‘Never tell me the odds.’

Chalmers will be the first of the five Aussies in the field to tee off later tonight and needs at least 242 FedEx Cup points in his next two starts to maintain status and delay the prospect of retirement for a further year.

Given he has made just one cut in five starts since the resumption in June, Chalmers knows that rather than forecast where he needs to finish in order to pad out his schedule he is better served trying to get past the first two rounds at the Country Club of Jackson.

“I would need something like a second or third place or something like that to get great status for next year in these next two events,” Chalmers explained.

“I haven’t looked at it because I haven’t even come close. That would be something that I would like to know if I was running high up the leaderboard with a day to go. That could affect decisions down the stretch. If you needed to win then you’d be trying to win; if you needed to finish third and you were running second maybe you play it safe on the last hole.

“I haven’t even come close to a performance like that. I’m more concerned about getting through to weekend golf.

“It’s so bunched up over here at the moment that if you can get to the weekend and then have a good weekend, who knows what can happen.

“It’s a crazy situation with how talented everyone is but the effect of that is that generally you’re not far from the lead if you make the cut.”

Confined to practise and social rounds in his hometown of Dallas the past month, Chalmers played in countryman Marc Leishman’s charity day at Virginia Beach on Monday, spent Tuesday in Jackson before flying back to Dallas Tuesday afternoon for a Wednesday morning meeting and then back to Jackson.

It would seem like less than ideal preparation and Chalmers said a lack of playing opportunities these past two years has impacted the sharpness of his game.

“Any professional tour I’ve played I’ve always played a lot of events and the last couple of years haven’t been like that,” said the 46-year-old two-time Australian Open champion.

“It’s been hard to fold in and out of competitive play and social play. There’s a vast difference between the two.

“I haven’t got very good at that just yet but I’ve been working on my game and I’m keen to get going again.

“I’m going to play the next two weeks and then I’ll probably a third at Bermuda in the next month. I’ve got a bit of golf coming up and the chance to put some runs on the board.”

The disruption caused by COVID-19 to golf tours around the world means Chalmers’ path back to the PGA TOUR may have to come through the Korn Ferry Tour Playoffs next August but he concedes that it might soon be time to explore other options.

“I will have some status and get in events such as Puerto Rico and the events that go down a long way – there might be seven or eight of those,” Chalmers said of his 2021 playing prospects.

“Around Christmas time I’ll start to look at what I want to do.

“Do I want to try and work a little bit at home? Teach some short game stuff to people and get involved in that and play as well or would I like to try and Monday qualify for events and get in those?

“There’s a few unanswered questions and it all depends on how I play.”

Round 1 tee times (AEST)

PGA TOUR
Sanderson Farms Championship
Country Club of Jackson, Jackson, Mississippi
10.49pm              Greg Chalmers, Pat Perez, Charley Hoffman
11.22pm*            Cameron Percy, David Hearn, Kyoung-Hoon Lee
11.44pm*            Matt Jones, Camilo Villegas, Tyler McCumber
3.22am Tim Wilkinson, Robert Streb, Zac Blair
3.22am*              Aaron Baddeley, Bill Haas, Adam Schenk
4.39am Cameron Davis, Matt Every, Beau Hossler

Defending champion: Sebastian Munoz
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Cameron Percy
TV schedule: Live 6am-9am Friday, Saturday; Live 7am-10am Sunday and Monday on Fox Sports 503

LPGA Tour
ShopRite LPGA Classic
Seaview (Bay Course), Galloway, New Jersey
9.30pm Sarah Kemp, Su Oh, Louise Ridderstrom
10.25pm              Minjee Lee, Brittany Lincicome, Inbee Park
10.36pm              Hannah Green, Brooke Henderson, Nelly Korda
2.11am*              Sarah Jane Smith, Brittany Lang, Giulia Molinaro
2.55am Katherine Kirk, Cydney Clanton, Mi Hyang Lee

Defending champion: Lexi Thompson
Past Aussie winners: Karrie Webb (2013)
Top Aussie prediction: Hannah Green
TV schedule: Live 3am-6am Friday, Saturday; Live 4am-7am Sunday and Monday on Fox Sports 503

Korn Ferry Tour
Savannah Golf Championship
Landings Club – Deer Creek Golf Club, Savannah, Georgia
9.55pm Curtis Luck, Andrew Novak, Ollie Schniederjans
10.35pm              Ryan Ruffels, Sebastián Vázquez, Mark Blakefield
10.55pm*            Nick Voke, Max Greyserman, Mark Baldwin
2.35am*              Jamie Arnold, Adam Svensson, Chad Ramey
3.15am*              Brett Coletta, Tyrone Van Aswegen, Paul Barjon
3.25am Brett Drewitt, Mito Pereira, Taylor Montgomery
3.25am*              Harrison Endycott, Dawson Armstrong, Eric Cole

Defending champion: Dan McCarthy
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Harrison Endycott
* Starting from 10th tee