By Joel Beall
A day following its denial of conflicting-event releases for LIV Golf Invitational Series events, the PGA Tour took another step to thwarting interest in the Saudi-backed circuit, taking commissioner Jay Monahan’s “them or us” message to the college ranks.

The tour has made an amendment to its ‘PGA Tour U’ ranking, a programme that allows the top college senior golfers direct access to the Korn Ferry and other tour-related developmental leagues. The change makes any player who competes in a professional golf tournament that is not ranked by the Official World Golf Ranking ineligible to receive the programme’s benefits.

The LIV Golf series events qualify as such tournaments.

While seemingly inconsequential, at least compared to the dramatic proceedings at the professional level, the move counters one of LIV Golf’s latest strategies.

CEO Greg Norman has invited the top-ranked amateurs to his competitions, believing he can secure these amateurs’ services through Name, Image and Likeness deals that are now legal under NCAA and USGA guidelines. There is also the belief that some of the amateurs would turn pro in order to reap the financial gains from LIV Golf’s guaranteed paydays, thus providing the circuit with young talent.

Should any player on the PGA Tour U ranking be deemed ineligible, the player next in line would receive the exemption benefits offered by the tour’s programme. Those who finish first through fifth in the ranking receive Korn Ferry Tour membership following the conclusion of the NCAA national championship through the end of the current season, while also receiving exempt status on an international tour the following year.

Texas’ star Pierceson Coody currently resides at the top of the PGA Tour U list.

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By Ryan Herrington
John Pak wasn’t thinking about next summer when he was working his way around Winged Foot on Sunday, more caught up in the present than the future. The 21-year-old senior at Florida State was focused simply on trying to end the week at the U.S. Open on a positive note.

Yet while the finish was a bit bumpy, bogeys on his final four holes leaving him with a four-under 74, a T-51 showing when no other amateur made the cut could prove pivotal in nine months time. The performance helped Pak stake a firmer hold on the top spot in the latest PGA Tour University rankings released on Wednesday.

As part of the PGA Tour’s initiative launched this fall to reward college players who stay in school through their senior years, Pak could earn immediate membership on the Korn Ferry Tour if he were to remain in the top five of the ranking after next spring’s NCAA Championship. Finish sixth through 15th and he’d earn status on the PGA Tour’s developmental tours in Canada, China or Latin America.

The ranking accounts for performances in Division I college events and any official PGA Tour tournaments, including the majors. Pak, winner of seven individual titles with the Seminoles, was first in the initial listing that came out in July.

The chance to earn points at Winged Foot was a big deal for Pak considering that he won’t play in any college events this fall. As an ACC school, Florida State has followed the conference edict and cancelled all its fall tournaments for the 2020-’21 college season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hope is that the Seminoles can start their spring season, Pak the top man in their lineup.

“We start early, as early as January, I believe, and we’ve got a really good team,” Pak said. “I feel like we have a good shot at winning the national championship this year, so that’s something I’m really looking forward to.”

Pak’s performance also likely wrapped up another chance to play for the U.S. in the Walker Cup, the match scheduled for May at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla. Pak went 3-0 for Team USA in its win over Great Britain & Ireland at Hoylake in September 2019.

Pak wasn’t the only college senior to benefit from playing in the U.S. Open. Despite missing the cut at Winged Foot, Arizona State’s Chun An Yu, Georgia’s Davis Thompson Texas Tech’s Sandy Scott and Vanderbilt’s John Augenstein all earned points. Yu held on to his No. 2 spot, while Thompson moved to No. 3 (from 4), Scott to No. 4 (from 5) and Augenstein to No. 6 (from 9).

The post Why amateur John Pak’s solid U.S. Open showing could come in handy next summer appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.