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Pga tour eliminates 15-season requirement for lifetime membership.

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The 2022-23 PGA Tour season promises to be a season in transition with the circuit overhauling everything from its schedule, with a move to a calendar lineup, to the creation of designated events with large purses and deep fields.

Players, fans and the media will spend the year dissecting the avalanche of changes – with the most notable arguably being an adjustment to the post-season fields with the number of players advancing to the playoffs reduced to 70 (FedEx St. Jude Championship), 50 (BMW Championship) and 30 (Tour Championship) – but there was one procedural adjustment to the Tour’s regulations that you might have missed.

When Dustin Johnson won the 2019 WGC-Mexico Championship for his 20 th Tour victory he was quick to point out how important the milestone was for him.

“I definitely wanted to get to that 20 number. To get 20 wins obviously is a lifetime exemption on the Tour, so that’s a very big accomplishment,” said Johnson in Mexico before he was asked about the benefits of life membership, including an exemption from the Tour’s strength of schedule requirement. “I definitely was thinking about that.”

Johnson was later informed that under Tour regulations a player needed 20 victories and 15 seasons of membership to qualify for lifetime membership. The 2019 season was Johnson’s 12 th as a member, and he resigned his Tour membership last year (which would have been his 15 th season) after joining LIV Golf.

The irony for Johnson is that the Tour removed the 15-season minimum for lifetime membership starting in 2022. Although lifetime membership would have exempted him from the strength of field requirement, which forced players to add new events to their schedules each year, he almost certainly would have qualified as a “top player” and been required to meet the new 20-event mandatory participation requirement, which includes the 12 designated events, the majors, The Players Championship and three additional FedExCup events.

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The 20-win career on the PGA Tour could be rarer than ever as it gets harder to win

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Bubba Watson already has achieved more than he ever imagined. Two green jackets from the Masters. A World Golf Championship title in Shanghai. Six victories on the PGA Tour. And now he has raised the bar on what he hopes to accomplish before he's finished.

It doesn't sound like much, not compared with 79 wins by Tiger Woods, or Sam Snead's record of 82. Not even compared with 20 wins by Davis Love III.

"The global game makes it harder to win," Watson said after winning the HSBC Champions. "Ten wins for me personally, and any young player, that's the first goal. Because that number 10, we don't talk about it enough. Everybody in the field is so talented."

There was a time when 10 victories was good, but not even close to great.

The PGA Tour awards a lifetime exemption for 20 wins. Four active players on the PGA Tour have at least 20 victories — Woods, Phil Mickelson (42), Vijay Singh (34) and Love. But there are 33 others from previous eras who are in the 20-win club.

Maybe it's time to lower the bar.

"I think if you get to double digits," Hunter Mahan. "How many guys have that?"

It's not that long of a list. Ernie Els has 19 and Jim Furyk has 16. David Toms and David Duval are at 13 as they wind down their careers. Steve Stricker and Justin Leonard are at 12, while Zach Johnson and Adam Scott have won 11 times.

Rory McIlroy has nine wins on the PGA Tour, all against the strongest fields. Projections for Boy Wonder are higher, and they should. be. He's special, one of those players who come along every other generation or so.

As for the rest of them?

Maybe there's too much money in golf — 50 players earned more money in 2014 than Arnold Palmer did in his career — and it lessens the motivation to win. There was a time not long ago when it was harder to win because Woods wasn't leaving much for anyone else.

The more reasonable explanation is that these guys really are good. And there are more of them than ever before.

"It's hard to see a 40-time winner on tour now, isn't it?" said Geoff Ogilvy, who has eight career wins. "As good as (Jordan) Spieth is, 40 times! That's two times a year for 20 years. So there's less of that. The golf is better. But the winning, the piling up wins, there's less of that."

Fred Couples was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame with only 15 wins and one major. Mark O'Meara will be inducted this summer with a slightly better record — 16 wins and two majors. Can Furyk be that far behind with his 16 victories and U.S. Open title? And while money is not a great measure with inflation and TV money, Furyk's $60 million in career money trails only Woods, Mickelson and Singh.

Maybe there's a reason some administrator at the PGA Tour set the bar at 20 wins for a lifetime exemption. Except for the truly great ones, that club doesn't figure to get much larger. Love was the last player to get his 20th victory at age 44.

Matt Kuchar is fond of saying that no tour has ever held back a great player, and that principle applies. The great ones will accomplish exceedingly more, whether their names are Nicklaus or Palmer, Hogan or Snead, Trevino or Casper. Woods picked up his 20th career win in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach when he was 24. Mickelson was 31 when he won for the 20th time at the Bob Hope Classic two years later. Those two are elite.

The definition of great, however, is getting blurry.

"What's great in our generation? It's hard to say," Kuchar said. "It's a classic argument, and I'm not sure there is a right answer. ... We're really judge on majors, but 20 wins, the lifetime deal would be a cool feather in the cap."

Johnson doesn't get enough credit to have won 11 times (including the Masters) even though he lacks the kind of power that defines the modern generation. Leonard was like that a decade earlier. Asked what he would call a good career, Johnson lowered the bar to four or five victories.

