Chad

Collins

Collins went 5-for-15 last season while playing on a Major Medical. His mid-range game was effective but lost strokes off-the-tee in 92 percent of his measured rounds so he was constantly playing catch-up. Collins now has 4 starts remaining on his medical extension with 363.497 FedExCup Points required to meet the terms. Gamers should keep him off their radars until he proves the driving woes are behind him.

The 40-year-old is playing this season on a Medical Extension out of the Reshuffle category. He has 13 starts remaining (out of an original 19) to earn 377.458 FedExCup points to meet the terms. The Methodist University alum is making his seventh start of the season, first since a T71 at the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open 10 weeks ago. He’s also made three starts on the Web.com Tour this season, missing all three cuts, including last week. This is the Indiana native’s seventh Wells Fargo with no prior top 25s among three cashes and a best of T29 on debut in 2010.

Collins missed all of last season with an injury, although he did appear in three Web.com Tour events. He went 1-for-3 in those events. During the fall he returned to action on the big stage and posted a T83 at the Safeway Open before missing the cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship and The RSM Classic. Collins now has 16 starts remaining on his Major Medical, needing 376 FedExCup Points to fulfill the terms. The 40-year-old has a career record of 82-for-183 with eight top 10s. His best finish in the FedExCup race is a 96th, which happened in 2010. He’s finished 120th or worse in every other attempt.

He hit just 20 greens in regulation and carded seven bogeys and four doubles to miss his fifth cut in as many starts this year. It leaves him with four starts on his Major Medical Extension to earn $484,656 and retain status.

If you missed our blurb on Friday afternoon, he exhausted his medical extension when he missed the cut in New Orleans. He also failed to secure conditional status as a back-up. Therefore, since he’s a non-winner on the PGA TOUR, he no longer has status.

He hit just 14 greens in regulation at PGA National this week. While he circled eight birdies, he erased them with nine bogeys and two doubles. Now 0-for-6 on the year, he has three starts remaining on his Major Medical Extension to earn $484,656 and retain status.

Four bogeys against one birdie on his inward nine today cost him a payday. It’s his eighth missed cut in many starts this season. It also leaves him with one starts on his Major Medical Extension to earn $484,656 and retain status. He’s $228,433 short of securing conditional status.

To say that the odds are stacked against Collins at TPC Louisiana next week would be one of the greatest understatements of the year. For starters, he’s 0-for-8 on the PGA TOUR this season. More importantly, if he doesn’t withdraw before his tee time in the opening round, this will be his final start on his Major Medical Extension. To retain status, he needs to earn $484,656. The Zurich offers a purse of $6.4 million, so Collins needs no worse than a two-way T2 worth $563,200. (A solo third pays just $435,200.) Short of that, he would secure conditional status by banking at least $228,433. A three-way T5 ($233,600) or a solo sixth ($230,400) would fulfill that requirement. If he fails at his secondary goal, the non-winner will lose his PGA TOUR card.

Collins converted eight birdies this week but he swallowed the same number of bogeys in addition to a double. This was his final start via a Major Medical Extension during which he failed to cash in any of his nine tournaments. For the record, he fell $484,656 short of meeting the terms of the MME as well as $228,433 shy of securing conditional status. As a result, the non-winner has forfeited his PGA TOUR status. Look for him on the Nationwide Tour the remainder of the year.

His opener was ugly. He split seven (of 13) fairways but hit only six greens, took 30 putts and carded five bogeys and a triple without finding a single birdie. Now 0-for-7 this year, he’s down to two starts on his Major Medical Extension to earn $484,656 and retain status. Given his start to 2012, there’s no doubt he’s looking at conditional status as a safety net. He’d secure that if he can bank $228,433.