Patrick Rodgers, who was setting records at Stanford last year, has earned Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour for the rest of the season by accumulating enough points that he would have finished in the top 150 of the FedEx Cup standings last year.
That means the 22-year-old Rodgers can receive unlimited sponsor’s exemptions for the rest of the year in his bid to secure his PGA Tour card for next season.
“Seeing all my buddies come out here and have a lot of success, I put a lot of pressure on myself to get out here as quick as I can,” said Rodgers, who has been friends with Masters champion Jordan Spieth and PGA Tour rookie Justin Thomas since they competed against each other in junior golf.
“Even though this is temporary status, I still need to get sponsor’s exemptions to play out here. So I’ve been fortunate to have plenty of opportunities so far and I need more to reach my dream of playing out here next year.”
Rodgers reached his milestone by making birdies on the 17th and 18th holes on Sunday to finish in a tie for 40th in the Memorial Tournament at Dublin, Ohio, where last year he accepted the Jack Nicklaus Award as the best player in college golf.
Although he is not officially part of the FedEx Cup point standings, if he earns enough points unofficially that he would rank in the top 125 at the end of the season, Rodgers will earn PGA Tour playing privileges for next season. He would have ranked 115th last week.
Rodgers started the season playing on the Web.com Tour and claimed his first pro victory in the Colombia Championship. He is sixth on the Web.com money list, with the top 25 at the end of the season earning PGA Tour cards.
However, when he tied for second in the Wells Fargo Championship on the PGA Tour while playing on a sponsor’s exemption, that changed his course and he decided to make his way to the Big Tour the way Spieth did in 2013.
Rodgers opened with 69-66 at the Memorial and was tied for fifth, but struggled to 78-73 on the weekend until he holed a 47-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole and a nine-footer at No. 18 to earn his temporary membership.
This week, he passed on U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying on Monday to concentrate on playing in the FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn.
