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A16 sports
Thursday 28 July 2022
Disruption now the norm until end of PGA Tour season

By DOUG FERGUSON Eight players from the top As if the FedEx Cup points
AP Golf Writer 125 in the FedEx Cup stand- system wasn't already chal-
It's already been a good ings played in the LIV Golf lenging, now there are two
week for Jason Day and series and were suspend- lists. The "official" FedEx Cup
Rickie Fowler before they ed. Two others from the standings still includes the
even hit a shot at the Rock- top 125, Jason Kokrak and suspended players, from
et Mortgage Classic in De- Charles Howell III, have Talor Gooch (No. 20) to
troit. signed up and will play at Kokrak (No. 41) to Brooks
Both were outside the top Trump National in Bedmin- Koepka (No. 102). They
125 in the FedEx Cup stand- ster, New Jersey, this week. still get FedEx Cup bonus
ings with only two tourna- Day was No. 127 on Sun- money, which is paid out
ments left in the PGA Tour's day. On Tuesday, he was through 150th place.
regular season, leaving up to No. 119. Fowler went Gooch currently would
them in jeopardy of miss- from No. 132 to No. 124. stand to get $640,000, half
ing out on the postseason. Rickie Fowler watches his tee shot on the 11th hole during the They will move up two more of it deferred. That might
They are exempt through second round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tourna- spots when Kokrak and seem like chump change
at least next season, so this ment Players Club in Blaine, Minn., Friday, July 22, 2022. Howell put a ball in play at to him. Gooch got more for
largely would be a mat- Associated Press 1:15 p.m. Friday (still to be finishing seventh, two shots
ter of pride, particularly for determined is which hole in behind Jinchiro Kozuma,
Day. A former world No. 1, ries, one that didn't include in LIV Golf events with their the shotgun start) and are in the LIV Golf Invitational-
he has never been ineligi- phrases like "force for good" 48-man fields and $25 mil- suspended. Portland three weeks ago.
ble for the FedEx Cup play- and "unique energy." lion prize funds. Monahan said the sepa- The new list, approved by
offs. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay The PGA Tour now has a rate list ensures "any sus- the policy board, pays a
But then a memo arrived Monahan informed players separate "FedEx Cup Play- pended players will not bonus equal to the amount
overnight involving the their eligibility would not be offs and Eligibility Points" list negatively impact bonus a player would have
Saudi-backed LIV Golf se- affected by those playing to reflect that. money distributions." earned if the suspended
players' points didn't count.
Missing from both lists are
players who have resigned,
such as Dustin Johnson,
Patrick Reed, Louis Oosthui-
zen and Hudson Swafford.
It's another reminder of
how the disruptions never
cease, and presumably
won't, given as much mon-
ey as Greg Norman has
at his disposal. Based on
various reports, LIV Golf has
dropped about $1 billion in
signing bonuses already.
It still doesn't have any play-
ers from among the top 15
in the world.
That can still change, of
course.
Bedminster figures to be the
biggest spectacle thus far,
held on the course owned
by former President Don-
ald Trump, who last week
said on his social media
platform, Truth Social, that
anyone remaining loyal "to
the very disloyal PGA" will
miss out on the money. He
predicted the two circuits
eventually would merge.
That seems unlikely as long
as Norman is running the
show. He keeps throw-
ing around terms like "free
agents" while ignoring that
most of the players have
signed a contract. Graeme
McDowell had to skip the
Irish Open because it was
the same week as a LIV
event.
Meanwhile, each month
brings twice as many ru-
mors as actual defectors.q