PGA Tour Exempt List Is Actually Much Bigger Than 125

When it comes to numbers, usually they are finite. With the PGA Tour, the FedExCup, and the exempt list, it isn’t the case.

Normally, a 2 is a 2. A 100 is a 100. But in the case of standings on this year’s FedExCup points list, a 126 might not be a 126. Even if a player didn’t make the top 125 in FedEx points, he might not be out of luck for next season. Why? It can be all about previous play or earnings on the PGA Tour, getting you onto an exempt list.

For instance, take Jimmy Walker. He came up short on the top 125 in FedEx points for 2019, but he gets onto the exempt list from winning the PGA Championship, which extends a couple more seasons. He’s sitting at 156 in FedEx points and won’t make the Playoffs.

However, he’s in prime category, category 1, which is “Winner of PGA Championship or U.S. Open prior to 1970 or in the last five seasons and the current season.” Walker won the PGA in 2016, so he’s still good to enter PGA Tour events for another year, or so, depending on when actual exemption start date.

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Another player to miss the top 125 is Martin Kaymer, a two-time major champ who finished 150th in FedEx Points. His exemption from the 2014 Players Championship and 2014 U.S. Open expires this year, but if he wants to, he can write to sponsors of regular PGA Tour events for tournament exemptions.

What tournament doesn’t want Martin Kaymer? He’s still a member of the European Tour, he’s just 34, the age formerly considered prime for winning majors, and he’s already won two.

Kaymer has an impressive major championship record, having played in each of them since the 2008 Masters except for the 2017 edition, which he missed with an injury.

While Kaymer’s world ranking has slipped to 92, with a few good performances on the European Tour, he might be able to get back into the top 50 by the time The Players rolls around again. He’s been a lifetime member of the European Tour since 2010, after he won the PGA, so it’s not like he doesn’t have a place to play.

Former PGA Champ Jason Dufner ended his season in 136th place in the FedEx points standings. You’d think that means he’s out for next year because his PGA Championship exemption has expired. Not so! His victory at The Memorial in 2017 also grants a three-year exemption for him. So, he’s set for another season, at least.

While people were wringing their hands over the fate of Zach Johnson, he still gets onto the exempt list from winning the British Open. So even though he’s number 154 on the FedEx points list at the end of the season, he can still enter any tournament he wants to, save those determined only by world rankings.

Since he has a near lifetime pass to the Masters and the British Open, those are two majors he can play in for probably the next 20-plus years. Johnson is already 43 – where did the time go – even though he still looks like a young pup. So, despite his FedEx points status in 2019, you’ll see him plenty of times in 2020.

Padraig Harrington is a popular player on at least two circuits, and while he finished 213th in FedEx points in 2019, he has played most recently on a career money exemption. However, that tends to be a one-time use category.

Whether Harrington, a three-time major winner, will play the Korn Ferry Finals in order to secure a card for next season is not yet known. Regardless, he is a lifetime member of the European Tour and can always play those events. Plus, he won the PGA once and the British Open twice, so he’s exempt in those for another nearly 20 years.

Harrington will be 48 at the end of August, so whether he plays the PGA Tour or the European Tour in 2020, the next big question is will he play the PGA Tour Champions in two years?

Those are just a few of the players who are on the exempt list, whether or not they got to the magic 125th spot or better in FedEx points.

Now there are a few exemptions you just won’t believe still exist. Back in the dark ages, before there was an organization called the PGA Tour, all professional golfers played events that were administered by the PGA of America.

After the split took place in 1968, the 1969 season began with the PGA of America conducting the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup, and a new organization, which became the PGA Tour, which ran the events we now know as PGA Tour.

Next. J.T. Poston joins growing list of first-time PGA TOUR winners. dark

Due to those long-ago ties and the terms of the split, several former PGA Champions and U.S. Open champions are still exempt. That includes Don January, Bobby Nichols, Al Geiberger, Dow Finsterwald, Raymond Floyd, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus. If they wanted to, they could tee it up next season on the PGA Tour. But really, who needs that kind of punishment when you are over a certain age? Nobody.

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