LIV Golf and slow play aren’t the only contentious issues in the world of professional golf right now – sponsor invites have also made the headlines, or rather a lack of them.
One Tour player, Dylan Wu, has said the process “doesn’t seem fair”, after Adam Scott received a sponsor exemption into the Arnold Palmer Invitational Bay Hill this week, his third straight invitation to a Signature event.
Wu missed the cut at the Cognizant Classic at the weekend, where he posted rounds of 74 and 75, and the World No. 172 won’t be teeing it up at Bay Hill.
Great players and major champions. I can’t say much because I missed the cut hard this week but getting more than one sponsor exemption into elevated events doesn’t seem fair. Seems like if you’re a player director, you’ll get an invite into an elevated event. Seems suspect….. https://t.co/qQYGIBMoNjMarch 2, 2024
“Great players and major champions. I can’t say much because I missed the cut hard this week but getting more than one sponsor exemption into elevated events doesn’t seem fair,” Wu said on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).
Former Masters champion Scott, who won the US Open in 2012, will be joined by fellow player director Webb Simpson in the field at Bay Hill, and Wu wasn’t afraid to say what he thought of both players receiving exemptions.
“Seems like if you’re a player director, you’ll get an invite into an elevated event,” he added. “Seems suspect…..”
“And trust me, they’re both great players that probably deserve it but this new model is all about meritocracy,” Wu explained. “Sponsor exemptions going to the same players every elevated event doesn’t seem to follow the “play better” saying. Seems like “be more famous” or “know the right people.”
“I’m not saying I deserve an exemption in any way,” Wu explained. “I don’t and must play better to get into the elevated events. There’s 8 this year. The points in these big events are worth 2.5x more and purses are double with half the field size. That makes these exemptions so important!”
The 27-year-old turned pro in 2018 and has a best finish of tied fifth on the PGA Tour, which came at the 3M Open last year, and he’s made the cut 36 times out of the 65 tournaments that he’s played.
Scott, who wrote to the tournament director for a sponsor exemption to get into the Genesis Invitational in February, is currently ranked 48th in the world and has 14 PGA Tour wins to his name, whilst seven-time PGA Tour winner Simpson is currently outside the world’s top 200.
With the type of resumes that both players have, Wu’s comments have received some predictable replies, most of which argue the point that he needs to focus on playing better.
Get yourself a resume like Scott and Simpson. These guys have been stars for years. Would you be bothered if Tiger was getting exemptions into all the signature events? People come to see players like that play, they don't yet come to see the Dylan Wu's of the worldMarch 2, 2024
This is a criticism that Wu accepts, although he still has a point to make – and he has his supporters, too.
“Get your point Dylan. Can't blame them for getting Adam Scott in there but Webb is definitely a tad bit suspect,” said one fan.
The PGA Tour policy board members include lead player director, Tiger Woods, and five player directors, which as well as Scott and Simpson, includes Peter Malnati, Patrick Cantlay, and Jordan Spieth.
