Ian Poulter needed to make just over $30,000 at the Valero Texas Open this week to retain his PGA Tour card. Poulter was playing on a major medical exemption, and after contending last week at the RBC Heritage, did not have an insurmountable amount of work ahead of him.
He missed the cut by two strokes, though, and as a result he loses his card. Losing your card, however, has a connotation that might not mean what you think it means. Poulter will still play in several events this year -- he's playing with Geoff Ogilvy in next week's Zurich Classic -- but he will have to rely on sponsor exemptions for the rest of the 2016-17 season.
With the kind of character Poulter is, I expect him to get a lot of those.
"It's not all bad, right?" Poulter said on Friday after missing the weekend. "I'm healthy, I'm playing golf. I'm still going to be able to play golf. You know, I have the opportunity to have sponsor invitations. I always have the 125, 150 category. I also have some events I can play in Europe."
"So, you know, obviously questions have been coming thick and fast, and I think it's been slightly overdramatized. Obviously I'd loved to have finished up and got it done this week. However, that hasn't happened."
He's right about the dramatics. It sounds dramatic to lose your card, but there are a number of ways to get into a PGA Tour event.
"It doesn't mean to say that the clubs are going to go away and you're never going to see me again. Obviously means that I've got some work to do and I need to go -- get away and do some work.
"I'm playing with Geoff Ogilvy in New Orleans. Who knows. Golf is funny game. We could easily go out and win with Geoff and things are a little different."
Poulter also noted the most frustrating part is that he won't know how to plan his schedule in the near future.