PGA Tour pro drops one of the wildest opinions of 2024: 'If a top 10 player was here...'

PGA Tour pro Justin Lower dropped one of the wildest opinions of the season in the third round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship on a windy day at Port Royal Golf Course. 

Lower, who notched his best finish on the PGA Tour last week with a T2, has continued his solid form in the penultimate event of the PGA Tour season. 

The 35-year-old American bogeyed the 18th to fall out of the joint lead en route to a 3-under 68.

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Lower finds himself at 15-under par and just one shot behind 54-hole leaders Andrew Novak and Rafael Campos, who both fired stunning rounds of 9-under 62. 

All three players are looking to capture their first title on the PGA Tour.

Novak and Campos both have one win each on the lower-tier Korn Ferry Tour. 

Lower was reduced to tears ahead of last week's final round at the World Wide Technology Championship in the knowledge that he had a golden chance to win his first PGA Tour title following years of ups and downs on the Tours. 

He would fall one shot shy in the end to Austin Eckroat, who notched his second PGA Tour title of the season.

But back to the top of the story, and the third round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship on Saturday saw up to wind gusts in the region of 50mph.

It made controlling ball flight extremely tough, especially on the closing holes such as the par-3 16th. 

Players were forced into hitting knockdown shots into that hole with trouble all down the left. 

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Justin Lower with one of the wildest opinions of the PGA Tour season

Lower told a pool of reporters after his round that he thought play should have been suspended due to the severity of the wind on the back nine.

He then went further by saying play would have been called had a top 10 or top 15 player been in the field. 

For reference, the highest-ranked player in this week's field is Lucas Glover at 48th.

"I mean, 15, 16, 17 and 18, I don't think that's golf if you ask me," said a disgruntled Lower, who made pars at 15 and 16, a birdie on 17 and bogey on 18.

"Balls were going backwards in the air and I just, I realize that a lot of people had to play in it, but I don't think it's fair if that makes sense.

"I think if a top-10 or top-15 player in the world was here and they wanted to stop, I think the rules officials would have said, 'Yeah, we'll stop.'

"When anyone else in the field, if we would have said 'I don't feel comfortable playing in this', we would have been told 'tough' and to proceed with the round. 

"So that's how I feel about it."

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Players are battling to earn their PGA Tour cards with just two weeks left on the schedule.

The final event of the season comes next week at the RSM Classic.

Those players in the top 125 on the FedEx Cup Fall standings after that tournament will earn their cards for next season.

Lower is assured of his status in 2025 as he ranks a projected 64th as things stand.

Should Lower squeeze into the top 60 in the standings then he will become eligible for two Signature Events in 2025 - the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am and The Genesis Invitational. 

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