"Just because it's so hard," he said. "There are some guys who won last year I haven't even met."

Someone will add to that total at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions this week. Johnson has the most victories of anyone in the field. Watson could win and bump his total to seven career wins, inching closer to his goal — or at least his next goal.

"I'm going to keep trying until I get to 10, and then I'll switch it from there," he said. "Or retire."

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With Two More Wins, McIlroy Becomes Lifetime Exempt

By kathlene bissell | feb 5, 2021.

As Rory McIlroy continues his marathon seven tournaments in eight weeks plan, it’s interesting to note that he only needs two more PGA Tour titles to become lifetime exempt on the PGA Tour. In a standard year, the former world No. 1 would have no problem rattling off two titles.  He’s done that five times since 2010, having four wins in his best season.

The lifetime exempt category, which comes with 20 victories, means he could enter any PGA Tour event for the rest of his life, as long as it’s not an invitational. Of course, he will probably be invited to those.

McIlroy’s currently on 18 titles and has been stuck there since before COVID interrupted everything last spring. It’s hard to believe someone as young as he is could be closing in on a lifetime exemption. But he is that good. It would put him in the same category, PGA Tour-wise, as legends like Greg Norman and Hale Irwin.  He’d be four behind Dustin Johnson w ho blew right through 20 and leapt right up to 24, tied with Gary Player. Johnson is three years older than McIlroy so there’s plenty of time.

As we all know, McIlroy can get on hot streaks.  He can win a tournament and keep going and win another, even if he takes a week off now and again.  So, it’s possible, if his game rounds into form, that he could crack the 20 mark by the Masters.  His eight weeks will take him through The Players, where he’s the only person to defend the same title twice, thanks to COVID which cancelled his defense last year.

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There’s some method to his seven of eight madness.

“I feel like the more I play, the more I’ll get comfortable with my game and know where it is,” he said at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego. “I just thought it was a good opportunity to sort of hit the ground running this week.”

Currently he’s playing the Waste Management Open for the first time.  The master plan, we presume, is to give him a chance to be tournament tough for the Masters.

“I think winning and being in contention and playing good rounds of golf, that’s the best way to prepare for going into major championships,” he noted about his new scheme.

He added Waste Management to his calendar because he was told it was a good fit for his game.  And, he added, he was already on the west coast, having just played the Farmers.

If driving is any indication of the state of his sharpness, he admitted to a 340-yard drive on the 10th hole of TPC Scottsdale in the first round of the Waste Management when the morning was still quite cool. So, he has taken advantage of his skill with the driver.

However, he and his caddie haven’t quite gotten the hang of playing for the valley effect on the greens at TPC Scottsdale. The valley effect means the land near the mountains north of town, where the course is located, falls off toward downtown Scottsdale.  It means putts will break in that direction, just as putts in the American Express used to break toward Indio. It’s not Indio that influences them.  It’s the Salton Sea which is 238.31 ft below sea level.  Indio is 16 feet below sea level. But the courses that used to be in the American Express when that saying came about were all closer to Palm Springs , which is at a much higher elevation than Indio.  About 500 feet higher, so no wonder the putts break that direction.

In Scottsdale, the golf course is at 1532 feet, and downtown Scottsdale is 1257 feet, so just as gravity pulls golf balls toward the Salton Sea at the American Express, gravity pulls golf balls toward downtown Scottsdale at the Waste Management Open. Golfers have to play for it because at the end of a putt, the ball will curve off in that direction.

This week, McIlroy faces a gaggle of very good players including a revitalized Brooks Keopka, an always dangerous Jon Rahm, the reincarnated Steve Stricker and plenty of others.

So, can he overcome the valley effect and stay away from prickly pear cactus the rest of this week and make it to victory No. 19? We are about to find out.

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PGA Tour, DP World Tour announce stunning new exemption guidelines

The DP World Tour, now more than ever before, appears to be acting as a feeder tour for the PGA Tour across the pond.

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Before Tiger Woods burst onto the scene in the late 1990s, the European Tour—now the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons—competed head-to-head against the PGA Tour.

Both circuits had amazing talent, with the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Sam Torrance, Ian Woosnam, Sir Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, and Colin Montgomerie leading the European charge.

But times have changed.

The DP World Tour is now a feeder tour to the PGA Tour, and Monday’s announcement boldens that claim.

Beginning with the 2024 season, full membership on the DP World Tour is available to players who finish in positions 126th to 200th in the 2023 FedEx Cup Fall points list.

Furthermore, affiliate membership of the DP World Tour is available to any other PGA Tour player who participates in any Race to Dubai tournament during the 2024 season.

The Race to Dubai is the DP World Tour’s equivalent of the FedEx Cup.

Affiliate members and non-members will now appear on a new ‘Non-Member Race to Dubai Points List’ following the first tournament where they earn points.

Should affiliate members play more than four qualifying events on the DP World Tour, they will earn a spot in the DP World Tour playoffs.

