What does "lifetime exemption" on the PGA Tour mean?

[dpark]

This may seem to be a silly question, but with all the hoopla about DL III winning his 20th PGA tour event and getting a "lifetime exemption", I curious to know what exactly that entails and what the limits are.

 

For example, does he still have to play a minimum number of events each year (to keep his PGA tour card) or can he play just his favorite ones?

 

What is his status compared to someone who makes it through Q-school, vs someone who wins a major or the Players? Is he basically always guaranteed a spot in the field in any event he wants? (except for the majors of course which aren't run by the PGA tour)

[StaffBag]

I don't believe that they need to play a minimum number of events per year any more, but I'm not sure.

 

Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer are LM members of the TOUR.

 

Basically means that he never has to ever worry about going to q-school and if he wishes to play the Champ. Tour, he should have no problem making the transition! (As if there was a question with that anyway.)

 

I think he says in the top classification of players too.

 

 

Basically means that he will have an EASY coast to the Champion's Tour from now on!

[Tmiller72]

Thw winners of the PGA Championship used to get lifetime exemptions. Before Jerry Barber died when he was in his 70's, he was playing in some tour events because he couldn't get into Senior Tour events.

[dpark]

No ... they do not have to play any number of tournaments, nor be anywhere on the money list. Basically, they are allowed into any PGA event they wish to play.

 

Note that lifetime membership is a very rare thing (only around 30 guys have won 20 or more on Tour in its entire history. A lot of them are dead). Palmer and Nicklas have it (though they certainly no longer play. The only active players that have it (other than DL III) are - I think - Vijay, and Phil, and Tom Watson (who really only plays the Champion's now).

 

Note that Tiger obviously has more than 20 wins, but that's only half of the requirement ... you also have to have been on the Tour for at least 15 years, and he didn't even join the Tour until 1996. (In context, his acvhievements seem almost inconceivable ... he's already third on the list of lifetime tournament wins, and is only around the halfway point of his career).

 

This is the stuff I was curious about. I could not find anywhere that there was a minimum number of years that someone had to play on the PGA Tour to qualify...

[Shivas18]

According to Wikipedia.... [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGA_Tour"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGA_Tour[/url]

The PGA Tour also conducts an annual Qualifying Tournament (known colloquially as [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-School"]Q-School[/url]), a six-round tournament held each [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn"]fall[/url]; the top 25 finishers, including ties, receive privileges to play on the following year's PGA Tour. Remaining finishers in the top 75, plus ties, receive full privileges on the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationwide_Tour"]Nationwide Tour[/url].

The top 25 money-winners on the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationwide_Tour"]Nationwide Tour[/url] also receive privileges on the following year's PGA Tour. A golfer who wins three events on that tour in a calendar year earns a "performance promotion" (informally a "battlefield promotion") which garners PGA Tour privileges for the remainder of the year plus the following full season.

At the end of each year, the top 125 money-winners on the PGA Tour receive a tour card for the following season, which gives them exemption from qualifying for most of the next year's tournaments. However at some events, known as invitationals, exemptions apply only to the previous year's top 70 players. Players who are ranked between 126–150 receive a conditional tour card, which gives them priority for places that are not taken up by players with full cards. Those players can also improve their status by going to the tour's qualifying school tournament, where those players can go straight to the final stage.

Winning a PGA Tour event provides a tour card for a minimum of two years, with an extra year added for each additional win with a maximum of five years. Winning a [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Golf_Championships"]World Golf Championships[/url] event or [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tour_Championship"]The Tour Championship[/url] provides a three-year exemption. Winners of the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_major_golf_championships"]major championships[/url] and [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Players_Championship"]The Players Championship[/url] earn a five-year exemption. Other types of exemptions include lifetime exemptions for players with twenty wins on the tour; one-time, one year exemptions for players in the top fifty on the [url="http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/current/014.html"]career money earnings list[/url] who are not otherwise exempt; two-time, one year exemptions for players in the top twenty-five on the career money list; and medical exemptions for players who have been injured, which give them an opportunity to regain their tour card after a period out of the tour. At the end of the season, the person leading the PGA Tour money list earns a five year exemption.

Similar to other major league sports, there is no rule limiting PGA Tour players to "men only." In 2003, [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annika_S%C3%B6renstam"]Annika Sörenstam[/url] and [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzy_Whaley"]Suzy Whaley[/url] played in PGA Tour events, and [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Wie"]Michelle Wie[/url] did so in each year from 2004 through 2008. None of these three made the cut, although Wie missed by only one stroke in 2004.

[hitsalittle]

Seriously? From three years ago?

[HeadonaStick]

[quote name='hitsalittle' timestamp='1318893541' post='3685249']
Seriously? From three years ago?
[/quote]
I saw that too... at least it is still a good question. Unlike most resurrected topics.

[ktgolfer]

lol good thing you mentioned it was from 3 years ago, because I was confused with the whole Tiger w/15 years. This would be his 15th!

[Lairdyboy]

How many events did Tiger play last year? Im not a hater or anything but I always wondered if there was any ruling on Tiger not playing the minimum required events last year?

[tbowles411]

[quote name='Lairdyboy' timestamp='1318932511' post='3687213']
How many events did Tiger play last year? Im not a hater or anything but I always wondered if there was any ruling on Tiger not playing the minimum required events last year?
[/quote]
His status is different. He was out due to injury. Plus, with 72 wins, to include those 14 majors, his exempt status and money list position are moot points. If he wants to play somewhere, he's playing. No questions asked.

