20 wins on pga tour lifetime exemption

Who Has 20 PGA Tour Wins? [Incredible List]

Winning on the PGA Tour is far from easy. Many players will go their whole PGA Tour careers without getting a first PGA Tour win .

But for some players on the PGA Tour , they’ve achieved far more than just one win, many players have actually won 20 or more times and are some of the best putters in the game.

In this article, we’ll have a look at those who managed such an incredible feat and find out which golfers have at least 20 wins on the PGA Tour.

Who Has 20 PGA Tour Wins?

Table of Contents

A total of 39 golfers have achieved 20 or more wins on the PGA Tour which includes some of the greatest players in world golf.

Although many of the players in the list of 20+ wins have now retired from the tour, there’s still a couple that still compete on the PGA Tour including Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy .

The players that top the list with the most career wins are Sam Snead and Tiger Woods, who each have a total of 82 wins. After a long spell without a victory, Tiger Woods managed to reach Snead’s number with a victory at the 2018 Tour Championship, 2019 Masters and 2019 Zozo Championship.

Next on the list of players with 20 wins or more is Jack Nicklaus, who has 73 PGA Tour victories. He also leads the list of major championship wins, with 18 and is widely regarded as the best golfer to ever play the game of golf.

Only two other players in PGA Tour history have more than 60 wins, Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer invitational with 64 and 62 respectively.

List of players with 20+ PGA Tour wins:

• 82 Sam Snead
• 82 Tiger Woods
• 73 Jack Nicklaus
• 64 Ben Hogan
• 62 Arnold Palmer
• 52 Byron Nelson
• 51 Billy Casper
• 45 Phil Mickelson
• 45 Walter Hagen
• 39 Cary Middlecoff
• 39 Tom Watson
• 38 Gene Sarazen
• 36 Lloyd Mangrum
• 34 Vijay Singh
• 31 Jimmy Demaret
• 30 Horton Smith
• 29 Harry Cooper
• 29 Gene Littler
• 29 Lee Trevino
• 28 Leo Diegel
• 28 Paul Runyan
• 26 Henry Picard
• 25 Tommy Armour
• 25 Johnny Miller
• 25 Macdonald Smith
• 24 Dustin Johnson
• 24 Gary Player
• 24 Rory McIlroy
• 22 Jim Barnes
• 22 Johnny Farrell
• 22 Raymond Floyd
• 21 Davis Love III
• 21 Willie MacFarlane
• 21 Lanny Wadkins
• 21 Craig Wood
• 20 Hale Irwin
• 20 Greg Norman
• 20Johnny Revolta
• 20 Doug Sanders

What Do 20 Wins On The PGA Tour Mean?

A golfer that wins 20 or more times on the PGA Tour earns a lifetime membership to the tour.

This means that a player with 20 wins can never lose PGA Tour status unless they choose to resign from the tour, and can continue playing for as long as they wish.

Previously, the PGA Tour had a requirement that players had to play at least 15 seasons on tour, however, this was removed in 2022.

A player that hits the 20-win mark instantly gains lifetime membership on the tour. Even if they play badly for the rest of their career, they’ll still be eligible to compete on the PGA Tour.

Currently, only a few golfers on the PGA Tour are using their lifetime membership, Vijay Singh and Davis Love III, but this could potentially become Tiger Woods over the next few years.

Final Thoughts

It’s no secret that winning on the PGA Tour is difficult. Very few are able to manage it and only golfers at the top of the game have ever finished at the top of the leaderboard after the final round of a PGA Tour tournament .

But for those players that can win 20 or more times, a lifetime membership on the tour awaits, giving access to the PGA Tour for the rest of their careers.

How many golfers have 20 wins on the PGA Tour?

A total of 39 golfers have won at least 20 times on the PGA Tour including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jack Nicklaus.

Who has 20 game winners on the PGA Tour?

39 professional golfers have won 20 or more times on the PGA Tour, with some players winning over 80 times over their careers which includes Sam Snead and Tiger Woods.

What is 20 wins lifetime exemption PGA Tour?

20 wins on the PGA Tour gives a player lifetime membership to the tour. This membership means they get access to play in tournaments for as long as they wish, even if they no longer finish within the top 125 standings each season.

Founder, Editor

Ed is the founder and editor at EEE Golf. He’s been playing golf for over 20 years, competing in many top amateur events. He’s played courses all over the world and played with some of the best players in the game. His aim is to help educate people about the game of golf and give insights into the sport he loves most.

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

By dpark November 15, 2008 in Tour Talk

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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)

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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!

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.

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...

• 2 years later...

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.

What's in my bag.... https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/283808-i-have-to-come-clean-to-the-golfwrx-community/?tab=comments#comment-283774  

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!

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 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.

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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

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.

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

[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.

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

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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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Dj gets to 20 wins, but lifetime membership will have to wait.

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MEXICO CITY – There’s not much that can produce a genuinely excited response from Dustin Johnson. But on Sunday at the WGC-Mexico Championship, Johnson was reminded that his 20 th PGA Tour victory is a requirement for lifetime membership.

“I definitely wanted to get to that 20 number,” said a smiling Johnson, who won by five strokes following a final-round 66. “I would have liked to have done it a little bit quicker, but I’m pleased with where I’m at, and to get 20 wins obviously is a lifetime exemption on the Tour, so that’s a very big accomplishment and I’m very proud of myself for doing it.”

Johnson went on to explain that a large part of his motivation for getting to 20 wins and earning lifetime membership was a stipulation in the circuit’s strength-of-field requirement that exempts life members. The strength-of-field regulation requires players to add an event to their schedules that they haven’t played in four years if they didn’t play at least 25 events the previous season.

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“I definitely was thinking about that,” he said of the exemption. “That was my biggest (concern) because I couldn’t find somewhere where I was going to add a tournament this year.”

There’s just one problem. Lifetime membership requires 20 victories and 15 active seasons on Tour. This is Johnson’s 12 th season on Tour, which means he won’t be exempt from the strength-of-field rule until 2022.

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Money Matters

Inside the PGA Tour's new program that guarantees all exempt players will make a minimum of $500K

Rookie Cameron Young was able to make more than $6 million this season. But for first-timers less fortunate moving forward, the PGA Tour is guaranteeing they'll make at least $500,000.

Cliff Hawkins

ATLANTA — Much of the talk surrounding the PGA Tour in recent months has focused on figuring out ways top players can be compensated well enough to want to stick around and not be lured away by LIV Golf. But on Wednesday, tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced a new financial incentive program geared not just for the tour’s biggest stars, but all its members.

