Hot starts ease stress, bode well for Glover, Novak on PGA Tour

Look at the calendar and, yep, it’s February, 2025.

Sure enough, there’s a note about a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, a reminder to remember that special someone on Valentine’s Day and a long weekend wrapped around Presidents’ Day to celebrate.

But for those competing on the PGA Tour, a new season has already started.

Earning a spot to compete in golf’s major league ranks among the most difficult challenges in the world of games. The next step, playing even better in order to maintain that status, is more daunting.

And the future makes those journeys to the top look easy.

Changes in rules that limit full playing opportunities and restrict the size of tournament fields begin next year, a situation that makes playing well now paramount — and a good start to the season eases the stress.

Or, to use a phrase popularized by Yogi Berra, “It gets late early out here.”

Look at the South Carolina contingent on the PGA Tour and two guys, Lucas Glover and Andrew Novak, have seized their opportunities.

In the early days of the schedule — the Phoenix tourney that ends Sunday is the sixth overall and only the fourth full-field event — chances to compete have been limited for most of the Palmetto players.

The season began with five state players — Glover, Novak, Carson Young, Jacob Bridgeman and Kevin Kisner — with full status. The first four qualified by finishing in the top 125 in the 2024 FedEx Cup standings; Kisner is using his one-time career money exemption.

Among the others, Wesley Bryan and Ben Martin, playing on a major medical extension, have made two starts. Bill Haas and Matt NeSmith have played once. Trace Crowe has been sharpening his game on the Korn Ferry Tour.

The remainder, all former tournament champions, are still waiting for tournaments spots to be available or attempting to grab a tee time through Monday qualifying.

A plus: one or two really good tournaments can “make” a year, and 2023 Glover provides the perfect example. After struggling most of the season, he went from on the verge of losing his full status into the Ryder Cup conversation. The Greenville native and Clemson All-American forged a streak to envy — two wins, a tie for fourth, a fifth and a tie for sixth in his next six tournaments.

His tie for third in the AT&T Pro-Am boosted him to 11th in the early FedEx Cup standings. Novak followed his third-place finish in the Farmers tourney with a tie for 13th at Pebble Beach and is 20th in the season-long FedEx standings.

The future offers no guarantees, but the good starts matter in a sport that one swing of the club can make or break a tournament or even a season. Those not exempt through recent tourney wins are already playing for 2026.

And it’s challenging.

Or, as the Jimmy Dugan character played by Tom Hanks in “A League of Their Own” said: “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would be doing it. The ‘hard’ .... is what makes it great.”

Chip shots. More Novak: The Wofford alumnus teamed with amateur Philippe Laffont, a financier with a 10-handicap index, to win the pro-am title at the AT&T. ... The third-ranked South Carolina women finished fourth and Clemson placed 14th in a strong field in the Therese Hession Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes Estates, California. Seniors Hannah Darling (T-13) and Sophia Burnett (T-15) led the Gamecocks. Chloe Holder, at 21st, paced the Tigers. ... Kian Rose shared medalist honors in leading Clemson’s men to a tie for fourth in the Battle at Briar’s Creek at Briar’s Creek GC on John’s Island. ... South Carolina’s men open their spring season in the Puerto Rico Classic on Monday. ... Three members of USC’s women’s team _ seniors Hannah Darling and Louise Rydqvist and freshman Eila Galitsky — have accepted invitations to compete in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April at Augusta. ... Registration for new volunteers for the 2025 Myrtle Beach Classic is open at www.myrtlebeachclassic.com. The PGA Tour event will be played May 5-11 at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club.

This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Hot starts ease stress, bode well for Glover, Novak on PGA Tour."