Heading into the 2017 Web.com Tour Championship, four-time PGA Tour winner Ben Crane sat 18th in the Web.com Tour Finals money list. He had made $37,870, with Web.com Tour projections suggesting players who reached the $40,000 threshold going into the season finale at Atlantic Beach C.C. in Florida could not be knocked out of the top 25, all who would earn PGA Tour cards for the 2017-18 season. While Crane was close to locking up status through the Finals money list, the numbers showed he could be passed.
Despite knowing that, via No Laying Up, Crane chose to skip out on the fourth of four events. Instead, he is in New Jersey for the Presidents Cup, appearing at sponsor Citi's events around their 44 Million Yard Challenge.
In fairness, Crane was probably making more money in the Citi deal than he was making playing in the Web.com Tour Finals. However, through two rounds of the Web.com Tour Championship, Crane is projected to finish 26th on the Web.com Tour Finals money list, missing out on status in that category in the PGA Tour priority ranking.
Even if Crane is knocked out of the top 25, he will have some limited status on the PGA Tour by finishing 147th in FedEx Cup points last season, with players ranked 126th-150th earning partial status. On that alone, he is probably getting into a dozen tournaments without issue. If he gets some early season opportunities and racks up FedEx Cup points ahead of the first reshuffle following The RSM Classic, he can improve his schedule for next year and look at maybe 20 starts.
Crane is going to be OK no matter what happens in Atlantic Beach.
