Brett Coletta knows the equation.

Refusing to look at the points tally on the Korn Ferry Tour Order of Merit and calculate what might be required to earn a PGA TOUR card in 2020, Coletta knows that it is the numbers he posts on the golf course that will determine his future.

Runner-up at last week’s TPC Colorado Championship, Coletta vaulted from 66th to 25th on the moneylist and within reach of one of the 25 PGA TOUR cards that will be handed out at the completion of the regular season.

It was a dramatic change of fortunes for the Victorian having missed his previous six cuts dating back to mid-May but he said he is focused on playing well again at this week’s Pinnacle Bank Championship rather than calculating how many points he will need to stay inside The 25.

“You can’t do that,” Coletta told PGATOUR.com’s Kevin Prise.

“Because now at the point where The 25 is, it depends what people are doing just below and above you. If you get caught up in that, you’re going to work yourself silly.

“You can’t get caught up in the numbers game about it, because it’s so fine.

“At the end of the day, you know how much one shot means at this level.

“You just have to go out there and do the best you can, every shot.”

Banging his head against the wall with five weeks on the road for zero return, Coletta revealed that it was a week off spent with coach Marty Joyce that helped him to recalibrate and get his game back on track.

“It’s a really long season, and it’s easy to get into the mindset of just ‘keep playing,’ especially when you have a rough stretch,” Coletta said.

“But I took a week off, put in some work with my coach and found where my medium game is, trying to get back to where we were.

“It definitely showed last week.”

There are currently three Australasians inside The 25 with Rhein Gibson leading the way in eighth position and Kiwi left-hander Tim Wilkinson in 17th.

Gibson and Wilkinson are both in the field this week along with Jamie Arnold, Brett Drewitt, Mark Hensby and Kiwis Steven Alker and Denzel Ieremia.

Making a strong impression in his rookie year as a professional, Ieremia is making his first appearance in America as a pro, the Iowa State University alum shooting 7-under 65 to come through Monday qualifying.

In his first start as a professional Ieremia was tied for 14th at the Queensland PGA Championship in Toowoomba and was tied for fourth at the Asia-Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup Golf which catapulted him from 1,548 to 910 in the world rankings.

Victorian Brett Coletta has taken a major step towards securing a PGA TOUR card with a tie for third at the Web.com Tour’s Savannah Golf Championship at Landings Club-Deer Creek Golf Club in Georgia.

Playing the PGA TOUR’s primary pathway for the first time, Coletta finished inside the top-15 in two of his first five starts to sit 46th on the order of merit, his top-five finish in Georgia vaulting him up into 22nd position.

The top 25 finishes on the order of merit at the end of the season earn automatic promotion to the PGA TOUR for the following year and Coletta has now put himself in position to claim one of those coveted cards if he can maintain his strong early season form.

One shot off the lead after a bogey-free opening round of 6-under 66, Coletta was 4-under through seven holes in his final round but dropped shots at 9 and 11 to end the day at 2-under 70 and 14-under for the week, two shots behind American Dan McCarthy.

For the second week in succession Cameron Percy made a Sunday move with a 5-under 67 that saw him finish one shot behind Coletta in outright sixth, improving his position on the moneylist by three spots to now sit 15th.

But the biggest move of the day belonged to New South Welshman Jamie Arnold who rocketed into the top-10 with a 7-under 65.

Starting the day tied for 58th, Arnold made five birdies on his front nine and then added an eagle two at the par-4 11th – holing his second shot from the rough – and a birdie at the par-3 12th before a bogey at the 17th hole saw him end the week tied for ninth.

Savannah Golf Championship
Landings Club-Deer Creek GC, Savannah, Georgia
T3           Brett Coletta      66-70-68-70—274            $28,600
6             Cameron Percy  67-72-69-67—275            $19,800
T9           Jamie Arnold       69-71-73-65—278            $14,850
T42        Rhein Gibson      70-71-71-71—283            $1,801
T42        Steven Alker        69-68-73-73—283            $1,801
T65        Nick Voke            69-69-74-74—286            $1,353
T74        Tim Wilkinson     66-74-74-74—288            $1,260
MC         Brett Drewitt      74-72—146