For the 2022-23 season, all fully exempt tour players who compete in 15 tournaments will be guaranteed to earn $500,000 through the creation of the Earnings Assurance Program. For rookies and returning members to the tour, that money isn’t just guaranteed, but will be paid up front, with the players drawing against it during the season from their earnings.

“We believe it meets the challenging dynamic of how players manage and invest in their careers, and it's comparable to how other leagues approach their athlete compensation,” Monahan said when discussing the program during a press conference ahead of the Tour Championship.

MORE: PGA Tour adds more lucrative events, gets top players to commit to play together on regular basis

According to Monahan, any player making more than $500,000 will, obviously, accrue all the money they earn. And any player who comes up short of $500,000, the tour at the end of the year will pay the difference.

Typically, 215 to 220 golfers are fully exempt during the PGA Tour season. The tour is confident the majority of those players will surpass the $500,000 threshold. For that reason, Monahan said it was estimated the program would cost the tour between $2 million and $3 million to implement.

During the 2021-22 season, 163 players earned more than $500,000 on tour.

“I think what we're trying to do here is that, as you start a season and you plan for a season knowing the monies that you have to invest to compete … at the highest level,” Monahan said. “There are significant costs. So if you’re not able to play for whatever reason, you have that as a backstop. You know that that’s there for you.”

There were 28 rookies on the PGA Tour this season, led by the meteoric rise of Cameron Young. His seven top-10s this season include a third at the PGA Championship and a second at the Open at St. Andrews, which combined for $6.5 million in earnings through the BMW Championship.

MORE: Why the Player Impact Program will become even more important (and lucrative) in 2023

Down the list of rookies, however, there are six who did not earn $500,000 and thus would have been paid the difference: Paul Barjon, Dylan Wu, Curtis Thompson, David Skinns, Jared Wolfe and Joshua Creel.

The program, however, will benefit not just newcomers to the tour, but even some who already have had stand out careers. During the 2022-23 season, former FedEx Cup champion Brandt Snedeker played 22 events but struggled with just two top-25 finishes. He wound up earning $352,198. Even a player like him, however, would be entitled to the $500,000 minimum, with the tour paying the remaining $147,802.

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Active Golfers With a Lifetime Exemption on the PGA Tour

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Nov 11, 2021; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phil Mickelson prepares to putt from just off the 18th hole during the first round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship golf tournament at Phoenix Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports| Reuters

It takes a player at least 15 active years on the PGA Tour to earn the lifetime membership honor. Players like Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player fall under all required criteria – which is not easy to achieve. That being said, the exemption comes with its pros and cons, often a notable milestone for a player playing on the tour.

However, only a handful of players are currently actively playing with this honor. A few current players are on their way to qualify for the same. As per the rules, one needs 20 co-sponsored wins and 15 active years on the PGA Tour to be a lifetime member.

Let’s take a look at the players who are currently ‘Life Members’ of the PGA Tour.

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Players who are lifetime members on the PGA Tour

While many other players like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson qualify, only three members are listed officially by the PGA Tour. Woods and Mickelson are exempt otherwise and do not need the lifetime exemption to play on the PGA Tour. If a player is not exempt otherwise, he can play on the basis of his lifetime membership.

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This season, Davis Love III will be exempt as a result of his lifetime member status. Vijay Singh, who also qualifies for the same, was included on the PGA Tour’s priority ranking list up until the 2019-20 list . For the past two seasons, Love is the only player listed under the Life Member column. Looking back at the 2016-17 season , Tom Watson and Singh were a part of the list, Davis Love III exempt after winning a PGA TOUR co-sponsored or approved tournament higher up on the priority list.

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It is also important to note that anyone who qualifies as a life member on the PGA Tour also needs to maintain a competitive scoring average.

Taking this into consideration, Mickelson , Woods, Singh, and Love along with Watson are the only active players who are eligible for an exemption via the life membership – provided the competitive average is maintained.

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Which player is close to obtaining this honor?

As of now, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson both have 20 or more wins on the PGA Tour. However, neither of them have yet completed 15 years to actually fall under this list. Even then, they might be exempt under other categories for a few years to come. McIlroy has two more seasons to complete, while Johnson has one.

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The Sand Trap

Golf News, Reviews, and Commentary

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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Dustin Johnson May Be Next for Lifetime Exemption on PGA Tour

By kathlene bissell | feb 26, 2019.

Dustin Johnson has firmly established himself as one of the greatest golfers of this generation. Now, it’s just a matter of time before he earns one of the most elusive titles on the PGA TOUR: lifetime membership.

Dustin Johnson probably does not get the respect he deserves for his excellent golf.  But with his victory at the WGC-Mexico tournament, we really need to look at him in a new way.  He has just entered elite territory with his most recent win. Soon he will qualify for the best status available to any PGA Tour player: the Lifetime Exemption.

With 20 victories, DJ only has to play three more seasons, whether he wins again or doesn’t, and he’s a lifetime member. That means he can never lose his PGA Tour card.

DJ becomes eligible for a Lifetime Membership as soon as he completes 15 seasons. This is his 12th. There are only two current PGA Tour members who could get there faster.  Ernie Els, age 49, needs one more tournament title to reach the magic 20 number. Jim Furyk, age 48, needs three.  Will they get there first?

Including Johnson, there are 38 players in the history of the PGA Tour who have 20 or more victories. That’s going back to the days of Walter Hagen and Lighthorse Harry Cooper. However, other than Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Davis Love III, the others who have reached or surpassed that magic are either mostly on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, retired from playing or have gone on to the great golf course in the sky.

Those who play seldom, but could play, include names like Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Gary Player, Raymond Floyd, Lanny Wadkins, Greg Norman and Doug Sanders.  Those still playing include Hale Irwin and Vijay Singh. So, it’s a just a handful of truly elite players.

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According to the PGA Tour, DJ became the ninth player since 1960 to win 20 PGA Tour events before aging up to 35. He’s still just 34. The others and their ages when they reached 20 victories are: Tiger Woods (24), Jack Nicklaus (26), Tom Watson (30), Arnold Palmer (31), Phil Mickelson (31), Billy Casper (31), Johnny Miller (33), Gene Littler (34). That’s pretty good company. And it’s one reason we may need to rethink Johnson’s position in golf.

We don’t think of Dustin Johnson as dominating history, but in PGA Tour victory totals, since turning pro in 2007, he is leaving his peers in the rear-view mirror. Those closest to him in wins include Rory McIlroy, who turned pro the same year as DJ, with 14; Adam Scott, who turned pro in 2000, with 13; Jason Day, who turned pro in 2006, with 12; and Jordan Spieth, who turned pro in 2012, with 11.  McIlroy did not join the PGA Tour until 2010. In addition to his 14 titles on the PGA Tour, he has eight victories on the European Tour.

