If Curtis Luck was back home in Perth working as an apprentice plumber, he could expect to earn $17.15 an hour.
A career as a diesel mechanic would yield the princely sum of $17.37 an hour in his first year, while an apprentice electrician that works 40 hours a week for 50 weeks can expect to earn $36,880 in their first year.
In the opening two weeks of the Web .com Tour Finals Series, Luck has accrued $US33,900 and is on the verge of securing his 2019 US PGA Tour card, but has credited his parents Stuart and Jody for maintaining a healthy sense of reality.
Having announced himself with a top-five finish at the Quicken Loans National tournament just three months after turning professional last year, Luck had to fight tooth and nail to squeeze into the Web .com’s top-75 on the moneylist in 2018 and qualify for the finals.
With the scoreboard reset and 25 further PGA Tour cards up for grabs, Luck tied for fifth at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship to be in a three-way tie for 12th heading into the third event of the finals series, the Albertsons Boise Open at Hillcrest Country Club.
“Technically I’m doing an apprenticeship. I’ve just clicked over my first year as being a pro so I’m still learning a lot.” – Curtis Luck
A good result there this week would put him in position to join Cameron Davis and Matt Jones in the top-25 after next week’s Tour Championship but he knows that whatever the outcome, the journey is only just beginning.
“My parents have done a really good job on giving me a good vision of where I sit in the grand scheme of things right now,” Luck said. “Technically I’m doing an apprenticeship. I’ve just clicked over my first year as being a pro so I’m still learning a lot. Most people that get to high-paying jobs in regular industries, it takes them years if not decades to get there.
“I think my parents have done a good job and people around me of giving me a more realistic view on how long things can take and not to rush things because putting that added pressure on myself isn’t going to do me any justice.”
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Did Curtis Luck turn pro too soon?
While third-placed Jones is skipping this week’s event, Davis (fifth), Luck (T-12th) and Aaron Baddeley currently sit within the top-25 on the Web .com Tour Finals standings. Cameron Percy is the next best Australian in 40th position and along with Rhein Gibson (55th), Brett Drewitt (66th), Stuart Appleby and John Senden (both T-87th), needs a good week in order to push for a full PGA Tour card for next season.
Percy tied for ninth in this event at the same golf course last year, but his cheque for $US22,375 wasn’t enough to propel him into the top-25.
The last player to earn a PGA Tour card from last year’s finals, Seamus Power, earned $US40,625 across the four events, a mark that Luck is still $7,000 short of with two events left to play.
• The penultimate tournament of the Canadian Mackenzie Tour is the Freedom 55 Financial Championship at Highland Country Club in London, Ontario, where Brett Coletta will be out to improve on his current standing of 23rd on the Order of Merit. Ruben Sondjaja is the only other Aussie teeing it up in Canada this week, the Sydneysider currently 53rd on the moneylist.
This week also sees the resumption of the PGA Tour Latinoamerica at the Sao Paulo Golf Club Championship in Brazil where Ryan Ruffels is our sole representative.