Meanwhile, those who finish the FedEx Cup fall ranked 125th and above will obtain PGA Tour cards for the 2024 season.

“When we announced our Strategic Alliance with the PGA Tour in November 2021, one of the prime objectives was to give as many opportunities as possible to members of both Tours, and this is another perfect example of how this is working,” said David Howell, the Chairman of the DP World Tour’s Tournament Committee.

Sure, more opportunities will exist for more players, but the DP World Tour will house those who could not qualify for the PGA Tour.

Those PGA Tour players ranked between 126th and 200th in the FedEx Cup fall standings who take up full membership will play from a newly created category within the 2024 DP World Tour exemption category list.

Only five players from this category can play in a DP World Tour event in any given week—meaning only five PGA Tour players can enter a DP World Tour field.

That will help protect current players on the DP World Tour, but it does not protect the European circuit’s top talent.

The top 10 players on the DP World Tour’s 2023 Race to Dubai rankings—not otherwise exempt—will earn PGA Tour cards for the 2024 season.

So, the best of the DP World Tour will head to the PGA Tour, meaning it will be deprived of its top talent.

Here are the top 10 players in the rankings—not otherwise exempt—following Adrian Meronk’s win at the Andalucia Masters :

• Adrian Meronk (Poland)
• Ryan Fox (New Zealand)
• Victor Perez (France)
• Min Woo Lee (Australia)
• Alexander Björk (Sweden)
• Robert MacIntyre (Scotland)
• Ryo Hisatsune (Japan)
• Thorbjørn Olesen (Denmark)
• Joost Luiten (Netherlands)
• Marcel Siem (Germany)

What is great about this list is that 10 different countries are represented. Yet, these players will be plucked from the DP World Tour.

Ballesteros is likely rolling over in his grave, but the DP World Tour faced no other options. They have been strapped for cash—only turning a profit on years in which Europe hosts the Ryder Cup . Hence, the strategic alliance that was announced a couple of years ago.

Of course, there are ongoing negotiations between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund on the future of professional golf.

Nobody knows what the sport will look like in 2025, but in 2024, the writing on the wall is clear that the DP World Tour is the minor league affiliate of the PGA Tour.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.

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Playing ‘on a medical’: The PGA Tour’s injury exemption program explained

Whatever happens the rest of this year on the PGA Tour, it will be hard to top, from both a gut-check and feel-good perspective, the story of Ryan Brehm, who used his one and only start on a Minor Medical Extension to win the Puerto Rico Open . The Medical Extension, which dates to 1987, was instituted to protect the exempt status of injured players until they are able to return to competition. In Brehm's case, he was granted an extension of one start after testing positive for COVID-19 in 2021, and he used it for a victory he had to have or else he would have lost his tour card.

A story like Brehm's is not uncommon on the tour, though seldom does one have a more Hail Mary aspect to it, considering the 35-year-old Michigan native was ranked 773rd in the world and never before had posted a top-10 finish in 67 starts.

Last fall, though, Jim Knous got his own prayer answered when he battled his way to a seemingly innocuous T-57 at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship . That's a long way from Brehm's fairytale triumph, but Knous still celebrated like he had won. Which, in a way, he did. That finish was worth a paltry 5.2 FedEx Cup points. But they were priceless to Knous, who was playing in the last of six events he was granted via a Major Medical Extension after suffering a right wrist injury in 2019 that required surgery and sidelined him for nearly a year. The 31-year-old Colorado native collected just enough points to retain conditional status on the PGA Tour and full Korn Ferry Tour status through 2022.

A week later, Danny Lee fulfilled the terms of his Minor Medical Extension with a T-7 at Mayakoba and regained full status for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. There are currently 15 more players who would like to add their own success stories. That is the current number who have successfully applied for and still have events remaining under the tour’s medical extension program. Eleven others began the season with various extensions but fell short of earning the necessary points before running out of starts, though some players, such as Joseph Bramlett and Vincent Whaley, remained exempt in lower priority rankings.

Ryan Brehm hugs his caddie/wife Chelsey after winning the Puerto Rico Open in March on his one and only medical exemption.

Stacy Revere

The creation of the tour’s system for protecting the eligibility of injured golfers began in 1985, when Jim Nelford broke his leg in a skiing accident. That prompted him to take the initiative in starting discussions with the tour about a system that would allow him to retain his exempt status. At the time, the tour had a medical provision in place but it only enabled an injured golfer to keep his membership, not his exempt status, which meant little in regard to getting tournament starts. Nelford’s case was reviewed in 1986, and the Special Medical Extension category was added to the list of exemptions starting in ’87.

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Most fans of professional golf likely have some awareness of the tour’s medical extension policy or at least have heard references made to it. But chances are they have little idea how it works. Don’t feel bad. It’s complicated. And the way in which it is administered is predicated on a number of factors that, quite obviously, shift from player to player.