Since he began working with Butch Harmon, DJ has paid more attention to the aspects of his game that needed polishing, particularly his wedge game and his short game. He was already long, and for whatever reason, he is able to hit his drives long and mostly straight when it counts.

The last time he was unable to beat a guy with a similar power game was when he and Brooks Koepka were paired in the final round of the U.S. Open .  On that afternoon, Koepka had it and DJ just did not.  It happens to the best from time to time. Just ask Jack Nicklaus who finished second in majors 19 times.

Next. 2019 Honda Classic Power Rankings. dark

So now the question becomes, how many PGA Tour titles can Dustin Johnson win in his career?  He’s already won 20.  Will he get to 30?  Only 18 golfers in history have done that.  Could he get to 40 and surpass Vijay Singh, Tom Watson and Gene Sarazen? He has plenty of time left, and he has plenty of talent. Thirty seems like a no-brainer. The question is will he get to 40 or beyond?  We will just have to wait and count the victories as they come.

Peter Malnati wins PGA Tour's Valspar, makes first Masters

Peter Malnati taps in for par before celebrating his Valspar Championship win with his family. (0:35)

• ESPN News Services

PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- Some of the shots that left Peter Malnati frustrated on the back nine were the ones that worked out so well for him Sunday in the Valspar Championship.

A putt he thought he left short dropped for birdie on the 12th hole. A shot into the 16th in mangled rough was close enough to a sprinkler that he was entitled to a free drop that put him on the fringe and made par easier.

But there was no doubting the winner.

Locked in a battle with hard-luck Cameron Young , Malnati drilled a 5-iron into the wind to 6 feet on the par-3 17th for birdie to break out of a tie, and he closed with a par for a 4-under 67 to win by two and earn his first trip to the Masters.

"I remember telling my caddie I needed to make a 2," Malnati said. "That was really fun in that moment to just step up, not overthink it, just a full 5-iron at the TV tower, go. And to watch that ball fly was a really cool feeling."

Malnati tapped in that yellow golf ball for par on the final hole for only his second PGA Tour victory -- this one coming 3,058 days after the last.

Young, made it easier on him by taking bogey on the final hole for a 68. Young now has seven runner-up finishes without a win.

On a wild day of rallies and meltdowns, it came down to Malnati and Young playing a group apart as they headed into the tough finishing stretch at Innisbrook known as the "Snake Pit."

Malnati's approach on the 16th went long and left into gnarly rough some 50 feet from the pin, leaving him a tough chip to try to save par and stay tied. But his foot was on a sprinkler head, which entitled him to a free drop. With the extra club length, he was able to drop it on the fringe and use putter, which he sent down to short range for par.

On the par-3 17th into wind, Malnati hit his most important shot of the day for birdie. Up ahead, Young hit his drive well left and did well to hammer a gap wedge over the trees and onto the green, 50 feet away. He lagged it about 10 feet short and missed the par putt.

Malnati found a fairway bunker on the 18th, but hit that on the green for a simple two-putt to finish at 12-under 272, his first victory since the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2015.

More than the $1,512,000 from winning, Malnati goes to the Masters for the first time and gets a two-year exemption. He also is assured of getting into the remaining four $20 million signature events without any help.

Malnati is one of six player-directors on the PGA Tour board, and he was singled out for criticism when he received a sponsor exemption -- along with two other board members -- to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this year.

"I told myself to do my best on every shot," Malnati said as he fought back tears. "I was so nervous coming down the stretch. I can't describe it. It's so cool."

It was gut-wrenching for Young, one of the top young talents and power players in golf who can't seem to get across the line. He shot 31 on the back nine at St. Andrews in the 2022 British Open, only to finish one shot behind Cameron Smith , who shot 30. Young also was in the hunt until the 16th hole of the 2022 PGA Championship.

"It was just a bad time for a pull," Young said of his tee shot on the 18th.

Mackenzie Hughes of Canada (70) and PGA Tour rookie Chandler Phillips (69) tied for third. They were among five players who had at least a share of the lead in the final round at Innisbrook.

Hughes had the lead on the back nine with a 45-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole. He was tied and in the middle of the 12th fairway when it began to fall apart. His approach went over the green and into the back slope of the bunker, leaving him no shot to a back pin. He fell two shots behind when Malnati made a 15-foot birdie.

On the par-3 13th, Hughes came up short and in the water and he was never seriously part of the mix the rest of the way.

Keith Mitchell started the day with a two-shot lead, and he was three behind at the turn. Mitchell had to pitch out of the trees three times on the opening six holes and did not have a hole under par until an eagle on the 14th. By then he was 8 over for his round. He shot 77,

Séamus Power , playing in the final group, shot 76.

Malnati is No. 184 in the world ranking, making him the fifth player to win full PGA Tour events this year. His only other win in the fall of 2015 did not come with an automatic invitation to the Masters. Fall events started getting invitations the next year.

"You wonder if you're ever going to do it again," Malnati said. "In the nine years since my last win, it's getting harder."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Peter Malnati fulfills long-awaited dream at Valspar Championship

• Kristie Ackert Times staff

PALM HARBOR — Peter Malnati has been invited to Augusta over the years. He’s had people offer him tickets to go watch the Masters. The PGA Tour pro, ranked 184th in the world before this week’s Valspar Championship, has had people offer him a chance to play on that hallowed course.

“I told them, ‘I want to go play Augusta when I’m in the Masters,’” Malnati said. “That’s when I want to go play Augusta.”

Sunday evening at Innisbrook Golf Resort, Malnati finally earned that spot.

The 36-year-old Knoxville, Tennessee, resident had a brilliantly steady final round and late birdie to maneuver through a jammed leaderboard, finishing two strokes ahead of Cameron Young to win his first PGA Tour title in nearly nine years.

The win comes with a $1,512,000 prize and two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. Malnati also is assured of getting into the remaining four signature events with $20 million purses. And, of course, entrance into next month’s Masters.

But for Malnati, whose last Tour win came before his sons were born in 2019 and 2022, that was all just a bonus.

Sunday elicited all the emotions of one of the PGA’s biggest tournaments for the 11th-year Tour player whose last win was the Sanderson Farms Championship in November 2015.

“You wonder if you are ever going to do it again,” Malnati said through tears on the 18th green with his 4-year-old son, Hatcher, in his arms. “In the years since my last win, it’s getting harder.”

This past week wasn’t any easier.

Malnati needed a final round of 4-under 67 to finish 12-under for the tournament, pulling away from Young, the 2021-22 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, over the final three holes of the Copperhead Course, known as the Snake Pit.

