Troy Merritt loses his PGA Tour card and gains air miles playing a full European tour schedule

NAPA Calif AP Troy Merritt didn t get into the Procore Championship until Monday only his sixth start this year on the PGA Tour Just don t get the idea that he s had a lot of idle time Most of of that time is spent in the air Merritt played the Omega European Masters in Switzerland and the Irish Open before heading to Napa He left Sunday night for Paris to play in the French Open Still to come are tournaments in Scotland India and South Korea This was the best way to get in a full schedule for someone who finished at No in the FedEx Cup last year Merritt Brandon Wu and Martin Trainer have taken advantage of a category on the European tour that provides up to five spots for players who finished between No and in the FedEx Cup the previous year They had until Dec to sign up It s been nice Merritt stated at the Procore Championship where he closed with a and tied for rd I ve played years over here I ve seen all these courses I figured I might as well go play over there and see those He had a tie for fourth at the Soudal Open in Belgium his lone top- finish He has missed seven cuts in the European tour events he has played The greater part surprising is the -year-old from Boise Idaho hasn t identified the tour to be that bad He did Bahrain and Qatar early in the year came home for a week and then went to Kenya and Johannesburg His biggest trip was going to Belgium Austria and the Netherlands in one trip The food has been the best part of adventures So much better than over here It s fresher and healthier Merritt reported The portion sizes are better You feel like you re eating all the time because of the small portions I come home and I ve lost four pounds Merritt says he s spent a fair bit of time with Kristoffer Reitan of Norway Dan Brown and Dan Bradbury of England and a inadequate other players he has known over the years It s been a fun It s a new experience he announced The guys are a lot more social and laid back The only question is what to do next year if he has no access to that category The two-time PGA Tour winner doesn t seem too uptight about it I ll see what I have Merritt commented I ll be next month I wouldn t mind semi-retiring My oldest starts high school next year so go home for six years and play every now and then If I have full status I ll play a bit If I have half-status I ll play a little If not I ll be home There s no bad choice Tale of the tape Ryder Cup players were in full swing on their own sides of the Atlantic Ocean last week with eerily similar results Organization Europe had players in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth They combined to go -under par with three players in the top and six among the top The Americans had players in the Procore Championship at Silverado They combined to go -under par with four players in the top and six among the top In both tournaments the winning figure was -under Both winners Alex Noren and Scottie Scheffler will be at Bethpage Black on New York s Long Island Only one of them will be winning Keegan s decision The general didn t know Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley had decided not to pick himself for the U S crew until he publicized his six selections He explained that day he had known for a while he wasn t going to be a playing captain How long was that Bradley was vague And so were certain of his players Collin Morikawa was invited to the dinner during the Tour Championship with the six qualifiers so his selection was not a surprise He was demanded last week when he knew Bradley was not going to take himself He smiled twice before speaking an indication that a straight answer would not be forthcoming I never knew for sure how about that Morikawa noted still grinning I think there was dependably you know tip of the iceberg It could have fell this way it could have fell that way I think I knew directionally at a certain point I knew when but there was no certainty until we heard yeah So we re not getting a straight answer You re not Morikawa disclosed stifling a laugh That was really around and under European Tour schedule The European tour has stated a -tournament schedule for - It starts Nov with the BMW Australian PGA just two weeks after the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai and hits countries on five continents New to the schedule is the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship in Barcelona Spain and the Irish Open going to Trump International in Doonbeg Ireland a program designed by Greg Norman Otherwise it s similar to this year s schedule The Dubai Invitational returns in January replacing the Company Cup that gets played in Ryder Cup years That gives the European tour three stops in Dubai Ryder Cup and AI Fans tuning into the Ryder Cup at home or trying to watch from Bethpage Black will have access to real-time generative AI insights from every match and every hole using content from the shots the hole the pairings and the players profile Paris-based Capgemini one of the main Ryder Cup sponsors rolled out its AI work in Rome for the matches by tracking more than shots from the matches over three days Upgrades for Bethpage Black include processing up to insights simultaneously to deliver near real-time probabilities for commentary It will be available on the Ryder Cup app social media channels the broadcast and video boards across the subject New this year is what if scenarios that simulate possible outcomes based on live shots Pascal Brier the chief innovation officer at Capgemini mentioned putting together a scorecard for match play involves more than million possibilities He explained the AI system would analyze details every time the golf ball stops rolling He declared the what if scenarios would help fans understand not just what s happening but what could happen next It is then presented in a user-friendly format to enhance their connection to the competition Divots Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Young were both at Bethpage Black during the U S Open They were years old Harry Hall of England has cracked the top in the world ranking for the first time in his career moving to No after his tie for th in the BMW PGA Championship He is already in the Masters from reaching the Tour Championship John McEnroe Eli Manning and Michael Strahan are part of the U S group that will play a celebrity match during Ryder Cup week at Bethpage Black Europe counters with the likes of Pau Gasol Teemu Sel nne and Catherine Zeta-Jones Scottie Scheffler s average proximity to the hole in Napa was feet inches the lowest of his PGA Tour career Jim Furyk Darren Clarke and Mike Weir will be captains for the World Champions Cup a tri-match on the PGA Tour Champions in December Stat of the week Scottie Scheffler won million for his conquest in the Procore Championship the smallest first-place check of his PGA Tour career Final word Part I Finishing th is not really all that fascinating at times Scottie Scheffler Final word Part II How would you know Follow-up question to Scheffler who hasn t finished outside the top in six months AP golf https apnews com hub golf Source