VIEWERS OF TELEVISED golf hear the word “exempt” thrown out for a multitude of reasons during tournaments.
With the beginning of the PGA Tour’s annual West Coast Swing starting last week, I started to think (always a dangerous proposition) about what exactly that word meant in the context of golf.
The easiest to explain is the sponsor’s exemption.
Tournaments are typically allowed eight exemptions.
Two of these are usually reserved for qualifying-school graduates who aren’t in that week’s field.
Two more are held for PGA Tour members who aren’t yet in the pool of players.
This leaves four unrestricted exemptions for tournament directors.
These can be used in an attempt to build a relationship with promising young golfers with the belief that players will return the favor and return in later years to support the events that supported them.
Others try and round up big names with checkered pasts like my main man John Daly (if you can’t root for him, I don’t know if we can be friends) to pique the interest of potential-tourney goers and enhance the competitive factor of each tournament.
Local players, including PGA pros, are often considered for spots as well.
After sponsor’s exemptions, there are 33 other ways for players to make their way into a tournament.
The complete list is available at http://www.pgatour.com/r/player_exemptions/index.html.
In the interest of brevity and a willingness to avoid bogging readers down in tour administration minutiae, I’ll make like Letterman and tackle the top 10.
• No. 10A: Players in top 50 of career earnings at the end of 2010 can use a one-time one-year exemption for 2011.
This includes players like Fred Couples, Jesper Parnevik or Tim “Lumpy” Herron.
• No. 10B: Those in the top 25 of career earnings at the end of 2010 can use the special exemption for a second year, as long as the player stays in the top 25.
• No. 9: Winners of PGA Tour co-sponsored or approved events (except team events) within the last two years, or during the current year; winners receive an additional year of exemption for each additional win, up to five years.
Well-known players who meet these criteria include Stuart Appleby, Anthony Kim, Rocco Mediate and Justin Rose.
• No. 8: The leader in PGA Tour official earnings in each of the last five years: This allows Matt Kuchar a spot at the table.
• No. 7: The winner of the FedExCup in each of the last five years. No one is currently using this exempt status, as they qualify under other categories.
• No. 6: Winners of World Golf Championships events (since 2005) receive a three-year tour exemption.
Step forward Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Ian Poulter and Hunter Mahan.
• No. 5: Winners of The Tour Championship, since 2005, have received a three-year exemption. This gets Jim Furyk and Camilio Villegas into events.
• No. 4: Winners of the British Open in the last 10 calendar years earn themselves a five-year PGA Tour exemption.
Stewart Cink, 2009 champ, and reigning champ Louis Oosthuizen are using this.
• No. 3: Winners of the Masters Tournament in the last 10 years receive a five-year exemption.
Say “Hello Friends” to Trevor Immelman and Zach Johnson.
• No. 2: Winner of The Players Championship in the last 10 years earn five years of exempt PGA Tour play.
Tamers of the famed island green at the TPC Sawgrass using this exemption are Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Stephen Ames and Tim Clark.
• No. 1: Winner of PGA Championship or U.S. Open prior to 1970 or in the last 10 years get a five-year exemption.
Tiger Woods, last year’s U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell, Jack Nicklaus and even Ken Venturi can use this to get into tournaments.
You’ll notice that many players qualify for exemptions under multiple categories.
Phil Mickelson has won The Masters three times and is exempt until the cows come home, but he uses his 2005 PGA Championship win, since it’s first on the exempt priority list.
Arctic Open set
Port Townsend Golf Club’s next tournament is the always popular Arctic Open on Feb. 12-13.
The past couple of months have given golfers a good chance to practice in many types of weather: snow, rain, freezing cold, etc.
Players who went out in the conditions should have a heads-up experience-wise for the Arctic Open, which is played in any type of weather.
The golf course also holds an all-day $10 skins game on Saturdays.
It’s $10 for the game and $10 for greens fees.
The course’s three-month long Winter Eclectic began on New Year’s Day.
For more information on any Port Townsend Golf Club event, phone the course at 360-385-4547.
Save the date
Seven Cedars Casino, and by extension, Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course in Sequim, is one of five presenting sponsors for the annual Seattle Golf & Travel Show at the Qwest Field Event Center on Feb. 11-13.
All the big names in the world of golf equipment and apparel will be on hand for the event.
If golfers want to make an evening of it in the big city, the Crowne Plaza of Seattle is offering a special Seattle Golf Show rate of $99 for single/double occupancy.
Book your rooms at www.cphotelseattle.com, or phone 877-410-2551 and ask for the Seattle Golf Show rate.
Reservations for that rate are good through next Wednesday.
It also includes a 50-percent off rate for parking.
Miller in Bremerton
Former U.S. Open champion and current NBC golf television commentator Johnny Miller will visit Bremerton during the U.S. Junior Amateur, which will be held from July 18 to July 23.
Miller will speak at a players’ dinner at Naval Base Kitsap the night before the first round on July 17.
Patron sponsorships are available for the event through Gold Mountain.
Visit www.goldmt.com for more information.
That tournament will be held at Gold Mountain’s Olympic Course, a past host of the NCAA Men’s West Regional in 2008 and 2010, and the 81st U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship in 2006.
They’ve done such a masterful job at holding these bigger tournaments that USGA administrators invited a delegation from Gold Mountain out to New Jersey to conduct a media workshop.
The United States Golf Association recognized Gold Mountain’s expertise in putting on successful tournaments, and asked for representatives to conduct the media workshop at a meeting last month in New Jersey.
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Michael Carman is the golf columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. He can be reached at 360-417-3527 or at pdngolf@gmail.com.