Consistent play not enough for return to top
When Jean Reynolds completed her second round in the recent Symetra Tour event played at Atlanta National, she was understandably unhappy after a score of 80, 10 shots higher than her score the day before.
Jean Reynolds, a Newnan native and resident, was pretty certain she was going to miss the cut after being in the top 10 following an opening round of 70, not a pleasant occurrence for a tour professional.
As scores went up after she finished her round, Reynolds wound up making the cut on the number, but finished near the bottom in the final results after a 76, making just $355 for her tie for 59th.
The 31-year-old Reynolds has been playing on the Symetra Tour (formerly the Futures Tour) since 2008, competing on the LPGA Tour in 2009-10 and missing most of the 2011 season with a shoulder injury. She has been a remarkably consistent performer on the LPGA’s developmental tour, finishing between 27th and 43rd on the money list in four of her five full seasons, placing second in 2009 to earn a promotion to the LPGA Tour the next year.
One-third of the way through the 2016 season, Reynolds was in a familiar spot on the money list at No. 28, which would keep her exempt for 2017 but would not result in her return to the LPGA Tour.
Reynolds has placed 34th, 27th and 31st on the money list the last three years on the Symetra Tour and is in line to match those efforts this year.
With her thoughts lingering on her disappointing showing in the second round at Atlanta National, Reynolds offered a less-than-positive perspective on her recent career path.
When asked to comment on her consistent finishes on the money list the last three years, Reynolds said she is “not OK with that. That gets you nothing out here. It’s been three pretty frustrating years since I had surgery on my shoulder.”
Like the PGA Tour, the LPGA Tour offers two paths to tour membership. The PGA Tour offers 25 spots to the top finishers on the Web.com money list compared to 10 Symetra players who earn LPGA tour cards. Another 25 players earn PGA Tour berths through their play in the Web.com Finals, while the LPGA sets aside 20 exempt spots from its qualifying finals, with another 25 or so players earning limited status from their finish at Q-school.
Reynolds has been among those 25 each of the last two years, but her status has resulted in her making the total of just one start in an LPGA event, that coming in 2015.
During her two seasons on the LPGA Tour, Reynolds made a total of 23 starts, about the average for one season for the 50 players who qualify for the PGA Tour. The LPGA plays considerably fewer tournaments, and most of the LPGA’s overseas events, which account for about one-third of the schedule, have limited fields.
Reynolds was considered a potential rising star after an outstanding year in 2009. She finished second on the Futures money list, collecting two wins, two runner-up finishes and two thirds, but her biggest accomplishment that year was a tie for 17th in the U.S. Open.
For 54 holes, Reynolds was a contender and received considerable airtime from NBC and praise from Johnny Miller, but fell back the final day with a 77. She came away with a check for almost $43,000, more than half her season earnings on the Futures Tour that season.
Reynolds looks back on that tournament with mixed emotions.
“That was so long ago. That was a different time. I’m a different person now. I was different player then, and a lot has happened since then.”
From a playing standpoint, the biggest difference is the shoulder injury, which Reynolds said began bothering her early in 2010. She made just four of 14 cuts that year on the LPGA Tour, barely making enough money to retain non-exempt status for 2011. She made just one cut in nine starts that year, recording a top 20 finish in her first tournament appearance, but did not make it to the weekend again in 2011 while trying to play through the shoulder injury.
Due to her surgery, Reynolds made just one Symetra Tour start in 2012, but rebounded with a solid season in 2013 and two more the next two years.
Despite her respectable results since the surgery, Reynolds said her shoulder “still bothers me some. I have to deal with it constantly, but that’s what you expect in sports.”
Reynolds believes she can get back to her level of play in 2009.
“I wouldn’t be out here if I didn’t. But the competition is so much better than it was then and it’s hard to graduate out here. It would be nice if we could add a few cards. “
Although admittedly frustrated by her inability to get back to the LPGA Tour, Reynolds says she has no plans to change her career path.
“I’ll keep doing this until I get tired of the competition. If I had another job, I’d be bored out of my mind.”
Reynolds has made six starts thus far in 2016, making the cut in all six. She finished outside the top 40 in four of them, with her best showing coming in consecutive weeks in Florida, when she placed sixth and 15th.
“I started good in Florida, but mostly I’ve been inconsistent, off and on.”
Reynolds will need a few big weeks the rest of the season if she hopes to move into the top 10 and avoid another visit to Q-school, where she has fallen just short of regaining her LPGA status the last few years.
Prior to turning pro in 2007, Reynolds was one of most decorated junior and amateur players in Georgia, but made the decision not to play golf in college, attending and graduating from the U. of Georgia as a non-athletic student.
As a junior, Reynolds twice won Georgia’s Girls Championship and was the GSGA’s Girls Player of the Year in 2000 and ’02. She qualified for four U.S. Girls Championships, reaching the quarterfinals in 2002. Reynolds won GSGA women’s events in 2003, ’05 and ’07, and captured the Georgia Women’s Golf Association Championship in ’06. She also shared in a USGA title as part of Georgia’s winning 3-player team in the 2005 State Team Championship.