Fore Play

Deep in the Nerd Weeds tweet about Blades Brown and Special Temporary Membership. (STM) If you read this entire tweet, seek help immediately. I'll tweet out hotline number. Blades is playing the Nelson based on his Top 10 at Myrtle Beach a couple of weeks ago. He needs a solo 21st or better to earn special temp membership on the PGA Tour. But it might not be best for him to take that and instead concentrate on his KFT season, where he is currently 9th in points. Non-members have limited amount of sponsor exemptions, Blades has two left I believe. If he earned STM he could get unlimited exemptions. Also with STM, Blades would get PGA Tour "status" but it isn't very good. However you would probably receive a ton of exemptions. That being said, the problem with STM is that you aren't eligible for conditional status. Meaning if he decides to play PGA Tour full-time and finishes 101st in points (top 100 keep their card), he won't have any status on PGA Tour in 2027. This happened to Ryan Gerard in 2023. He earned STM via a Monday Q and another event. He decided to play Tour the rest of year. He played solid, but fell short of keeping his full card. Gerard not only lost his Tour status for the following season, but had pretty limited status on KFT. Blades is currently 9th in points on KFT, and needs to keep playing well to stay in top 20 and earn his full PGA Tour card for next season. He will likely drop one or two spots on the KFT points list this week. I spoke with Gerard this morning and he said prob best to pick one Tour and stick with it. So broken down here are Blades options if he gets STM. 1. Play the Tour. Pros- More money, chance to win and lock up place in Signature events for 2027. Cons- Finish below 100 in points and he won't have any PGA Tour status for 2027 (would have a chance to earn it at Q-school) Also Blades is a little dif situation than Gerard was because hes played so well early, his KFT status for next season will be fine,even if he fell short of earning a PGA Tour card. 2. Play KFT Pros- He has had a great start to the season, so finishing in the top 20 is very likely if he keeps up solid play. Guarantees a spot in all non-signature events for 2027. Cons- Can't play his way into signature events, less money. This is the safest option IMO 3. Play a Mixture Pros- Can pick courses on each tour that fit his game to take advantage of what works Cons- Tons of travel and last minute decisions. Possible to not have a chance to earn Tour card either place. Golf Nerd hotline: 1-888-TJ-Vogel. This happened to Ryan Gerard in 2023. Earned STM, played the Tour full-time, played solidly, but fell short of top 125 (full card at the time was top 125) and lost all his