Cut policy has Warren pinched

The PGA’revision has sent many players home a lot sooner than before.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Charles Warren probably wishes the PGA Tour had left its new cut policy alone.

To avoid clutter on the weekend, the tour came up with a new rule this year that if more than 78 players made the cut, the field would be reduced to the nearest number to 70. That resulted in 18 players among top 70 and ties being sent home Friday from the Sony Open, and 19 players from the Buick Invitational.

After players complained, the policy was changed to include a 54-hole cut whenever there were more than 78 players.

And that’s where Warren comes in.

Three times this year — all of them after the policy was amended in early March — Warren was eliminated after the 54-hole cut and received what amounts to last-place money, give or take $2,000.

He was tied for 25th in Tampa after two rounds and shot 81. He was tied for 66th at the Wachovia Championship and shot 78.

And last week, Warren was tied for 32nd at the Fry’s.com Open and shot 73. In two of those cases, he would have been able to play the final round if the policy had been left alone.

That could be worth watching in the final few weeks, for Warren is No. 123 on the money list and just about $12,000 away from losing his card for next year.

Ultimately, Warren has no one to blame but himself for the third-round scores.

The policy will be up for review at the tour’s board meeting next month, although board member Joe Ogilvie believes it worked fine. Ogilvie should know, for he was eliminated three times by the 54-hole cut, too.

“I don’t think it will be changed,” Ogilvie said. “I played well enough to make the cut, but I didn’t play well enough to have a good tournament. If I had shot 64 or had a good round, I probably would have made $5,000 or $6,000 extra. But it helped the tournament, I got paid, I got a retirement credit. I don’t think the product was diminished at all.

“And this is coming from the guy who got the bad end of the stick.”