On the 16th hole, Malnati’s approach shot went long to the left of the green and into heavy rough, leaving him a tough play to try to save par and remain tied with Young. Malnati’s ball was near a sprinkler head, however, which allowed him a drop that put him on the fringe.

The break helped him save par and got him rolling.

On the par-3 17th, Malnati’s tee shot left him with a 6-foot putt, which he made for birdie to take the lead.

Meanwhile, in the group ahead of him, Young pulled his drive well off the 18th fairway into the trees and nearly behind the stands. He escaped the trouble with a tremendous shot to the lip of the green, but then three-putted for bogey.

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“It was just a bad time for a pull,” said Young, who has seven runner-up finishes but continues to seek his first Tour win. “Trying to hit kind of the same, similar one that I hit off of 16 (where he made par). Not quite as dramatic of a cut, but just kind of started it on the wrong side of the wind, and it’s blowing pretty good off the right. So, yeah, just a bad time for a bad one.”

Malnati’s approach shot on 18 landed in the fairway bunker, but he got up onto the green and two-putted for par, setting up the moment he had been dreaming of for more than eight years.

It wasn’t the trophy or the trip to Augusta next month.

“That moment of winning a tournament and having your family come out on the green and the big hugs and all that, that’s something that I’ve seen other families have and that has been my dream,” Malnati said, looking over to his wife Alicia and sons Hatcher, 4, and Dash, 1.

“There’s been a lot of stretches of golf in the last nine years when I wondered if I would ever have that experience. I’m at peace with who I am and the way I live and the work that I put into this. If I had never had the moment I had (Sunday), I would have been completely fine. But, man, was that special. That was so special. It felt amazing.”

Malnati took the microphone during the trophy presentation to say that in this turbulent time for golf when smaller tournaments are getting overlooked because of the addition of LIV Golf and the PGA’s enhanced signature events, events such as Valspar continue to be an important part of the Tour.

“I wanted the Copperheads and the people of Tampa and the people from Valspar to know that there are thousands of Peter Malnatis out there who are 10 years old right now, teenagers right now who dream of playing golf on the PGA Tour, and they want to have the moment that I just got to have,” Malnati said.

“If we don’t have communities that believe in what the PGA Tour does and sponsors who support what the PGA Tour does, we don’t have those moments.”

Kristie Ackert is a sports reporter who writes about professional sports in Tampa Bay. Reach her at [email protected].

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Valspar Championship, Round 2: How to watch, featured groups, live scores, tee times, TV times

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Round 2 action from the Valspar Championship gets underway Friday from the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida, the final event of the TOUR's Florida Swing.

Kevin Streelman lead after a 7-under 64 on Thursday when play was suspended due to darkness. Kevin Roy, playing this week on a sponsor's exemption, sits one back. Taylor Moore began his title defense with a 2-under 69, as did 2023 runner-up Jordan Spieth. Xander Schauffele, who finished runner-up at last week's PLAYERS Championship, opened in 3-under 68, as did 15-time TOUR winner Justin Thomas. Two-time Valspar champion Sam Burns opened in even par.

Two players remained on the course when play was suspended Thursday. Round 1 will resume at 9:20 a.m. and Round 2 will start 7:35 a.m.

Here's everything you need to know to follow the action.

HOW TO FOLLOW (all times ET)

Television:

• Friday: 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)
• Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (NBC)
• Saturday, March 23: 'PGA TOUR Originals Credentialed: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard,' 2-3 p.m. on NBC: “PGA TOUR Originals Credentialed” delivers an inside look at the stories of the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Follow France’s Matthieu Pavon and the Arnold Palmer Cup Exemption David Ford for their debuts at Bay Hill, meet Orlando artist Ryan Rustand, dive into the history of Arnie’s place, and go inside the ropes as Scottie Scheffler wins his second red cardigan.

'Credentialed: Arnold Palmer Invitational' | PGA TOUR Originals

PGA TOUR LIVE ON ESPN+

PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+

• Main feed: Primary tournament coverage featuring the best action from across the course
• Marquee group: Showcasing every shot from each player in the group
• Featured groups: Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups
• Featured holes: A combination of par 3s and iconic or pivotal holes

Radio on SiriusXM and free at PGATOUR.com/liveaudio :

• Friday: 12-6 p.m.
• Saturday-Sunday: 1-6 p.m.

FEATURED GROUPS

Marquee group

• 1:23 p.m.: Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Sungjae Im

Featured groups

• 8:13 a.m.: Brian Harman, Xander Schauffele, Taylor Moore
• 1:34 p.m.: Tony Finau, Cameron Young, Sepp Straka

Featured holes

• Nos. 4 (par 3), 8 (par 3), 15 (par 3), 17 (par 3)

Kevin Streelman puts new putting gadget to test, leads at Valspar with 64

At 43, Aaron Baddeley hopes to still soar as eagles do

Defending Valspar champ Taylor Moore has tools to reach game’s elite tier

The First Look

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Power Rankings

Inside the Field: Valspar Championship

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Kevin streelman isn't just co-leading the valspar championship. he also cares deeply about the pga tour and has strong opinions on its future, share this article.

Upon graduating from Duke University in 2001, most of Kevin Streelman’s friends headed for Wall Street or law school. Not Streelman. He used his mom’s Nissan Altima to travel to South Dakota for the 2001 Dakotas Tour. He burned out three cars logging more than 300,000 miles crisscrossing the country while playing various tours before earning his PGA Tour card in 2008 and has kept it ever since, which is no easy trick. Along the way, he’s won twice on Tour, including the 2013 Valspar Championship, banking more than $26 million and this week marks his 444th Tour start.

Streelman, 45, opened with a 64 to grab the first-round lead 11 years after notching his maiden victory at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Florida. It could be a big weekend for him if he were to win again, and certainly can go a long way to regaining his Tour privileges for yet another season. During his tenure Streelman also has been involved in Tour policy, serving on the Player Advisory Council, as a player director on the Policy Board (he noted that he mostly dealt with benign topics such as slow play and his tenure ending in 2019 was “the luckiest and greatest time to come off the board in the history of the game,” right before COVID hit and then the emergence of LIV on top of that), and most recently on the Tour’s Governance Committee, which was formed after the announcement of the PGA Tour’s framework agreement with PIF on June 6.

While he likely is on the back nine of his playing career, he still cares deeply about the Tour’s future and professional golf in general and has strong opinions about the direction it has been heading. The following conversation began in person at the Players Championship and resumed via phone after Streelman had weathered difficult conditions on Friday to share the 36-hole lead in Tampa.

