BEACH, FLA. (WFTV) – The month of April has been full of qualifying events for Martin Trainer. This week, the 32-year-old Tour winner is on Florida’s First Coast for the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School. A week ago, in Abu Dhabi, he was one of a few Tour pros who took part in the first LIV Promotions event.
Trainer tied for seventh place, three shots behind a playoff spot for one of three full-time spots in the Saudi-backed league.
His reason for trying was easy to understand.
“Just an opportunity,” Trainer said on Saturday at Sawgrass Country Club, where he is competing for one of at least five Tour cards and to move up from “just past champion” to “champion.” “Next year I have some status on the Korn Ferry Tour, I’ll be in a few PGA Tour events, and I might play in a few European events. But between LIV Promotions and this week, I had basically just two chances to have full status on a major tour.”
One of the four players in this week’s field who also played in the Promotions event is Trainer. Kevin Chappell and Zach Bauchou have already pulled out, but Braden Thornberry is still in the game at T-24 after two consecutive 66s. Trainer has put himself in a bit of a hole going into what will almost certainly be a rainy Sunday and maybe even Monday if the game is pushed back long enough. He shot 72, which is two shots over par. He is now tied for 54th place on the leaderboard, seven shots behind the top five, but still in the running for at least eight sure starts on the Korn Ferry Tour next year.
Trainer will play in at least a few PGA Tour events in 2024 because he won the 2019 Puerto Rico Open. He’s used to playing with conditional membership over the past couple of seasons, so he’s confident he can do well and get into more events.
If the Korn Ferry Tour comes back for a full season, Trainer is ready for that too. It’s not really good.
Coach Trainer said, “If I play well, I’ll probably want to play on the KFT more, but the thought of playing badly out there sounds rough.” That’s for sure. After a while, you start to lose your edge. But yeah, it’s fun no matter what tour I’m on as long as I’m playing well. But I think what really bothers you is when you’re not playing well at all. That’s rough for sure.”
Trainer doesn’t think he will miss any games next year because he is suspended, no matter what tour he starts. He said that because he missed the 45-day limit, he wasn’t given a media release for the Promotions event.
“It was a weird situation because I was trying to keep my card and then I didn’t. I was then thinking about what to do next, which is how I got into that jam,” he said.
Trainer did say that another type of punishment was likely to happen.
“We talked about it,” the trainer said. “We’ll see what takes place.” Who knows, they might give me a fine. … I don’t believe there will be a ban.
Trainer was on the upstairs patio of Sawgrass Country Club’s building, away from the scoring area. He thought that the two Q-Schools, LIV and PGA Tour, were not that different from each other. Trained said of LIV’s qualifying game, “Just golf with names I’ve never heard of.” I find it pretty amazing that there are so many great players in the world.
He still has hope that he can get back to the form that helped him win a PGA Tour title. It’s been a slow process for him, but he’ll keep going as long as he sees signs of improvement in his game and as long as there are chances.
Coach said, “It goes up and down.” As long as you’re not a top-20 player, everyone’s job goes up and down. I hope that more comes up for me in the future. “Let’s see.”
- Due to worries about the weather, the PNC Championship has changed the tee times and TV schedule.
- There will not be a Saudi LIV deal until later this week, but a $3 billion deal with American sports owners is “imminent.”
- Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf, was “buried” by players after Jon Rahm joined the Saudi league.
- “Everyone and his brother here to give it a try” because five cards are back at PGA Tour Q-School.
