Patrick Rodgers, College Player of the Year from Stanford, withdrew because of injury from the Hotel Fitness Championship, the Web.com Tour Finals opener this week, which makes his path to the PGA Tour next season more difficult.
Rodgers, who was the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, could not play because of an oblique injury, which also forced him to withdraw from the Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour recently.
Despite the injury, Rodgers believes he still has a chance to earn his PGA Tour card in the last three events of the Web.com Tour Finals.
“I was fortunate to get those sponsor’s exemptions; they’ve been a stepping stone to the Web.com Tour Finals,” said Rodgers, who tied Tiger Woods’ Stanford record of 11 career victories.
“Hopefully they’ll be a stepping stone to the PGA Tour. There’s a lot on the line, but I’m just going to approach these weeks like every tournament, and I’ll prepare the best I can.”
After turning pro in June, Rodgers made five of seven cuts in PGA Tour events while playing on sponsor exemptions and earned enough points to land inside the top 200 in the FedEx Cup standings.
That qualified him for the Web.com Tour Finals, a four-tournament series featuring the top 75 on the Web.com money list and Nos. 126-200 in the FedEx Cup standings.
Twenty-five PGA Tour cards are at stake for the players who earn the most money during the four events.
Rodgers, 21, hopes to return next week for the Chiquita Classic.
