His rookie year on the PGA Tour was challenging enough for Jacob Bridgeman.
He got in 20 tournaments, none of them majors or The Players Championship, $20 million signature events or the FedEx Cup playoffs. He played seven times in the fall and did just well enough to keep his heart rate down and his ranking inside the top 125 to keep his card.
Gulp.
“I think it makes it tougher and tougher on the rookies,” Bridgeman said. “I feel like my rookie year was really hard, and this one was probably harder because there were less cards."
Bridgeman said he was neutral toward the change. The purpose was to make sure anyone who had a card could get into enough tournaments, and smaller fields in 2026 would keep rounds from not finishing because of darkness. And yes, it would be more competitive than ever.
Camilo Villegas was chairman of Player Advisory Council that proposed the changes and acknowledged it would be harder to keep a card. “But if we perform, there's an opportunity to make an unbelievable living," Villegas said.
Bridgeman performed.
He spoke Monday evening from Memphis, Tennessee, the first of three playoff events that determine the FedEx Cup champion. Bridgeman is No. 33 in the FedEx Cup, all but assured of staying in the top 50 to advance to the BMW Championship that will get him in all eight of the $20 million signature events next year.
The ultimate goal — East Lake for the Tour Championship — is well within range.
He is among 21 players at the TPC Southwind who did not make it to the postseason a year ago, all of them earning their way into the top 70.
Bridgeman began his sophomore season without assurances of being in any of the majors or the signature events.
He closed with a 64 at the Cognizant Classic for a runner-up finish, getting him into Bay Hill and The Players Championship. He slept on the lead the opening three rounds at the Valspar Championship and finished third, getting him into another signature event at the RBC Heritage.
He was among the last three players off the FedEx Cup to fill the field at the Truist Championship and tied for fourth, and his standing also got him into the U.S. Open.
Bridgeman wound up playing five signature events, two majors and The Players. He felt it was a disadvantage at the start. It turned into a big year that isn't over just yet.
“Not being in those at the beginning of the year was tough,” Bridgeman said. ”I went through that last year. I knew how that was and played past all that and still kept my card. I felt like it was a disadvantage, for sure, but not that it was unattainable.
“I just knew if I played well I'd have a chance," he said. “That was one my goals is playing a signature event early. I got in the Arnold Palmer and rode the wave all the way through.”
That's how it has been for the 25-year-old Bridgeman. He was No. 2 in the PGA Tour University his senior year at Clemson, which got him Korn Ferry Tour status. He spent 2023 on the developmental circuit and graduated to the PGA Tour.
Bridgeman wrote down his goals for 2025, big and small, in a journal. The main goal was to win. He's still waiting on that. He wanted at least four top 10s (check), make it to the FedEx Cup playoffs (check), get into the top 50 (one week away from another check) and get to East Lake for the Tour Championship.
“It's been nice to be able to check some of them off,” he said.
Being in all the signature events is an advantage, but not a guarantee. Fourteen players who finished in the top 50 last year failed to make it to the postseason, three of them because of injury — Billy Horschel, Will Zalatoris and Alex Noren.
Three players who were not among the top 50 last year — U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, Harris English and Ben Griffin — start the postseason in the top 10.
The turnover rate for those who qualified for the FedEx Cup playoffs was at 30% — 21 players finished in the top 70 who weren't in Memphis last year. That list includes multiple winners (Ryan Fox and Brian Campbell), first-time winners (Ryan Gerard and Chris Gotterup), and veterans who got their games headed in the right direction (Rickie Fowler and Lucas Glover).
And then there's players like Bridgeman, Sam Stevens and Michael Kim, who started with nothing more than a card and now have realistic hopes of East Lake.
The signature events were a source of consternation when they were first introduced, mainly the uncertainty of a level playing field. J.T. Poston said it best at the start of 2023, and it still rings true today.
“As long as there’s a way you still have to perform to stay in, and there’s an avenue for guys who aren’t in to play their way in, I don’t think there’s an issue,” Poston said.
Turns out it wasn't for Bridgeman.
___
On The Fringe analyzes the biggest topics in golf during the season.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press
