Chandler Phillips has two tournaments left to keep his PGA Tour card, but the stress of trying to keep his job has been overshadowed by another emotion that golf commonly evokes.
Frustration.
“Can you tell I’m done with this?” Phillips told the Bermuda Butterfield Championship.
Advertisement
Phillips, 28, has had a year to forget on the PGA Tour. In 26 events, Phillips has only one top-10 finish, at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, a team event. His best individual result? A T15 at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. He finished the PGA Tour regular season ranked 124th in the FedEx Cup, leaving him six FedEx Cup fall tournaments to retain his card.
Phillips missed the cut at Procore, finished T44 at Sanderson, then missed the cut at Utah and Mexico, dropping him to 139th in the FedEx Cup Fall standings with two tournaments remaining. In short, golf has kicked him in the teeth in 2025, and he is ready to meet his fate.
“The number of times I missed the fairway by three feet this year and it completely screwed me up, it’s unbelievable,” Phillips said. “It’s not the course, it’s just me. Aim a little more left, aim a little more right, I don’t know.
Phillips arrived in Bermuda with a slim path to retaining his card and staying on the PGA Tour.
Advertisement
A victory would give him a two-year exemption. A second-place finish would put him just inside the top 100 bubble, with a trip to the season-ending RSM Classic looming next week. Otherwise, Phillips will return to the Korn Ferry Tour. His dream will at least be postponed, and the task of bringing KFT Mountain back to the PGA Tour will be handed to him in 2026.
Reality set in for Phillips. He has accepted the steep climb he faces on the upper circuit. He’s at peace with what his game has given him this year and he’ll let the chips fall where they may. Sometimes in life and in golf you can only fight the inevitable for so long.
Then came Friday, when Phillips shot a seven-under 64 to move into second place heading into the weekend. Suddenly, his card and his future were within reach. But a good round and a glimmer of hope gave Phillips no respite. Much of it won’t fix what a frustrating year of golf has brought.
But it at least gave him clarity. Phillips has everything and nothing to lose. He has to play his best to keep his position. If he doesn’t, he’ll have to reset and find a way to fix his game and get back on the PGA Tour.
Advertisement
“I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s like you don’t think about, oh, you know, I need a top 20 this week or I just need to qualify,” Phillips said. “Well, I mean, that’s never a good mindset, even if you’re in a really good position to keep your card or whatever. You have to have the mindset of trying to win every week, and if you don’t do that, you might as well not show up.
“To tell you the truth, I’m pretty done this year,” he said. “It feels like it’s been a struggle, but I’m waiting for that finish line.”
Phillips came out Saturday at Port Royal Golf Course and shot a 7-under 70. He will enter Sunday’s final round tied for third place, one shot behind co-leaders Braden Thornberry and Adam Schenk. Phillips went to bed Friday, projected into the bubble of the top 100. He left the course Saturday, having fallen more than 20 spots in the FedEx Cup fall projections.
Every shot counts, but Phillips mostly ticks them off until he can exhale, put the clubs away and face whatever comes next, whatever it is.
Advertisement
A good Sunday can erase an irritating year for Phillips. He’ll head out knowing exactly what he needs to do to ensure a good week in Bermuda doesn’t end in more frustration, something he’s felt too often in 2025.
“I only have one option, and that’s to go out there and try to win, because if I don’t, I won’t keep my card,” Phillips said. “There’s not a lot of answers to that question. There’s only one answer, and that’s just go out there and try to get through it. If it happens, it happens. If not, you know, try to go and fix what’s wrong for the year.”
The position As the pro tries to save his card, a candid reporter told a different story appeared first on Golf.
