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Some earn enough to move up a few key places with 2 official events left.
By SCOTT PURKS
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 23, 2000
PALM HARBOR -- Golf has to be more fun -- and no doubt easier -- when you're not sitting on one of the PGA Tour's money-list bubbles.
And with two events remaining in which to make official tour money, bubble-sitting can be particularly prickly.
A strong finish can leapfrog a player into a few sacred areas: the top 30, which qualifies him for the $5-million Tour Championship in two weeks; the top 40, which guarantees him entry into the Masters; and the top 125, which means he can keep his tour card for 2001.
The alternative -- poor finishes -- means ...
"You don't think about that," said Bob Burns, 32, who went into the Tampa Bay Classic ranked No. 125. "You just have to stay focused on the golf."
Focused, indeed. On Monday and Tuesday, Burns said, he hit 1,000 balls, and his teacher, Dan Walker, flew from Knoxville, Tenn., to help iron out kinks.
Pressure? No, Burns said, not really. He has been around long enough (two qualifying school tournaments) to know how to handle things.
"Off the golf course I might think about (the money list) a little," he said. "But on the course, I can't walk around every minute saying, "My God, I have to keep my card, I have to keep my card.' That's a ridiculous way to think.
"My goal this week was to play every shot the best way that I could play it. That was my only goal."
Mission accomplished, for the most part. Burns finished at 2-under 282, tied for 27th, after shooting a final-round 1-over 72.
His performance raised him to No. 121 on the money list, but no doubt he will think of a shot here or there he would like to have back. If he had shot one stroke better, for instance, he would have made almost $10,000 more and ascended a few more places.
Same goes for Robin Freeman, who went in ranked 121st.
"I told my wife that if I finished in the top 10 this week, then I'm coming home (to Palm Desert, Calif.)," Freeman said. "This is my 31st tournament this year, but I played so bad in the middle of the year that I had to keep playing.
"Nobody wants to play the Q-school (which he has played four times, including 1999). The goal was to play well so I wouldn't have to go back."
Freeman shot 73 Sunday to finish at 4-under 280, earn a $40,800 paycheck and a rise to No. 111 on the list. On the other end of the spectrum was Brad Faxon, who went in ranked No. 52 with his sights set on the top 30 and 40. Faxon stormed in Sunday with 6-under 65, tying him with winner John Huston for low round. The score put him into a tie for sixth, earned him $80,400 and jumped him to No. 48 on the list.
"I thought coming into these last two weeks that I needed a top 10 and a win to get in the top 30 and into the Tour Championship," Faxon said. "It looks like (a total of $1.3-million to $1.4-million) will be the amount needed. ... There are a lot of things I'm playing for, and it's reallly nice to finish the tournament like I did today."
As for Huston, he made $432,000 and jumped from No. 35 on the money list to No. 19. The tournament was bad for Scott Hoch, who went in ranked No. 30. He missed the cut and fell to No. 31.
