After recharging his batteries in native Perth, Curtis Luck's career-best finish on the US PGA Tour has breathed life into his rookie pro season.
And it couldn't have come at a better time - Luck has three events left to determine his 2018 season fate, starting with this week's Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia.
Lacklustre results in his first three months on the US tour convinced 2016 US Amateur champion Luck, who is based in Orlando, Florida, to pack his bags for a three-week sojourn in Australia in June.
"I was a little bit down on myself after the St Jude Classic. I needed a break, so I jumped on a plane back to Perth. I recharged the batteries and got into a good mindset for these last few weeks," Luck told AAP.
Reinvigorated, the 20-year-old held the lead during the final round of last week's Quicken Loans National in Maryland, en route to a tie for fifth.
"It was nice to finally put a good week together. I've struggled a bit this year and Quicken Loans was that week I've been searching for," said Luck.
"You don't want to go into that situation and have a blowout. I executed a lot of golf shots to a high standard under pressure."
For PGA Tour hopefuls, a top-10 result allows automatic entry to the following week's tournament without it counting towards the seven sponsor's exemptions that non-members are limited to per season.
Luck's fifth place at Quicken Loans secured his start at Greenbrier, before he has two final sponsor invitations to try and earn as many FedEx Cup points as the 125th-ranked player.
That would secure Luck a full PGA Tour card for next season, but he can also finish inside the top-200 and book a berth in the secondary Web.com Tour playoffs - where conditional PGA Tour status for 2018 is on offer.
"Quicken Loans reminded me that I'm definitely good enough to get status out here .. I've got a few events left and I'll give it my best shot," said Luck.
Luck will be joined in the Greenbrier field at The Old White TPC by fellow Australians Steven Bowditch, Greg Chalmers, Matt Jones, Cameron Percy, Stuart Appleby, Geoff Ogilvy and Brett Drewitt.
Share