“There is no way to give you every scenario we’ve seen. There is no typical case,” says Kirsten Burgess, vice president, competition administration for the PGA Tour and the person charged with overseeing the medical extension program. “There’s no one out there that doesn't have a wrist that hurts, or a back that hurts or anything. They're all hurting in some way or the another. They're professional athletes, and they're putting a lot of wear and tear on their bodies. There are going to be issues.”

Basically, there are two categories for medical extensions, which has been in place since 1995. A major medical is for players who are sidelined for more than four months, and a minor extension covers players hurt fewer than that term. A third category, the “family crisis extension” covers players who miss time because of an illness or injury in the family that keeps them from competing; a player has to be absent at least two months to qualify for a minor extension.

One of the most recent examples was the case of John Senden, who took an extended leave in 2017 when his son, Jacob, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He competed in 2018 on a medical extension. Perhaps more famously, Dudley Hart earned PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year honors in 2008 after taking off most of 2007 to care for his wife Suzanne and their 5-year-old triplets when Suzanne underwent surgery for a tumor in one of her lungs.

In all cases, the process begins with a player needing a note from a doctor. No, we’re not kidding. A player cannot just claim an injury. And there has to be supporting documentation, such as MRIs, surgery reports or X-rays. A medical committee, which includes a physician, then reviews each player application. It is not known how many players are denied their request. (The query to the tour went unanswered.) Chances are the number is low given the extent of the information required in the application.

The next step is to determine just how many events a player is entitled to when he returns. Each player gets the greater number of the following: his average number of starts in the three previous calendar years or, if that is not applicable, the average number of starts players in the top 125 made the previous year. The number of starts the player made in the season of his injury is then subtracted from either of these two figures. Further starts can be subtracted at the tour’s discretion based on the player’s eligibility in certain marquee events. Exemption status at the time of the injury, be it major winners, tour winners, top 125, conditional status, Korn Ferry Tour graduates, can come into play here.

Jim Nelford's skiing accident in the mid-1980s eventually led to the PGA Tour's medical exemption program.

Tony Roberts

As Burgess explained: “We go through the schedule and we say, ‘OK, well, you wouldn't have gotten in the Masters. You wouldn't have gotten in the U.S. Open. You wouldn't have gotten in the Memorial.’ They actually have to have missed x-number of events. If they missed 20 events, but would have only gotten in 18 of them, then they would only get 18 events back. You don't get credit for something you wouldn't have been in.”

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The goal for every player is to earn enough points—as many as the player who finished 125th in the FedEx Cup standings the previous year—to be exempt for the remainder of the season in which he returns. Or, again, in the case of Knous, earn as many points as the 150th player in the standings the previous season for conditional status in the 126-150 category.

Statistics show, however, that the odds are stacked against the returning player from maintaining their status long term. From 2011-2021, there were 144 players on a medical extension and only 28 of them (19 percent) made their combined top 125. Thirty-one of 144 (22 percent) completed their medical and then remained exempt via the top 125 or from a tournament win the following season. (Remember, a player who earns as many points as the player who finished 125th the year before has status only for that season and then must, in essence, start over to finish in the top 125 the following year. That's why wrapping up their status in the fall was a boon to Knous and Lee because they enjoy almost the full season that ends in August to keep their status for 2022-23. Knous is currently 195th on the points list for this season while Lee is 71st.)

Burgess added that if we include players who completed their medical and finished outside of the top 125 but then went on to get their card back via Korn Ferry Tour Finals (or Q school) there are an additional 14 players who have effectively used their medical extension for a total of 45 out of 144. Still, that is only a little more than 31 percent.

There are other factors that figure into the use of the medical extension. For instance, a player can only be on a medical extension for a maximum of three seasons, a rule instituted in 2015. Anything past the three seasons has to be approved by the commissioner, who can add one more season for a total of four maximum. Morgan Hoffmann, who returned at last month’s RBC Heritage from an extended— and unconventional —rehabilitation period as he battles muscular dystrophy, is in his fourth year of his medical extension that started with 18 events in 2018. After missing the cut in Harbour Town, he has two starts left to accumulate 238.42 FedEx Cup points to maintain full status, which he held in 2017-18.

Morgan Hoffmann has two more starts left on his medical exemption as he tries to return to the PGA Tour after time away treating muscular dystrophy.

It should be noted that a player has a strong incentive to not come back until he’s certain he can compete. Because once he resumes playing a “normal schedule,” which is typically two or three tournaments, Burgess said, he can only carry over his medical extension for one more season.

There is yet one more limitation to the extension, and that addresses the nature of the injury. A player can only take a medical for a particular injury just one time. A repetitive or lingering back injury is not a ticket to limitless visits to the tour-protected DL. Conversely, a wrist injury suffered one year and another five years later are considered separate cases and would be eligible for an extension.

All in all, it’s a system that protects a player’s status but comes with plenty of caveats so that the membership at large is protected, too. “There are a lot of checks and balances,” Burgess said. “There have been a lot of adjustments to the system over the years. The bottom line is that a player, in most cases, has a chance to rehab, get healthy and come back and have a chance to compete.”