GWK: What's your reaction to Joe Ogilvie, your fellow Dukie, being named to the two PGA Tour boards as a player liaison?

Joe Ogilvie follows his ball after hitting off of the 4th tee during the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament at the Spyglass Hill in Pebble Beach, CA. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

KS: I love Joe taking this role. I was involved in recommending him when I was on the Governance Committee. When we were designing that whole structure of having a player liaison director he was the first person I had in mind for that role. He’s smart and he cares. He’s a player first but also has a business mindset. I’ve been friends with him for 25 years. 

GWK: Has Jay Monahan done a good job of re-establishing trust?

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan looks on during the trophy ceremony during the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass on March 17, 2024 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

KS: I don’t know. Decisions were made, things were signed a year ago and we’re just trying to clarify some things. I’m 45, I care deeply about the Tour but I didn’t get elected as the next PAC chairman so it’s like I’ve gotta just try to keep my job. It’s one of those structures where the Tour is supposed to have our backs and you’re supposed to trust them and they kind of did some things where they lost some of that and now what more can we do except show up and play the next week. A tournament begins and we’re trying to win. We’re like rabbits in that sense. This other stuff is pretty far down the list. It’s been disheartening to a degree. 

The way the Tour has pivoted to appease the highest talent levels — and I understand that they need to be taken care of – but what makes the PGA Tour special is the accessibility for young superstars to have access to see how good they can do. We know how good the top players are. We want to see how good the next generation of superstars are when they get a chance to play the best of the best. So, seeing a onesome on a Thursday and Friday at a signature event is comical. Bring in the next ranked player in the FedEx standings. There’s some things that need to get ironed out now but part of us are like, yeah, if it’s at the cost of our careers, we’re going to try to figure it out. 

I don’t know where it falls. I sincerely hope our fans, our tournaments, our sponsors, our volunteers know that we really care about them. It’s what makes our sport great, it’s what makes our sport different. There are no guarantees of a job. You can have that magical week and it changes your life forever. You can miss 10 cuts in a row and have that magical week; there’s something beautiful about that. In baseball, your team can be out of it by June and it’s so depressing.

GWK: The Tour shared some current numbers for top 50 churn and the number of opportunities to the signature events being provided to the membership outside of the top 50 and it suggests the new model is working. What do you think?

Kevin Streelman on the 16th tee during the first round of the 2024 Valspar Championship. (Photo: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)

KS: If we’re going to make separate tours, which is pretty much what we have now. As soon as you make the points different it’s hard to hang your hat on one tour. That being said, if they want those superstar big events, maybe you do it as a separate ultra-tour events and you pump up bigger boards and cut the access where you have players falling in, falling out. It could be exciting. I just don’t agree with 50-60 player fields. It’s not exciting to me. If that’s what our fans want, then that’s what our fans want.

GWK: Do you like the idea of a cut at the signature events?

KS: I understand both sides. Cuts are a part of the Tour and professional golf. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods wanted them. If any of the guys have a problem with them, they should talk to them. There’s a reason they wanted them.

GWK: What's the right number for field size at the signature events?

KS: Last year's signature events were 100-120 and they were awesome, right?

GWK: But it led to some watered-down fields. Now you've got guys on the outside playing more regular events to get in, the guys who are playing poorly in the signature events are signing up for more regular events because they are worried about falling out of the top 50 for next season, plus the guys who have a shot at the getting into the next signature event are forced to play and protect their position. The result is better fields at the regular events to the extent that Korn Ferry guys and other rookies can't even get in.

KS: We've got to do a better job of getting the Korn Ferry Tour and rookies in as soon as possible.

GWK: Do you like that they expanded fields for Valspar, Houston and Valero?

KS: Do I like it? No. But do they deserve starts? Yes. We're not going to make a cut until Saturday at Valspar and then have to play threesomes on the weekend. It's something we fought against for years. Is there a magical answer? No. I hope we're investing to make as many events like this (the Players) as possible. I think our product is fricking awesome. I think the talent we have and our product should speak for itself. The competition needs to be healthy. 

GWK: What's your stance on allowing LIV Golf guys back on the Tour?

KS: It's probably lessened over time. At first, if you believe what Jay said, if you left you'd never play a PGA Tour event again. I think what they will probably do is say (to the Tour loyalists who stayed), look, you've got some equity and if we bring the top guys back the value of your equity in PGA Tour Enterprises is going to go up. I don't think a lot of the LIV guys will want to come back. My friends that are out there they like playing for $4 million purses against about 40 guys versus grinding and playing against these 20-year-old studs. 

GWK: Do you think LIV Golf will survive in some form if the Tour and PIF strike a deal?

Kevin Streelman watches his putt on the fifth green during the second round of the Valspar Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

KS: I think Yasir is interested in access to as many western sports leagues as possible. He just got into tennis with the ATP Tour. He's going to probably want an MLB team, an NFL team. A deal with SSG provides them with more access to those type of ownership communities. It's very smart but I don't think their passion is golf; I think their passion is Saudi Arabia. So they continue to invest for what's good for Saudi Arabia. It's naive to think they care about growing the game.

Editor's Note: The conversation picked up about a week later via phone in Tampa, where Streelman held a share of the 36-hole lead.

GWK: You were a member of the governance committee. What is the most important thing you achieved?

KS: We tried to go into it with a very open mind. We dove into our constitution and bylaws and looked at some things that were archaic and needed to be changed and ratified and then came up with some of our own opinions and ideas to better represent the entire player body not only for the PGA Tour policy board but also for the PGA Tour Enterprises board going forward. 

GWK: Anything specific that you were able to achieve ?

KS: It was an interesting process. There were some commonsense implications and changes that were made such as independent directors being more visible to the players and coming to a few more events. For the most part, the membership doesn't understand how the governance had been set up, how the independent directors are chosen, how the commissioner is chosen and how it's done in most modern board settings. It was our belief that the players should have more of a say, more of an influence on who and how they are put into office. 

GWK: On a scale of 1-10 with one being no biggie and 10 being mad as hell, what was your level of disappointment that you weren't selected PAC chair (Camilo Villegas won the vote) or chosen to replace Rory when he stepped down on the Tour policy board in November (Jordan Spieth was selected by the Board)?

KS: Probably somewhere in the middle. I said this from Day One, historically our voting percentage was in the 30s and 40s percent. I found that disappointing. I just encouraged the Tour to make the voting as simple and easy as possible. They did answer that request and added a link in registration where guys could go on and vote. I think 72 percent of the body voted. Unfortunately for me, I was injured during the tournaments when most of the voting went on. I'm good friends with Camillo. I think he will do a great job. He hasn't served as many posts as I have -- from board to PAC to governance committee -- but that doesn't necessarily mean I'd do a better job than him. I'd just say I have a little more hands-on experience. It's something I enjoy, it's something I could possibly see myself doing in the future on the business side of golf. All that being said, I didn't get elected and I didn't lose any sleep over it and I'm sure he'll do a good job.

