Baird focused on ending his season inside the top 125

text size

Halleran/Getty Images

In his last start, Baird finished 69th at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals Open.

At most PGA TOUR events, a player knows he has to make the cut to continue playing on the weekend and make a check.

Not Briny Baird. Not this week. He has much more at stake.

The 11-year TOUR veteran finds himself in the unenviable position -- No. 126 on the money list -- of knowing he has to make a cut to hopefully keep his full-exempt status for next year. Of course, making the cut won't ensure him of moving into the top 125. He made the cut at his last tournament three weeks ago, and still dropped four spots on the money list.

Still, Baird knows he has to make the cut to at least have a chance. But he insists he's not preparing for this week's Children's Miracle Network Classic with a lot of fear.

"I'm approaching it like a 3-foot putt," Baird said. "There are only two things that can happen -- either it goes in or it misses. Either I play well enough to keep my card or I don't, and then I have to go to q-school in two weeks. Those are the only two options, so it's not like I'm dreading this week."

He wasn't expecting to be in this position, either. Since his rookie season in 1999, the 38-year-old Baird had easily kept his PGA TOUR card every year except 2005, when he finished -- what else? -- 126th on the money list.

Just two years ago, Baird finished 27th in the FedExCup standings, earning more than $2 million in a season for the second time in his career. With four second-place finishes, he has the distinction of earning more money in his career ($11.5 million) than anyone who has yet to win on the PGA TOUR.

"I am surprised to be in this position," said Baird, who with $710,337 is $13,001 behind No. 125 Troy Matteson. "But if you want to be one of the top players in golf, you have to perform. That's the beauty of the game. There are no five-year, guaranteed contracts in golf. You can't sign a big deal and then just take it easy for a while."

Baird got off to a great start this year, finishing T12 in his first event and T4 in his fourth. But in his last 23 starts, he has missed more cuts (12) than he's made (11) and has posted just three more top-25 finishes.

Baird ranks 60th in scoring average (70.63), so it's not like he's hitting it off the planet. But he also knows he's not hitting enough fairways (he ranks 69th) when he ranks 137th in driving distance. Plus, he's 145th in putts per round (29.72).

"I just haven't been hitting the ball that well," Baird said. "It's no secret. It's not that I've lost some motivation or that I'm spending too much time on my boat (he once joked he plays golf so he can afford his first love of fishing). My game is usually about hitting the ball well, and I just haven't done that consistently this season."

While Baird says he would have preferred the TOUR's schedule ended before some of the top players went overseas the last two weeks, he has used the time off to work on his swing. He hopes by working hard now, he can start his off season earlier.

"One of my biggest motivations to play well this week is I want this season to be over with," he said. "I don't want to have to spend the next two weeks grinding over my golf game when I should be spending time with my family."

Baird knows his career won't be derailed if he fails to move into the top 125. After finishing 126th in '05, he played well enough out of the 126-to-150 category to regain his card by finishing 102nd on the money list in '06.

Of course, Baird doesn't want to rely on that happening again. He'd rather take care of business this week. He does have the positive vibes of finishing T2 at Disney six years ago, but knows that means little when he steps to the first tee Thursday.

"It's kind of unfair to base my season on one week, but that's the position I've put myself in," Baird said. "If I do get in the top 125, it's not a victory by any means. I'm still not happy with the way I've played this season.

"But I've played this game long enough to know there are going to be periods when you play well and periods when you don't. Hopefully, I'll play well enough this week that this period will be over with."

Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.