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The Canadian qualified for the first leg of
this year's FedEx Cup playoffs, but did not advance further and
finds himself at No. 51 in the standings. As part of the PGA
Tour's revamped system, only the top 50 after the Tour
Championship in August are fully exempt for next year.
The Sanderson Farms is the second of seven events that are part
of the new FedEx Cup Fall schedule. Nos. 51-60 at the end of the
series will earn spots in two signature events next year: the
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.
Meanwhile, Nos. 126-150 will earn Korn Ferry Tour status and
conditional status on the PGA Tour next year.
It's a massive difference in status, but Hughes said he's not
focused solely on maintaining his current place.
"It will be on my mind, and I've thought about it. But I think
for the most part, I'm just trying to play some good golf this
fall and get some momentum heading into next year," Hughes said
on Tuesday. "Whether I get those two events or not is not going
to make or break my year, but certainly it would be nice to be
in those events."
Hughes is one of the more accomplished players in this week's
field. Argentina's Emiliano Grillo is the highest-ranked player
in the field at No. 35 in the world.
That doesn't mean Hughes has clear sailing in his effort to stay
in that coveted 51-60 range.
In his past 10 starts dating back to the PGA Championship,
Hughes has missed five cuts, withdrew from another event and
failed to finished higher than T30 in the other four.
He did take advantage of last fall's weaker fields, posting
three other top-25 finishes in addition to the victory in
Jackson. Hughes is coming off a T52 at the Fortinet Championship
last month, after which he returned home to spend time with his
family and rest up for the grind ahead.
"I just want to play some good golf and get myself in position
to feel those things again because that's what we all love to do
the most is to compete for trophies and try and win
tournaments," he said.
"Definitely motivated to try and recapture those feelings from
last year."
--Field Level Media
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