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A Brief Look at the PGA Tour Exemption System

There are a variety of ways to acquire an exemption on Tour, but the bottom line is that you have to play well to get it at some point in your life. That time is now for many.

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Last week, at the Ginn sur Mer Classic in the developing region of Palm Coast, Florida, Ryan Palmer, who was previously on the “bubble,” (he was ranked 143 entering the week), secured himself a spot in the aforementioned 125 with a victory (and a two-year exemption, of course, for winning). Exempt status often seems to be a vague, mysterious, and perhaps sinister thing, even though the qualifications for such a status are laid out on the Tour’s website and the information is readily available to any seeker. In order to save you the trouble of additional navigation deeper into the recesses of cyberspace, a variety of ways (and a few exemplary individuals satisfying the various requirements) will be looked at here, along with any potential “exempt status drama” brewing in the final relevant tournament of the year (officially referred to as an “event cosponsored by the PGA Tour”).

The Big Tournaments Contrary to a certain opinion, Tiger Woods is not permitted to play on the PGA Tour just because he’s a very good golfer, people generally like him, and he makes the Tour a great deal of money. Under the current system, Woods would be exempt for a variety of reasons, but officially, he received an exemption for the 2008 season because of his status as “Winner of a PGA Championship or U.S. Open prior to 1970 or in the last 10 calendar years.”

As the web site points out, “each PGA Tour player has earned a position on the priority ranking system that will be used to select tournament fields.” Of the 33 qualifications for exempt status, “Winner of a PGA Championship…” is given top priority. This is also a five-year exemption, which is the longest given by the PGA. It’s interesting that top priority is placed upon winning the PGA’s Major, but when this is considered in light of the fact that the other majors hand out exempt status to their own tournament, and indeed to other majors, it seems to be a logical choice for top priority in the PGA’s system.

Following this, winners of the Players Championship, The Masters, and the British Open during the past ten years are granted an exemption. Members of this five-year exempt status entering the current year include Davis Love III, Zach Johnson and Ben Curtis. The next tier below this are winners of the Tour Championship, or any World Golf Championship event since 2005. The latter is the reason for David Toms’ exempt status entering this year.

It’s certainly not particle physics, but it’s easy to see why players generally designate between the Majors, the second level events (Players, Tour, WGC) and the remaining events of significance. It makes sense that a golfer is compensated more fully in the system for a victory in one of the more difficult tournaments, thus giving the golfer a better chance for further self-preservation by guaranteeing him tournament appearances for a longer period of time. As an example, Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton, respectively, are neither the highest earning nor the winningest golfers on Tour, but the magnitude of their wins has ensured them an exempt status for a period of ten years. However, it could be asked whether or not the PGA Championship is five times more difficult than the average event on Tour, which is what the decision to allow exemption for a period of 10 years versus only two seems to be suggesting.

The Regular Tour Events A bit further down the list of possibilities for exemption come winners in Tour-approved events within the past two years. Fred Couples may have earned the gross domestic product of several small countries in the Skins Game, but it doesn’t contribute to his exempt status for the 2008 season. Interestingly, he is insured this as a player “among the Top 25 in career earnings as of the end of the preceding calendar year” who “elect[s] to use this special exemption for a second year, provided that the player remains among the Top 25 on the career money list.” J.B. Holmes, Rory Sabbatini, Jonathan Byrd, and Charles Howell III all are exempt because of a victory during the previous two seasons.

Other Means of Exempt Status After a number of other less than common classifications, such as “Two international players designated by the Commissioner,” comes a rather interesting category: “Life Members (who have been active members of the PGA TOUR for 15 years and have won at least 20 co-sponsored events),” in other words, golfers who were formerly winning a number of tournaments but are now, essentially, past their prime. Tom Watson, a fan favorite and arguably one of the 15 greatest golfers of all time, is the only member of this category. Watson, of course, spends the majority of his time playing on the Champions Tour, where he is anything but past his prime, having won twice this year.

Next, the contentious and highly visible “Top 125 on previous year’s Official Money List.” Jose M. Olazabal, Tommy Armour III, and Shigeki Maruyama are exempt coming into this year for this reason. The chief drama surrounding a potential leap into the top 125 this week ought to be provided by Jeff Overton. Overton, who underwent an emergency appendectomy only weeks ago and is wearing a naproxen patch because of the immensity of the pain he is enduring, is teeing it up this week in hopes of maintaining — if not bettering — his 125th place status. We’ll return to a glance at players “on the bubble” this week, but the rest of the list awaits.

A few categories past medical exemptions – which allowed David Duval to play this year – comes another visible battle for inclusion in an exempt group. Membership in the category “Top 25 and Ties from the previous year’s PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament… and players 2-25 on the 2007 Nationwide Tour money list” allowed Chez Reavie and Kevin Streelman to compete on Tour this year. Reavie did not earn an exemption for 2009 with his victory at the RBC Canadian Open, however, as this is not a Tour cosponsored event. Following this are a number of “special” classes, including past tournament winners and “Veteran Members who have made a minimum of 150 cuts.”