[whatshannenin]

[quote name='tbowles411' timestamp='1318934394' post='3687243']
[quote name='Lairdyboy' timestamp='1318932511' post='3687213']
How many events did Tiger play last year? Im not a hater or anything but I always wondered if there was any ruling on Tiger not playing the minimum required events last year?
[/quote]
His status is different. He was out due to injury. Plus, with 72 wins, to include those 14 majors, his exempt status and money list position are moot points. If he wants to play somewhere, he's playing. No questions asked.
[/quote]

Yeah....I'd like to see the Tournament director or PGA Tour Director who says to Tiger (actually Tiger's agent who enters him in the events) "I'm sorry, you don't qualify for this event due to such and such..." Remember what happened when Stevie wanted to wear shorts.....

[schlyer]

At his current pace, he won't be playing in the Accenture Match Play because he'll be outside the top 64 in the world. Never thought it would happen, but he's not going to get into any of the WGC events if he doesn't start playing better/more.

[Frank-0-Sport]

Greetings ...

The PGA Tour's Life Member exemption is usable in all regular open PGA Tour events, plus some regular invitationals (Memorial, Arnold Palmer, Heritage, etc.). It can not be used in events like any of the Majors, the Players or the World Golf Championships.

FYI - [url="http://www.pgatour.com/r/player_exemptions/index.html"][b]PGA Tour Exemption Categories[/b][/url] (Life Member is #17)

While any player can earn The Life Member Exemption with at least 20 PGA Tour wins and 15 years as an active regular member, the exemption itself becomes available for usage by qualified players in a given calendar year -ONLY IF- if, during the previous calendar year, the player achieves a certain scoring average against the PGA Tour average. Oddly enough, this can be achieved in as little as a single official event. Tom Watson and Greg Norman have had Life Member status on a few occasions because of this quirky requirement. Watson himself has done it just by making the cut and then completing all 72 holes at either the Masters or the British Open.

[url="http://www.swingone.com/blog/?p=184"][b]March 14 2009 Blog Article Explaining the Scoring Requirement for Life Member Exemption[/b][/url]

If you wonder why qualified players like Lanny Wadkins and Johnny Miller do not appear under the Life Member Category, it is because neither man no longer plays in any PGA Tour event. In the very unlikely event that either one of them were to play just one PGA Tour event, make the cut, finish 72 holes and in the process meet the scoring average requirement, then they would earn Life Member Status for the next season.

This is also true for the likes of Vijay Singh, Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson and -YES- Eldrick Tiger Woods, too!

So, unless you can meet that quirky scoring average requirement, you -CAN NOT- use the Life Member Exemption.

As it stands now, Tiger is unconditionally exempt thru at least 2014, as a multiple tournament winner -IE, the combination of his five-year exemption for winning the 2008 US Open and tournaments won in 2009. If he wins at least one non-major regular event each year thru the end of 2013 (when his 2008 US Open status expires), his unconditional status will be extended additional one year for each such win. I am not certain how Tiger's 2009 Fed Ex Cup win effects this process, if at all.

As for Phil Mickelson, he is unconditionally exempt thru 2016 thanks to the combination of his 2010 Masters win and his 2011 Shell-Houston Open win. Like Tiger, if Phil wins at least one non-major event each year thru 2015 (end of 2010 Masters status), then Phils's unconditional status is extended one additional year for each such win.

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Sport

[phil75070]

Lifetime members are number 17 in priority for getting into events. See here:

http://www.pgatour.com/r/player_exemptions/index.html

This actually lists by name who falls into each category.

[bw2082]

why's Mickelson listed as category 2 instead of 1 when he's won the PGA in the last 10 years?

[darkhelmet]

[quote name='schlyer' timestamp='1318995195' post='3691455']
At his current pace, he won't be playing in the Accenture Match Play because he'll be outside the top 64 in the world. Never thought it would happen, but he's not going to get into any of the WGC events if he doesn't start playing better/more.
[/quote]


I don't get the impression that he'd be heartbroken over missing out on the Accenture Match Play. Every time I've seen an interview, seems like he's only playing in that tourney every year because he's expected to.

Not to mention that it's sponsored by Accenture, who dropped his sponsorship last year.

[Frank-0-Sport]

Greetings ...

[quote name='bw2082' timestamp='1319134178' post='3697787']
why's Mickelson listed as category 2 instead of 1 when he's won the PGA in the last 10 years?
[/quote]

No particular reason, other than maybe to give notoriety to the Players Championship, which is purely a PGA Tour event, where as each of the four Grand Slam Majors are not.

Incidently, the exemption should be listed as just five years and -NOT- 10, as the PGA Tour quit handing out 10-year exemptions after 1997. For whatever reason, the PGA Tour has not edited out references to 10-year exemptions, either on their exemptions web-page or in their annual PGA Tour Media Guide.

In actuality, Mickelson is fully exempt thru 2016 for winning the 2010 Masters (a 5-year exemption) -AND- one 2011 event (Shell-Houston). Any time you win at least one event in any of the five years after the year in which a Grand Slam Major or the Players is won, you get a bonus year of prime exempt status.

Another quirky thing that can't be explained -- On both the exemptions web-page and in the Media Guide, The PGA Tour ranks Fed Ex Cup and Leading Money Winner exemptions (each worth 5-years) -BELOW- those for the World Golf Championships and Tour Championship (all worth 3-years).

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Sport