ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Joel Dahmen was down to his last chance to keep his full PGA Tour card at the final tournament of the year. He missed the cut, headed home to Arizona to be with his newborn son and had a month to ponder a future that didn\u2019t look terribly bright.<\/p>\n
To be sure, teeing it up in a $20 million signature event at Bay Hill was not in his plans.<\/p>\n
The new year of fewer cards \u2014 top 100 instead of 125 \u2014 and shorter fields left Dahmen uncertain about where he could play and how much. But he was reminded that good golf still pays off, and it earned him the final spot in the 72-man field at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to hang out with the big kids this week,\u201d Dahmen said Wednesday. \u201cIncredible event. Really hard golf course. It\u2019s definitely elevated, signature event. You can feel it, and I\u2019m just super excited to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
How did this happen?<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t the gift of sponsor exemptions. Dahmen has asked for one every week, but he has received only one \u2014 at the WM Phoenix Open and that was the only cut he missed this year. Instead, he barely got into the field at Torrey Pines and tied for seventh, and he was among the last to get in the Cognizant Classic last week and tied for ninth by going bogey-free his last 27 holes.<\/p>\n
It was enough \u2014 by five FedEx Cup points \u2014 to get the last spot over Jordan Spieth, who already had a sponsor exemption to Bay Hill.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I could not see myself here,\u201d the 38-year-old Dahmen said. \u201cIt was the first time in a long time that there was a lot of unknowns in my career. … I think most players didn\u2019t really know the schedule, we didn\u2019t know what we were going to get into. So I think for me the biggest thing was that every single start is a big start.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just taking advantage of the opportunities, and so far I\u2019ve done that.\u201d<\/p>\n
These next two weeks \u2014 Bay Hill and The Players Championship \u2014 are huge for a guy in Dahmen\u2019s position. He is not eligible for the three events after The Players, and only his good play kept him from having off five straight weeks.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s a strong field. Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, has won twice at Bay Hill in the last four years. The field features 19 of the top 20 in the world, and that includes Justin Thomas, who is competing for the first time since the Ryder Cup after back surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got to be realistic. I haven\u2019t played a tournament in six months,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cI feel like I can do anything I want with the golf ball at any given time. It\u2019s just going to be the concentrating for four-and-a-half, five hours on a very difficult test.\u201d<\/p>\n
Austin Smotherman, who graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour last year, also played his way into the field with a runner-up finish last week. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s part of why people love seeing maybe slightly bigger fields, seeing the underdog story, is that on a given week there\u2019s a lot of guys in the world that can play golf,\u201d Collin Morikawa said. \u201cBut at the same time opportunities aren\u2019t just handed out to everyone. You have to go and earn it.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoe was given an opportunity. He\u2019s taken that opportunity and turned it into something great.\u201d<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t start out that way.<\/p>\n
There was joy being around his newborn. There was Thanksgiving dinner to host. And then there was time on the couch. The golf clubs were put away. It was Dec. 27 when his wife casually asked him if he thought about his immediate future and Dahmen realized he should probably practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, the path to the tour is rougher. The path to stay on tour is tougher than it\u2019s ever been,\u201d Dahmen said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of talk about being more of a closed shop. … But on the other side I\u2019m proof that in four events you can play well enough and earn your way into these events. And if you play well in one of these next two, you keep going on the upward trend.\u201d<\/p>\n
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