Returning to players around the “125” number, a few names stand out. David Toms is perhaps the most notable. However, there’s no need to panic, golf fans. Toms is exempt through 2001 because of his status as a winner on Tour in the previous few years, even though he will no longer be exempt as a result of his 2005 victory at the Accenture Match Play Championship. Davis Love III, at 118, has recently increased the value of his stock with good play. Should he finish in the top 125, he won’t be forced to use an exemption based upon his place in the career money list. This may be a mere technicality, but the perception that he earned his exemption based upon good play recently, rather than past success, is surely worth something to the man and keeps him free (at least temporarily) of the “has-been” label.

Jason Gore is presently situated at number 136 on the money list. Having played well in previous years, Gore was comfortably situated in the top 125 on the list last year. He’s been invisible in 2008, save for a few weeks. Unless he rights the ship in Orlando this week, the man will be in trouble. Perched at number 131, Bob Tway also finds himself in an uncomfortable position entering the week. Regardless of these two individuals, the standout story is Overton, who has defied doctor’s orders in an attempt to keep his card.

There are a variety of ways to acquire an exemption on Tour, but the bottom line is if you haven’t won recently, haven’t played well in the present year, or don’t have a legacy of great play to fall back upon, you might find yourself in a very undesirable spot entering a tournament, as a few players do this week at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic. Of course, a miracle victory by someone well outside the top 125 is always a possibility, and an assurance of exemption for the upcoming year.

14 thoughts on “A Brief Look at the PGA Tour Exemption System”

I’m guessing that if you add up all those who are exempt under the 33 criteria, you’d have more than can fit into a PGA Tour event field.

Can you do a follow up on how a player gets into a PGA Tour event based on how he got his exemption?

How many 2009 PGA Tour event starts would the guy who came 25th at Q School or 25th on the Nationwide Tour expect to get with their exemptions earnt in 2008?

Further to Mark’s question, can you explain what each exemption entitles a player to do? In other words, I thought some of the exemptions do not necessarily entitle a player to enter any tournament he wants (not talking about special invites like Masters, etc.) on the tour, but others do, and that some exemptions are limited as to number of tournaments. Also, how is the pecking order established?

I have never understood how all this is done.

Thanks for the comments. I would be more than happy to do a follow up on the subject and answer the questions you have posed. If anyone else has further inquiries, please post them here and I’ll try to include a response to all of them in a follow up article in a few weeks.

Thanks again,

I get the top 125 money list and the exeptions it provides a given player for the following year. What I do not get is when the commentator says it is important because the top 125 players can set their schedule for next year.

Another question I have is the same as TRAV’s, how are the pairings determined at each tournatment? Bill Haas never seems to play with Vijay, Tiger or Phil. If the threesomes were selected at random you would think he would end up playing with someone in the top 25 once in a while.

Finally, how are the tee times determined for the first two rounds?

And these aren’t enough questions to keep you busy, please let us know …..

“Reavie did not earn an exemption for 2009 with his victory at the RBC Canadian Open, however, as this is not a Tour cosponsored event.”

Yes it is, and yes he did earn a two year exmemption. I was at his winning press conference when he was asked about it.

hi just wondering when a player is lucky enough to win more than once in a season, how does the exemption work for each event, do they run concurrently or one after another

regards colm

same question as colm. if a player wins more than once in the same year how does the exemption work.do they run concurrently or consecutive.

also how do you earn a lifetime exemption?

Davis Love III scored his 20th PGA Tour victory last November. Why was he not in the field of this years Masters?

Because he won a Fall Series event after the Tour Championship. They don’t count for the Masters the same way a “regular season” win does.

Hope to answer some of these:

1. You get up to five additional years for multiple wins (ie if you win three times you get a 5 year exemption) 2. The top 50 golfers ranked in the world that play in each non invitationals get the preferred times and the rest are picked at random. 3. Jay Williamson (25th Q) got into 19 events as of 10/4 and Ricky Barnes (25th NW) got into 20 events. 4. Each non invite tournament is has 132 or 144 players. They are ranked by each of the 33 categories. In order for a PGA player to keep his card he must play in at least 15 events per year. The top 100 players average about 20. So the tournaments get probably 90-100 of the 1-19 exempt status players enter each week. That is done on the Friday before the tournament. Then there is a stand by list where you are ranked by priority. Each week, there is always a couple of people that commit drop out.

If a PGA player missed the 125 players for the year, however qualified and made it to play in a tournament.. What is his status for that year if he wins a tournament,

What is Billy Hurley III’s Past Tour Winner Status ?

What exemptions do you get for second or third in a major?

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Here's the prize money payout for each golfer at the 2024 Corales Puntacana Championship

B illy Horschel jumped out to an early scorching start with four birdies on the first five holes Sunday to quickly take the lead, one he would never relinquish. Horschel then added another four birdies and an eagle to his scorecard to shoot a final-round 63 and win the Corales Puntacana Championship for his eighth PGA Tour title. The 63 also matched a course record at the Corales course at Puntacana Resort in the Dominican Republic.