GWK: How do you think the influx of capital from SSG and and potentially more rolling in will be invested?

KS: We're getting these informational portals sent to us of how they view the equity program working. No one still knows where they fall in those equity buckets. My hope is that it goes to investing in the PGA Tour, into our tournaments, our fan experience and our player experience week in, week out. I think if you build the best product, the best play and the fans will follow. I believe our product is superior and if you make that that much better then our fans should be content with the product we put in front of them. That was my hope all along, that any sort of influx of money would be invested into our product and I really hope that we don't just have to pay players that decided not to go and keep them as happy as possible. I don't think that's the point of an investment into our company. We'll have to see how this pans out. Very smart people have been brought into the fray and given us some really good past experience with people who have led in big sports leagues, bigger than golf, and what works and doesn't work for them, and hopefully we can make golf that much stronger.

GWK: What is your biggest frustration with the state of professional golf?

KS:  The obvious answer is the split. You want to see the best players playing together in historical tournaments. My dream as a kid was to play at Copperhead to Harbour Town and even John Deere. I drove around the country trying to Monday Qualify into these tournaments. I did it for the competition. The money took care of itself with great golf. It wasn't look what I've done and I deserve this. This false market narrative has been established of what people think their value is and it's upended the true Western market of how things have historically worked and that's what being dealt with now. 

GWK: Do you fear that pro golf is being overvalued too much and it will lead to an inevitable bubble burst?

KS:  I hope not. I wasn't privy to that meeting with Yasir and what his vision with professional golf is but clearly there are discussions that want him involved to some degree. When you hold the cards that he has, it's hard to deny or ignore anymore. It seems like it will have to somehow run through him if we can find some sort of continuity going forward. We will have to see how as time progresses here.

GWK: How would you unify the game and what should LIV players be forced to do on their return?

KS:  I don't know what guys will have to be forced to do. I think a number of them won't want to come back. I think a fair answer to that question would be guys that want to come back and lost their status would have to go through some sort of qualifying, whether that's Korn Ferry Tour or Q-School. You shouldn't be guaranteed starts to come back. The tricky question is the guys who still have exempt status. Should they come right back and play in Signature events? I don't believe so nor do I think that will be allowed. They come back and get some sort of status to play in I guess you call them standard PGA Tour events and play their way in, that would be more seen as more practical and fair from the rest of the body. It depends who you ask on that situation.

GWK: What do you think is the future of the fall schedule?

KS:  That's a good question. They haven't even released it to us yet. I guess it would be still chasing that 125 number but whether the Tour wants to make that number smaller or not, I bet that will be a question that gets asked. What the exempt number of cards should be if we're going to go with the Signature events idea for a long time. 

There are some great tournaments in the fall. I love going to Napa, I love the people in Jackson (Mississippi) and the course is incredible and Vegas is near and dear to my heart. It would be tough to lose tournaments that are willing to sponsor the PGA Tour.

GWK: Is having two tours a bad thing? If so, why?

KS:  If you ask players, if you ask sponsors, if you ask fans, you probably get different answers. For me, someone who has been out here for almost 20 years, it's a tough pill to swallow. Events like Pebble Beach that I played 16 times in a row, I'm top 5 on the all-time money list, Hartford, where I've played 16 years in a row and a past champion, Hilton Head, where I'm probably top 10 in all-time money, events that have been my bread and butter and have been part of my year schedule are now taken away. I understand why they've done it as well. It has made top players happy. They have smaller fields and bigger purses without cuts. It also makes other events stronger, you know you're going to get everyone from 51 to 150 and there are big names in that bracket also. We're seeing that who gets left out are the rookies and the Korn Ferry guys coming up. That's why we're adding to these fields to accommodate those guys, which I understand.

If you want to talk about a fair factor, I'd say it's a little unfair playing Signature events short, playing a one-some at Bay Hill on Thursday and Friday rubbed me the wrong way, and then playing our normal events long. That to me from a competitive fairness factor doesn't seem right. That's the bed that's been made. We're working through the kinks now but it's just a shame that it's coming at the expense of people's careers. 

GWK: If you were commish for a day, what would you do?

KS:  It would be a busy day. I would sit down with our sponsors and make them a priority. I would sit down with top players and mid-level and veteran players too and get to some sort of vision of what we want to build going forward. I think it's tough to go too far backwards once you've created these Signature events.

My outside-the-box idea that I'd talk to guys about that I think could have some legs is I'd say if this is what you want to do, I'll give you 15-16 100-120 field events with the top players and the majors and all of a sudden you have 20 events to choose from. Then you have an elevated Korn Ferry Tour or PGA Tour smaller deal and you have 144 players consisting of the best KFT and all the PGA Tour players who didn't finish high enough and you set those purses in the $4 million-$8 million area. Then you have some relegation. So, 20-25 guys moving up and moving down to those two tours. At that price point, you'd have a lot more accessibility to different markets in different cities and I think you could put on a great tour on that secondary tour but then the top guys can get their smaller fields, their smaller schedule, and you make it global and maybe 4-5 of those tournament you give to LIV and make those massive for those guys.

But you have to have hope as a professional golfer. You have to be able to move in or out. If you don't perform, you have to fall out and if you do perform you have to have hope you can move forward. A lot of these rookies now don't have a ton of hope. They have five spots in these swings and they're not even getting into many events. I had a thought something like this could give guys enough drive to get to those big events but make a nice enough living where they can feel like they are still playing big professional events that mean things and also put things at a price point where our markets and our sponsors can afford it. 

GWK: Is there a place for team golf in the PGA Tour?

KS:  I haven't thought much about it. It's not really my thing. I like either getting the glory or having the pain and I want it all on my shoulders. Even in college, if the team did well and I played badly, I didn't feel much better about myself. To me, golf is an individual sport.

Keep up with The Players Championship live coverage and leaderboard throughout the week.

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Rory McIlroy, Wyndham Clark call for a smaller PGA Tour with fewer exempt players

I f Rory McIlroy , Wyndham Clark , Will Zalatoris and other PGA Tour stars have their way, the future of the PGA Tour will feature fewer exempt players competing in smaller events.

An increasing number of stars are being openly vocal about their desire for a smaller tour going forward, including McIlroy, who said at the Arnold Palmer Invitational that he wanted a more "cutthroat" PGA Tour with fewer exempt players competing. He wants it to be a tour featuring the best of the best, with more fluidity in and out of the circuit based on performance.

