finals, he will also be in a battle to secure his playing future.