Horschel, 37, followed 67-69 with 66-63 over the weekend to end at 23-under-total, two shots ahead of Wesley Bryan, who was looking to go wire-to-wire while playing on a sponsor exemption this week. It was his best finish on tour since 2017.

This marks the sixth time in the previous seven playings of the event that the winner has been in his 30s. Horschel also earned $720,000 from the overall $4 million purse. Bryan earned $436,000.

For Horschel, it was his first victory since the Memorial in 2022, where he topped Aaron Wise by four shots that week.

"This game of golf's so fickle, I think you can put a lot into it and get everything you want out of it," Horschel said. "But I knew in my 14 years, 13 years previously on the PGA Tour that I had the ability, I had the talent, I just needed to continue to work hard and do the right things and continue to believe that good stuff was going to come to the forefront at some point in time."

Horschel was asked about winning an opposite field event for the first time in his career. He was not in the signature events as he finished last season ranked No. 90 in FedEx Cup standings. He entered this week ranked 83rd in the World Ranking, having missed the cut at his last start, the Valero Texas Open two weeks ago.

"The PGA Tour has a lot of tournaments and it's tough for every tournament to get their due," he said. "Opposite field events have been crucial for a lot of players coming up the ranks. Look at Tony Finau, Viktor Hovland winning in Puerto Rico, Matt Wallace won this. So listen, it's another opportunity to play, it's another opportunity to become a better player, to get that win on the PGA Tour.

Also of note, twin brothers Parker and Pierceson Coody both finished inside the top 20. Parker opened with a first-round 66 and ended tied for sixth place at 16 under par. Pierceson opened with consecutive rounds of 67 and tied for 18th place at 12 under par, four shots behind his brother.

Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer who made the cut.

