Percy defies opportunities, earns card

Cameron Percy has quietly completed one of the most undervalued comebacks of golf.

Percy, 45, has today driven a two-under-par 69 to the Boise Open to lock up his PGA Tour card for next season by saving a week in the final of the Korn Ferry Tour.

His total of -13 gave him a share of the 11th in Idaho, which means that he is now 12th in the three-week final series and is safely in the top 25 receiving his tickets for the main tour.

And although that all sounds pretty simple, it is a far cry from April this season when the veteran Victorian sustained an injury that threatened his future for golfing.

"Yes, I am pretty happy now," says Percy, who "has lost count" how often he graduated for the PGA Tour. "I think that's about eight or nine now, depending on how you rate it – too much anyway!

"I didn't think this year would end that long."

Percy took his young family on a short vacation in April knowing that he would soon be on the road for more than three months to earn back his PGA Tour card.

"I was Atlantis (theme park) in the Bahamas, a dream trip with the kids as it was meant to be, and I just slipped away not long before we were leaving," Percy said.

"I didn't really know what I had done, only that it was numb and quite embarrassing. I had scans (when I got home) … and it turned out that I had broken a bone in my left wrist.

"Then I spoke with a few friends who had suffered the same type of injury and were never able to play golf again … so yes, I was really worried at that stage."

From the Australian Open last year – when Percy finished fifth at The Lakes – until that time in the KFT season, he was twice in the top six, twice more in the top 16 and no lower than 35 in just six starts in 2019.

So despite that great base, Percy returned after 10 weeks back in June, knowing little about how he would fare.

And remarkably enough, this trend has continued even until this weekend in Idaho.

"I'm actually surprised that I did it because I couldn't really practice. It was numb for weeks and … my ring finger on my left is still numb," he said.

"I think maybe I have about 65-70% (full power in my arm) and I keep hooking a lot of shots because I can't hold the club with any strength."

Adding to the performance of Percy in Boise is that in the fifth hole of his tournament – the par-14th in Hillcrest Country Club – he hit a boom and despite a meeting of marshals could not find the ball stuck in the tree.

At that time he was three over the top and, on a job known as "gettable", faced a major problem.

"But I just stopped, had an eagle on the second and found my groove," he said.

"I actually played very well on the third day, everything just went what I was aiming for for a while … that's a great feeling."

Percy closed the deal well with the victory that followed for the American Matthew NeSmith, but was clearly delighted when his last par putt fell to offer the certainty of his 2019-20 card.

Now that New South Welshman Rhein Gibson has qualified all year round, there remains strong hope for four other Aussies as the KFT Championship goes to the Victoria National Golf Club in Indiana this week.

Curtis Luck of Perth missed in one go the cut that his card would have closed, but is still in 15th place.

Cam Davis of Sydney shared 25th in Boise, finishing part of the 34th and probably needing a top-20 finish this week.

Jamie Arnold missed the cut and, on the 18th, is likely to make the cut this week, while Brett also missed Coletta this week and fell to the 82nd, meaning that a top-six finish is probably required this week.