Wyndham Clark, the reigning US Open champion, found himself outside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup standings not too long ago. However, now that he's a major champion with a five-year PGA Tour exemption, he sees that 100 figure as the right cutoff point.

"I mean, I think it would be amazing if our Tour was a hundred guys," said Clark at Bay Hill. "I kind of said this a few times, a hundred guys and we have 20 guys that get relegated every time, every year, doesn't matter who you are.

"It would be exciting. Because you come down to the end of the year, people are looking who is going to win the FedEx Cup, and then you're looking at who is not going to be here next year. So, yeah, I'm probably with Rory on that. I don't know what that number is, but I think it's just nice to elevate the product and make it to where the best players are playing on TV more often and against each other."

There have long been calls for the PGA Tour to reduce the number of fully exempt players from 125, a figure that was established with the creation of the all-exempt PGA Tour in 1983. Some have suggested the 100 number is ideal. There could be a move to reduce the number to 70 fully exempt players, matching the cutoff in FedEx Cup points to qualify for the PGA Tour's playoff series.

Perhaps there is an opportunity to reduce field sizes and the number of fully exempt players while still allowing for full-field events. Fields could be reduced from 144 and 156 to 120 and 132 players, with qualifying criteria and exemption criteria amended to be more dynamic based on shorter-term performance. These changes could bring in players from the Korn Ferry Tour and DP World Tour more regularly while also offering more chances to players who have been performing well in a more recent window than the prior season or the totality of a career.

This isn't the first time these ideas have been shared. In 2022, when the PGA Tour stars got together in Delaware around the BMW Championship to reshape the Tour schedule, many then called for a dramatic reduction in cards and field sizes to protect stars and give them guaranteed access to high-dollar tournaments. McIlroy, at the time, recognized that was not an idea ready for public consumption and would fly in the face of the mission of the PGA Tour. That tide now appears to be shifting again among stars.

Still, there will be consternation among players who are more likely to fall out of a top 70 or top 100 that the new-look PGA Tour that is almost certainly coming will make it more difficult for them to keep their cards.

This story, Rory McIlroy, Wyndham Clark call for a smaller PGA Tour with fewer exempt players , first appeared on Golf News Net.

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PGA Tour stays in Florida. LPGA and PGA Tour Champions begin a Western swing

Brian Harman hits from the pine straw on the 16th fairway during the final round of The Players Championship golf tournament Sunday, March 17, 2024, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Jordan Spieth prepares to hit his shot in the sixth hole during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 15, 2024, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Justin Thomas watches his shot on the 13th tee during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 15, 2024, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

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VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Palm Harbor, Florida.

Course: Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead). Yardage: 7,340. Par: 71.

Prize money: $8.4 million. Winner’s share: $1.512 million.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (NBC).

Defending champion: Taylor Moore.

FedEx Cup leader: Scottie Scheffler.

Last week: Scottie Scheffler won The Players Championship.

Notes: The tournament follows Bay Hill with a $20 million purse and The Players Championship with a $25 million purse. It still attracted a reasonably good field, with five players from the top 20 in the world. ... British Open champion Brian Harman is the only player from the top 10 in the world. Patrick Cantlay was planning to play until he withdrew from the tournament on Monday. ... Jordan Spieth is playing. He won the tournament in 2015. Spieth and Justin Thomas, also in the field, are coming off a missed cut at The Players Championship. ... There are two weeks remaining for players to get into the top 50 if they are not already in the Masters. Among those on the bubble are Tom Hoge and Christiaan Bezuidenhout ... The Copperhead course at Innisbrook is regarded as one of the best tournament courses in Florida. ... European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald received a sponsor exemption. He won in 2012.

Next week: Texas Children’s Houston Open.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/

FIR HILLS SERI PAK CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Palos Verdes Estates, California.

Course: Palos Verdes GC. Yardage: 6,447. Par: 71.

Prize money: $2 million. Winner’s share: $300,000.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 6-9 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 7-9 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Ruoning Yin.

Race to CME Globe leader: Lydia Ko.

Last tournament: Bailey Tardy won the Blue Bay LPGA.

Notes: The LPGA Tour begins a three-week stretch in California, Arizona and Nevada that will lead to its first major championship of the year. Seri Pak is the tournament host for the first time. Pak is one of the most influential players in LPGA history, a pioneer for South Korean players to follow her path. ... Ruoning Yin of China won last year and then went on to win her first major at the KPGA Women’s PGA Championship. ... Nelly Korda is playing for the first time since willing in Florida. She skipped the three-week Asian swing. ... Rose Zhang has taken off for her studies at Stanford. She is playing for the first time since a tie for seventh in the season opener in January. ... Lilia Vu, the No. 1 player in the women’s world ranking, had to withdraw from the last two Asia events because of illness. She is in the field. ... Among those getting a sponsor exemption is Jiyai Shin of South Korea, a former world No. 1.

Next week: Ford Championship.

Online: https://www.lpga.com/

EUROPEAN TOUR

Porsche singapore classic.

Site: Singapore.

Course: Laguna National Golf Resort. Yardage: 7,420. Par: 72.

Prize money: $2.5 million. Winner’s share: $416,667.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 1-6 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 12-3 a.m. (Golf Channel); 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Ockie Strydom.

Race to Dubai leader: Rory McIlroy.

Last tournament: Matteo Manassero won the Jonsson Workwear Open.

Notes: The European tour now starts a five-tournament swing through Asia, going to Singapore, India, South Korea, Japan and China through the first week of May. ... Shane Lowry and Torrey Pines winner Matthieu Pavon give the field two players from the top 50 in the world. ... Paul Casey is playing. He has a relationship with Porsche. Casey now plays with LIV Golf and lost in a playoff in Hong Kong at the last LIV event. ... There is a separate bonus pool for the Asian swing, with $200,000 going to the winner and a spot in the big events toward the end of the season. ... Matteo Manassero is playing for the first time since he won in South Africa. ... Yannick Paul of Germany is competing for one of two Olympic spots, with Matti Schmid making ground on him at The Players Championship. ... Porsche previously sponsored the European Open in Germany.

Next week: Hero Indian Open.

Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

Hoag classic.

Site: Newport Beach, California.

Course: Newport Beach CC. Yardage: 6,821. Par: 71.

Television: Friday, 10 p.m. to midnight (Golf Channel-tape delay); Saturday, 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 6-8 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Ernie Els.

Charles Schwab Cup leader: Steven Alker.

Last tournament: Joe Durant won the Cologuard Classic.