Win: Billy Horschel, -23/265, $720,000

2: Wesley Bryan, -21/267, $436,000

3: Kevin Tway, -19/269, $276,000

T-4: Charley Hoffman, -18/270, $180,000

T-4: Justin Lower, -18/270, $180,000

T-6: Chan Kim, -16/272, $135,000

T-6: Parker Coody, -16,/272 $135,000

T-6: Alex Smalley, -16/272, $135,000

T-9: Peter Kuest, -15/273, $113,000

T-9: Greyson Sigg, -15/273, $113,000

T-11: Matti Schmid, -14/274, $193,000

T-11: Trace Crowe, -14/274, $93,000

T-11: Taylor Pendrith, -14/274, $93,000

T-14: Ben Griffin, -13/275, $71,000

T-14: Michael Kim, -13/275, $71,000

T-14: Rafael Campos, -13/275, $71,000

T-14: Nico Echavarria, -13/275, $71,000

T-18: Jorge Campillo, -12/276, $53,000

T-18: Sean O'Hair, -12/276, $53,000

T-18: Davis Thompson, -12/276, $53,000

T-18: Pierceson Coody, -12/276, $53,000

T-18: Bill Haas, -12/276, $53,000

T-23: Adrien Dumont de Chassart, -11/277, $31,600

T-23: Alex Fitzpatrick, -11/277, $ 31,600

T-23: Patrick Fishburn, -11/277, $ 31,600

T-23 : Callum Tarren, -11/277, $ 31,600

T-23 : Vince Whaley, -11/277, $ 31,600

T-23 : Jacob Bridgeman, -11/277, $ 31,600

T-23 : Alex Noren, -1/277, $ 31,600

T-23 : Jhonattan Vegas, -11/277, $ 31,600

T-23 : Jimmy Stanger, -11/277, $ 31,600

T-23 : Patton Kizzire, -11/277, $ 31,600

T-33: Rico Hoey, -10/278, $22,800

T-33: Chez Reavie, -10/278, $22,800

T-33: Harrison Endycott, -10/278, $22,800

T-36: S.H. Kim, -9/279, $19,450

T-36 : Lanto Griffin, -9/279, $19,450

T-36 : Mark Hubbard, -9/279, $19,450

T-36 : Henrik Norlander, -9/279, $19,450

T-40: Sam Stevens, -8/280, $16,600

T-40: K.H. Lee, -8/280, $16,600

T-40: Max Greyserman, -8/280, $16,600

T-43: Victor Perez, -7/281, $12,680

T-43 : Sam Ryder, -7/281, $ 12,680

T-43 : William McGirt, -7/281, $ 12,680

T-43 : Adam Long, -7/281, $ 12,680

T-43 : Doug Ghim, -7/281, $ 12,680

T-43 : Harry Higgs, -7/281, $ 12,680

T-43 : Matt NeSmith, -7/281, $ 12,680

T-50: Daniel Berger, -6/282, $9,848

T-50 : Jimmy Walker, -6/282, $ 9,848

T-50 : Austin Smotherman, -6/282, $ 9,848

T-50 : Zecheng Dou, -6/282, $ 9,848

T-50 : Chad Ramey, -6/282, $ 9,848

T-55: Tyson Alexander, -5/283, $9,280

T-55 : Wilson Furr, -5/283, $9,280

T-55 : Ryan Palmer, -5/283, $9,280

T-55 : Ben Martin, -5/283, $9,280

T-59: Richy Wrenski, -4/284, $8,960

T-59 : Scott Piercy, -4/284, $ 8,960

T-59 : Brandon Wu, -4/284, $ 8,960

T-59 : Robert Streb, -4/284, $ 8,960

T-63: Tom Whitney, -3/285, $8,720

T-63: James Hahn, -3/285, $8,720

65: Brandon Berry, -2/286, $8,600

66: Scott Gutschewski, -1/287, $8,520

T-67: Troy Merritt, E/288, $8,360

T-67: Joel Dahmen, E/288, $8,360

T-67: Ryan Armour, E/288, $8,360

70: Erik Compton, +3/291, $8,200

The perks of winning a major championship: Tournaments, exemptions

There are a lot of perks that come with winning a major championship -- the Masters, PGA Championship, US Open and British Open Championship -- in golf.

Aside from the first-place prize money, which is 18 percent of the total purse, a men's major winner earns entry into the major they won for a number of years (sometimes life), PGA Tour exemptions and other goodies.

Let's lay out all the benefits of winning a major championship.

The perks of winning a major championship

• Prestige, obviously -- you're in a limited company of players to ever win a major
• If you win the Masters, you're in the Masters for life, basically, and you're in the U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship for five years
• If you win the U.S. Open, you're exempt in the U.S. Open for 10 years, and you're in the Masters, Open Championship and PGA Championship for five years
• If you win the British Open, you're in the Open until you're 60, and you're in the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship for five years
• If you win the PGA Championship, you're in the PGA Championship for life, basically, and you're in the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship for five years
• You get a 5-year exemption on the PGA Tour for winning a major, and you can pretty much set your schedule for two years
• You get a spot in the Tournament of Champions
• You get 100 Official World Golf Ranking points, which pretty much locks up a spot in the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking for 18 months, no matter what
• You get 600 FedEx Cup points
• You get big Ryder Cup points if you're an American or European player

About the author

Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is founder and editor of Golf News Net. He has been writing and broadcasting about golf for nearly 20 years. Ballengee lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his family. He is currently a +2.6 USGA handicap, and he has covered dozens of major championships and professional golf tournaments. He likes writing about golf and making it more accessible by answering the complex questions fans have about the pro game or who want to understand how to play golf better.

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Points and payouts: Billy Horschel returns to winner's circle earning 300 FedExCup points, $720,000

Golfbet News

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For the second time in as many Additional Events, a former winner on the PGA TOUR emerged with the title. Brice Garnett did it at the Puerto Rico Open on the second Sunday of March. Today, it was Billy Horschel at the Corales Puntacana Championship.

It could be argued that the only commonality between both winners was that they had prevailed previously, but in a blind test, no one would mistake Garnett’s career for Horschel’s, and vice versa. And that’s not a knock to either guy, instead, it’s a validation of the possibilities of the Additional Events. Show up, peg it and putt out. The golf ball doesn’t care who you are.

All motivations to compete in Additional Events begin with the opportunity to make a difference in one’s season and potentially a career, but the betting houses care only about the tournament proper.

In what was his season debut, Garnett was +15000 to win pre-tournament at BetMGM in Puerto Rico. He broke through on the PGA TOUR in the inaugural edition of the Corales Puntacana in 2018, so he went six years without another trophy presentation, not to mention a loss of fully exempt status in the interim.

Horschel’s most recent of seven TOUR victories was the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday in early June of 2022, and he’s played out of the winners category ever since his maiden title at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2013. Of course, he also was the 2014 FedExCup champion. And with a sturdy 2024 that already included two top 10s among four top 20s, it wasn’t surprising that his pre-tournament odds were just +2000 , third-shortest in the field of 132.

With his eighth victory, Horschel banks 300 FedExCup points and $720,000. The win comes with a two-year exemption (although Horschel is exempt on TOUR through 2025 thanks to his win at the Memorial), entry into the PGA Championship at Valhalla next month and a start next year at Kapalua in The Sentry.

Like Garnett, Wesley Bryan is a former winner on TOUR (2017 RBC Heritage) who also lost status – injury and shoulder surgery played a significant role as well – but he was attempting a wire-to-wire victory at Corales Golf Club. He settled for solo second, two strokes back of Horschel. Had Bryan finished the job, at +30000 , he’d have been the latest longshot to win in 2024.

Kevin Tway ( +15000 ) checked up alone in third another two shots in arrears. He’s another one-time PGA TOUR champion (2018 Fortinet Championship) who lost his card since.

At +1400 each, Alex Noren and Nicolai Højgaard were the tournament favorites at Corales. Noren finished T23, while Højgaard missed the cut by five. The Dane was the only golfer in the field who had played the Masters the previous week.

For resources to overcome a gambling problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER today.

Rob Bolton is a Golfbet columnist for the PGA TOUR. The Chicagoland native has been playing fantasy golf since 1994, so he was just waiting for the Internet to catch up with him. Follow Rob Bolton on Twitter .