Paul Stankowski seizes his moments into Constellation FURYK & FRIENDS

Paul Stankowski, 52, is oh-so-close to putting together a season on PGA TOUR Champions that could lay a foundation for him for years to come.

After consecutive top-10 finishes at the Sanford International (T4) and the PURE Insurance Championship (T2), the PGA TOUR veteran is 45th in the Schwab Cup standings and on the verge of securing his full playing card for the 2023 season with a top-36 finish in the year-end standings.

That would mean entry into every tournament next season and no more Monday qualifying. Stankowski Monday qualified for the Sanford International, where a top-10 finish earned him a spot at Pebble Beach, and he continued to take advantage.

“I have only played 12 times this year with a mix of Monday qualifying and sponsor exemptions,” said Stankowski, a Dallas resident and two-time PGA TOUR winner. “Every time I’m able to participate it's been … it's been a blast. Every time I get a sponsor exemption I'm shocked because there are so many guys like me who have had a similar career or far better careers in a spot of needing exemptions, and I've gotten more than I ever dreamed of.”

He didn’t need to dream about his entry into the PURE Insurance Championship or this week’s Constellation FURYK & FRIENDS. He secured those invites on his own with his best finishes of the season.

“I've actually started to make a few putts,” Stankowski said. “I go through my statistics out there and I’m in the top 10 in ball striking and greens in regulation. I'm a good iron player. I don't hit it as far anymore, but I'm right about average length. I'm still a little below average in fairways hit. I hit a lot of greens and I have a lot of opportunities, but every statistic is in the yellow in putting, which is not good.

“So I've been waiting. I've been waiting for an above average week putting because I haven’t had one since I turned 50. In fact, that's probably why I quit playing back in 2013. I just stopped being a good putter.”

Stankowski said he was a streaky putter during his 20-year PGA TOUR career. And the streaks disappeared. That, in turn, made the game cease to be fun.

He learned from his brief time as a TV analyst that guys who were putting well often made more than 100 feet of putts in a round. Stankowski said he averaged in the 60s.

He ranks 40th in driving distance on PGA TOUR Champions this season and is 58th in driving accuracy. Yet he parlays that into eighth in greens in regulation and 16th in scoring. Which also is remarkable because he is just 52nd in putting average.

“I played with Steve Stricker the last round in South Dakota (the Sanford International),” Stankowski said. “I watched him. He’s always been such a great ball striker, and his speed on the greens is brilliant. And how he rolls every putt, it looks like it has a chance to go in. He'll make his share of 15- to 20-footers, and Bernhard Langer, the same thing. Those guys make putts, and anybody who makes a lot of putts if you're on that Tour, you're going to find yourself in the top 10 with a chance to win.

“There’s an old saying about two things that don’t last very long: Dogs who chase cars, and golfers who putt for pars. And I’ve kind of been in that boat until recently.”

At the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach, Stankowski’s all-time favorite course, he drove it surprisingly accurately (his 90.48% fairways hit led all players for the week), and his putting average ranked 17th.

Stankowski didn’t change putters, but he did change his routine with the flat stick. He told his caddie he felt like he’d been trying to be too perfect over putts, and the process was getting exhaustive.

“I just kind of created a quicker routine where I pointed the club while I read the spot. I put the club on the spot quickly. And then I would just snap in and hit it,” Stankowski said. “What, the hole is 4 1/4 inches, right? There's more than one way to make a putt. And so I literally just simplified the process and the last day I made a couple of nice putts. Still didn't make as much as I wanted but from there on I just stuck to that same routine and I'm seeing more balls go in the hole. So I'm almost trying not to be perfect and the perfect result is happening more often.”

And with one or two more perfect results, Stankowski will punch his ticket to a full season in 2023.