The final event of the PGA Tour season gets underway on Thursday with most attention the scramble for playing privileges.
Watch all four rounds of the Children's Miracle Network Classic on Sky Sports - live coverage starts on Thursday at 6pm on Sky Sports 3/HD3
The final event of the PGA Tour season gets underway on Thursday with most attention the scramble for playing privileges.
PGA Tour stats package
While no fewer than 11 major champions will be in the field for the Children's Miracle Network Classic, it is those at the wrong end of the money-list whose fortunes will be most closely scrutinised.
Only the top 125 players on the list at the conclusion of the event will be guaranteed their card for the 2011 season meaning there will be a few glum faces at World Disney Resort come Sunday evening.
The man in 126th place on the money list is American Briny Baird, but the 38-year-old insists he is trying to take the pressure in his stride.
"I'm approaching it like a three-foot putt," Baird said. "There are only two things that can happen, either it goes in or it misses.
"Either I play well enough to keep my card or I don't, and then I have to go to q-school in two weeks. Those are the only two options, so it's not like I'm dreading this week."
Florida native Baird has kept his card comfortably every year since joining the PGA Tour in 2001, except, that was, in 2005 when he coincidentally finished 126th on the money list.
Below-par
After four second-place finishes he has earned more money in his career (USD11.5million) than anyone who has yet to win on tour, but accepts he has been below-par this season.
"I am surprised to be in this position," he continued. "But if you want to be one of the top players in golf, you have to perform. That's the beauty of the game.
"There are no five-year, guaranteed contracts in golf. You can't sign a big deal and then just take it easy for a while.
"I just haven't been hitting the ball that well. It's no secret. It's not that I've lost some motivation or that I'm spending too much time on my boat.
"My game is usually about hitting the ball well and I just haven't done that consistently this season.
"One of my biggest motivations to play well this week is I want this season to be over with. I don't want to have to spend the next two weeks grinding over my golf game when I should be spending time with my family."
Baird is just under USD13,000 behind Troy Matteson in 125th and finished second at Disney six years ago, but admits scraping into the top 125 would not make his season a success.
"It's kind of unfair to base my season on one week, but that's the position I've put myself in," he added. "If I do get in the top 125, it's not a victory by any means. I'm still not happy with the way I've played this season.
"But I've played this game long enough to know there are going to be periods when you play well and periods when you don't. Hopefully, I'll play well enough this week that this period will be over with."