Notes: The PGA Tour Champions is in California for the next two weeks, leading up to the Masters. ... Ernie Els has won the tournament twice in the last three years. ... The field has five former Masters champions in Mike Weir, Vijay Singh, Mark O’Meara, Jose Maria Olazabal and Fred Couples. O’Meara no longer plays the Masters. ... Steve Stricker is in the field after missing the cut at The Players Championship last week. His daughter, Izzi, will be caddying for him the next two weeks. Stricker and his daughter played in the PNC Championship last December. She will be playing for Wisconsin next year. ... Bernhard Langer is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon while playing pickleball. Langer says he hopes to be back in May. ... Angel Cabrera is an alternate, though unlikely to get in. ... The sponsor exemptions went to Tim O’Neal and Mario Tiziani. ... The tournament dates to 1995.

Next week: The Galleri Classic.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions

LIV GOLF LEAGUE

Last tournament: Abraham Ancer won LIV Golf Hong Kong.

Next tournament: LIV Golf Miami on April 5-7.

Points leader: Joaquin Niemann.

Online: https://www.livgolf.com/

KORN FERRY TOUR

Last tournament: Taylor Dickson won the Astara Chile Classic.

Next tournament: Club Car Championship on April 4-7.

Points leader: Mason Anderson.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour/

Hoag Classic, Newport Beach CC, Newport Beach, Calif.

OTHER TOURS

Epson Tour: Atlantic Beach Classic, Atlantic Beach CC, Atlantic Beach, Florida. Defending champion: New tournament. Online: https://www.epsontour.com/

Challenge Tour: Kolkata Challenge, Royal Calcutta GC, West Bengal, India. Defending champion: New tournament. Online: https://www.europeantour.com/challenge-tour/

PGA Tour Americas: Bupa Championship, PGA Riviera Maya, Tulum, Mexico. Defending champion: Chandler Blanchet. New tournament. Online: https://www.pgatour.com/americas

Sunshine Tour: Stella Artois Players Championship, Dainfern CC, Johannesburg, South Africa. Defending champion: Kyle Barker. Online: https://sunshinetour.com/

Japan LPGA: AXA Ladies Golf Tournament, UMK CC, Miyazaki, Japan. Defending champion: Hinako Yamauchi. Online: https://www.lpga.or.jp/en/

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Malnati wins Valspar to earn Masters trip. Nelly Korda returns to No. 1 with another win

PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Peter Malnati got a great break and followed that with an even better shot Sunday, a 5-iron to 6 feet for birdie on the 17th hole that carried him to a 4-under 67 and a two-shot win at the Valspar Championship on Sunday and earn his first trip to the Masters.

Malnati tapped in for par on the final hole for only his second PGA Tour victory. He won by two over Cameron Young, who made it easier on him by taking bogey on the final hole for a 68. Young now has seven runner-up finishes without a win.

Malnati’s approach on the 16th went long and left into gnarly rough some 50 feet from the pin, leaving him a tough chip to try to save par and stay tied. But his foot was on a sprinkler head, which entitled him to a free drop. With the extra club length, he was able to drop it on the fringe and use putter, which he sent down to short range for par.

On the par-3 17th into wind, Malnati hit a laser to 6 feet for birdie. Up ahead, Young hit his drive well left, got it on the green and three-putted from 50 feet for bogey.

Malnati goes to the Masters for the first time and gets a two-year exemption. He also is assured of getting into the remaining four $20 million signature events without any help.

PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. — Nelly Korda made bogey on her final two holes to fall into a playoff and atoned for it quickly, making a 12-foot birdie putt to beat Ryann O’Toole in the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship to return to No. 1 in the world.

Korda, who closed with a 2-under 69, won for the second time this year, both of them involving surprising collapses and amazing revivals.

Korda was playing for the first time since the end of January, when she lost four shots over three holes before an eagle-birdie finish to win. She seized control Sunday with an 18-foot eagle on the par-5 14th.

O’Toole holed a 20-foot par putt on the 18th for a 66, and that looked to be good only for second place until Korda’s bogey-bogey finish. They finished at 9-under 275, and the playoff ended quickly.

Korda, who now has 10 LPGA titles, replaces Lilia Vu at the top of the women’s world ranking.

EUROPEAN TOUR

SINGAPORE — Jesper Svensson of Sweden closed with a 9-under 63 and beat Kiradech Aphibarnrat on the third playoff hole to win the Porsche Singapore Classic for his first European tour title.

Svensson tapped in for par at the par-5 18th on the third extra hole. Aphibarnrat could only make bogey after his third shot rolled over the green and down the slope at the Laguna National Golf Resort Club.

Svensson matched the course record and was one shot better than his Thai opponent. Both finished on 17-under 271 to force a playoff. Both players made birdies on the first playoff hole and the matched pars on the second before the decisive third trip up the 18th.

Overnight leader David Micheluzzi finished in a share of seventh place after a final-round 73 left him five shots behind. Shane Lowry had a 72, leaving the former British Open champion nine shots off the lead.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — Padraig Harrington won the Hoag Classic at windy Newport Beach Country Club for his seventh PGA Tour Champions victory, rebounding from a double bogey with birdies on the final two holes.

After driving left into trouble and dropping two strokes on the par-4 16th, Harrington made a downhill 15-footer on the par-3 17th and got an 8-footer to fall on the par-5 18th for a one-stroke victory over Thongchai Jaidee.

Harrington closed with a 2-under 69 to finish at 14-under 199. The 52-year-old Irishman will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in June. He won British Open in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship in 2008.

Jaidee, from Thailand, also had a 69, parring the 18th after leaving his approach short and pitching through the green.

Miguel Angel Jimenez, the Spaniard playing alongside Harrington and Jaidee in the final group, bogeyed the 17th in a 68 that left him two strokes back.

OTHER TOURS

Epson Tour rookie Briana Chaco closed with a 2-under 69 for one-shot victory over Jessica Porvasnik and Kim Kaufman in the Atlantic Beach Classic, a 54-hole event that ended Saturday. ... Rasmus Neergaard-Petersent closed with a 1-under 71 and held on for a two-shot victory in the Kokhata Challenge in India on the Challenge Tour. ... Clay Feagler closed with a 1-under 71 and defeated Davis Shore on the fourth playoff hole to win the Bupa Championship in the PGA Tour Americas season-opener in Mexico. ... Heinrich Bruiners closed with an 8-under 64 and won the Stella Artois Players Championship by one shot, his first Sunshine Tour victory since 2013. ... Reika Usui won the 36-hole AXA Ladies Golf Tournament with a 6-under 66 for a one-shot victory over Miyuu Yamashita.

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