at Palm Harbor
John Huston, $432,000 -- 66-73-67-65-271 -13
Carl Paulson, $259,200 -- 66-66-70-72-274 -10
Frank Lickliter, $139,200 -- 67-68-71-69-275 -9
Len Mattiace, $139,200 -68-66-70-71-275 -9
Joe Durant, $96,000 -68-69-73-66-276 -8
Brad Faxon, $80,400 -70-71-71-65-277 -7
Lee Janzen, $80,400 -67-71-71-68-277 -7
Steve Lowery, $80,400 -- 67-69-69-72-277 -7
Tim Herron, $69,600 -- 67-71-71-69-278 -6
Craig Barlow, $57,600 -- 70-70-71-68-279 -5
Bob Tway, $57,600 -- 71-68-71-69-279 -5
Doug Barron, $57,600 -- 69-71-70-69-279 -5
Andrew Magee, $57,600 -- 73-68-66-72-279 -5
Scott Dunlap, $40,800 -- 70-70-71-69-280 -4
Tommy Tolles, $40,800 -- 72-67-71-70-280 -4
Fred Couples, $40,800 -- 67-72-71-70-280 -4
Justin Leonard, $40,800 -- 70-71-68-71-280 -4
Robin Freeman, $40,800 -- 69-70-68-73-280 -4
Greg Kraft, $26,100 -- 70-69-75-67-281 -3
Jerry Kelly, $26,100 -- 69-73-71-68-281 -3
Omar Uresti, $26,100 -- 71-72-69-69-281 -3
Cameron Beckman, $26,100 -- 69-73-68-71-281 -3
Paul Curry, $26,100 -- 69-69-71-72-281 -3
Jeff Maggert, $26,100 -- 73-67-69-72-281 -3
Russ Cochran, $26,100 -- 72-68-69-72-281 -3
Scott Gump, $26,100 -- 66-68-74-73-281 -3
Skip Kendall, $16,680 -- 70-73-72-67-282 -2
Billy Mayfair, $16,680 -- 71-69-72-70-282 -2
Kenny Perry, $16,680 -- 67-70-73-72-282 -2
David Peoples, $16,680 -- 71-67-72-72-282 -2
Bob Burns, $16,680 -- 71-68-71-72-282 -2
Bob Friend, $16,680 -- 66-72-70-74-282 -2
Mike Hulbert, $12,411 -- 64-75-75-69-283 -1
Brian Gay, $12,411 -- 69-72-72-70-283 -1
John Cook, $12,411 -- 71-70-72-70-283 -1
Brad Fabel, $12,411 -- 69-74-70-70-283 -1
Jerry Smith, $12,411 -- 71-72-70-70-283 -1
Bob May, $12,411 -- 67-75-69-72-283 -1
Chris DiMarco, $12,411 -- 68-69-72-74-283 -1
Sean Murphy, $8,640 -- 68-72-74-70-284 E
Ryan Howison, $8,640 -- 72-70-72-70-284 E
Fred Funk, $8,640 -- 71-69-73-71-284 E
David Toms, $8,640 -- 71-68-73-72-284 E
Brian Watts, $8,640 -- 70-71-70-73-284 E
Dudley Hart, $8,640 -- 70-68-72-74-284 E
Jay Delsing, $8,640 -- 69-70-71-74-284 E
Grant Waite, $8,640 -- 69-72-69-74-284 E
Craig Perks, $6,288 -- 71-67-75-72-285 +1
Craig Parry, $6,288 -- 70-69-72-74-285 +1
Jeff Sluman, $6,288 -- 72-66-71-76-285 +1
Tommy Armour III, $5,683 -- 71-72-74-69-286 +2
John Maginnes, $5,683 -- 71-72-73-70-286 +2
Stephen Ames, $5,683 -- 75-66-74-71-286 +2
Kelly Gibson, $5,683 -- 70-72-73-71-286 +2
Woody Austin, $5,683 -74-69-70-73-286 +2
Neal Lancaster, $5,376 -71-70-76-70-287 +3
Fulton Allem, $5,376 -- 72-70-75-70-287 +3
Trevor Dodds, $5,376 -- 69-73-73-72-287 +3
Chris Riley, $5,376 -- 69-73-73-72-287 +3
Mark Wiebe, $5,376 -- 70-68-73-76-287 +3
Dan Forsman, $5,208 -- 70-72-77-69-288 +4
Michael Bradley, $5,208 -- 70-72-71-75-288 +4
Matt Gogel, $5,088 -- 72-69-75-73-289 +5
Ben Bates, $5,088 -- 72-71-73-73-289 +5
Kevin Wentworth, $5,088 -- 74-69-71-75-289 +5
Garrett Morrison, $4,896 -- 69-73-76-72-290 +6
Charles Raulerson, $4,896 -- 72-70-76-72-290 +6
Mike Sposa, $4,896 -- 67-74-75-74-290 +6
Nick Faldo, $4,896 -- 71-72-72-75-290 +6
Joey Sindelar, $4,896 -- 71-71-71-77-290 +6
Esteban Toledo, $4,752 -- 73-69-75-74-291 +7
Mike Brisky, $4,704 -- 70-73-76-73-292 +8
Jay Haas, $4,632 -- 69-73-79-73-294 +10
Shaun Micheel, $4,632 -- 72-70-73-79-294 +10