[HDPM]

Is he not going to Q-School? I think if he has no tour status he only gets 7 exemptions. I tend to think turning pro is the right decision for a player like Knost. Playing in the Masters as an amateur would be nice, but it is likely to be a couple of practice rounds and 2 competitive rounds. And you get no money from it. I guess with the excessively loose amateur rules now you can take expenses and wear awful logos as an am, but stuill, you aren't getting paid. Waiting to turn pro to play in a couple of events seems like a waste of time to me if you know you are going to turn pro anyway. IMO if he got status on the Nationwide Tour and could play a full schedule there he would get way more out of it through the Open Championship next year than he would get by playing in a few events as an amateur, even if they are majors.

One thing I think makes some sense for players is to try to get some status on a tour as an amateur. I think you can go through q-school as an am and only have to give up the amateur status if you qualify and decide to play. IIRC one guy won a nationwide event as an am this year and decided to then turn pro and take his status on the nationwide tour. I am not sure of all the details, but something like that could make some sense for a player with amateur exemptions into majors. I tend to favor turning pro for players who have developed quite a bit as amateurs. I don't think it is a good idea for very young players who have turned pro too early IMO, Fujikawa, Finaus, Tryon, etc... But for a 21 year old who has won big amateur tournaments and is going to go pro a year on a developmental tour is probably better for overall development than a few rounds at Augusta with the champions. That player has learned how to win at his level and needs to learn how to play for pay, which is different from the amateur game. In any event, if the player is good enough he should have qualified for a US Open as an amateur anyway, and can pay his entry fee and try to qualify for the US open and Open Championship as a pro.