Reavie on the clock with two more shots at job security

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Chez Reavie is on the clock to make $229,107 in his next two starts to secure his fully-exempt status.

Professional golfers do not like to be put on the clock.

But it's one thing to be threatened with a one-shot penalty or a fine if you're repeatedly timed for being too slow after your group has fallen out of position on the golf course.

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It's something all together different when you running out of time to keep your job as a full-exempt member of the PGA TOUR.

Just ask Chez Reavie, who plays in this week's HP Byron Nelson Championship with a little more pressure on his slender shoulders.

A year ago, Reavie was forced to leave the PGA TOUR after the Nelson when he tore a meniscus in his right knee, forcing him to undergo reconstructive surgery to repair an injury that first occurred in high school.

That started the clock.

Because Reavie, the 2008 RBC Canadian Open winner, had played in 15 events in 2010, it was determined he would have 13 tournaments to earn $673,983 this year and keep his full-exempt status by matching the earnings of last year's No. 125, Troy Merritt.

Reavie took a big step toward that goal Sunday with a final-hole birdie that lifted him into a fifth-place tie at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. That earned him a nice paycheck of $235,600, second only to the $900,000 he earned for his victory, in Canada, but he still needs to earn $229,107 in his next two starts.

Another T5 would work this week. But even if he doesn't make the $230,000 in the next two weeks, he will be able to play out of the Past Champions category. Reavie admitted Tuesday he had gotten too caught up worrying about how many tournaments he had left and how much more money he needed to earn.

"At first I was thinking about it a lot," Reavie said. "I was counting my money and how many tournaments I had left. I was worrying about it way too much. Last month I just decided to go out and play. I have to look at the bigger picture -- even if my (medical) exemption runs out, I might still get into tournaments and I could still qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs. There are so many random scenarios, it was wearing me out."

Reavie had a chance to make some major headway when he shot up the leader board in the final round of the Transitions Championship at Innisbrook. But he started thinking too much about the money and not enough about his next shot.

"I got ahead of myself there and made a couple of mistakes down the stretch," Reavie said. "My wife just told me I can't worry about what I can't control -- I can't control what others do around me. I used that learning experience last Sunday."

Reavie said the knee no longer impacts his swing. He will occasionally have swelling after a round, but he said the doctors told him that's normal after his type of surgery.

"The knee feels great," he said. "It still swells up some, but it's not from the golf; it's from the walking. I wake up the next day and feel great. It's much better than it was."

But so is the competition on the PGA TOUR. Just look at what's happened to Tiger Woods and his knee/calf/Achilles' tendon issues -- he just dropped out of the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time this week as he continues to deal with those recurring health issues. Woods, who is exempt through 2014 because he won the 2008 U.S Open and six more events in 2009, won't have to worry about having to take any medical exemptions soon.

The 29-year-old Reavie has had his shares of ups and downs on the PGA TOUR, starting with his opening event as a pro, when he shot rounds of 66-64-75-85. He earned his spot on the PGA TOUR by finishing 18th on the Nationwide Tour in 2007.

Reavie isn't the only PGA TOUR pro who started this year with a Major Medical Exemption. There were 17 players on the lost, in fact, including three former major champions (Mike Weir, Jose Maria Olazabal and Rich Beem), as well as seven other past PGA TOUR winners (Brett Wetterich, Bart Bryant, Arron Oberholser, Dudley Hart, Jose Coceres, Marc Turnesa and Wes Short).

There also were five players who started this PGA TOUR season with a Minor Medical Exemption, including Garth Mulroy, who won the Nationwide's BMW Charity Pro-Am in a playoff Sunday. So Mulroy and Reavie have shown players can use these exemptions to get back to playing golf for a living at the highest level.

It's about time.

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