Every PGA Tour event has a handful or so of spots in the field to dole out to golfers who didn’t otherwise qualify.
Those spots may go to a past champion. They often are awarded to a rising star in the game. The strategy there is that perhaps the up-and-comer will remember the courtesy later in his pro career and will become a regular at that particular Tour stop.
Sometimes a sponsor exemption gets doled out to someone noteworthy as a means to drive interest in a tournament, such as former NFL quarterback Tony Romo, who got into the Charles Schwab Challenge, or LPGA star Lexi Thompson, who wowed the Las Vegas crowd last October before just missing the weekend cut at the Shriners Children’s Open.
According to the PGA Tour, since 1990 there have been just 12 golfers to win a tournament after getting a sponsor exemption. There’s been over 1,000 PGA Tour events in that time, proving the long odds a sponsor invite faces.
Here’s the list of those who won on the PGA Tour after receiving a sponsor exemption since 1990.
A lot is on the line at LIV Golf’s regular-season finale in the Kingdom.
The LIV Golf League returns to action this week with the final event of its regular season in Saudi Arabia, where tens of millions of dollars, first-round byes and future eligibility are all on the line.
At the end of LIV Golf Jeddah, once again held at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, the season-long individual champion will be decided and the winner will take home the lucrative $18 million top prize. Dustin Johnson won the individual title a week before last year’s season finale, but this year’s race is much closer with three players in the mix: Cam Smith, Talor Gooch and Bryson DeChambeau.
Here’s a rundown of what’s on the line this week at LIV Golf Jeddah.
Brush up on your Ryder Cup history with this list of all-time points leaders for Europe and the U.S.
Over its nearly 100-year history the Ryder Cup has featured some impressive performances from the world’s best players, especially since the competition switched to include all of Europe back in 1979.
From Nick Faldo and Arnold Palmer to Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods, a handful of players have stood out with their play and find themselves on the all-time points list in the biennial bash.
Of the top 10, six are European players, but when it comes to the top 20 — which includes a handful of active players — the split is right down the middle at 10 a piece.
As the teams of 12 from both the United States and Europe prepare to square off in the next round of matches at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy this week, take a scroll through the all-time points winners in Ryder Cup history from both squads.
“It’s certainly a little strange not having them around.”
ROME — How does Rory McIlroy feel about a Ryder Cup without Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, among others?
“It’s certainly a little strange not having them around,” he said on Wednesday during his pre-Ryder Cup press conference.
Garcia, Poulter and Westwood have been stalwarts of the European side, with Poulter and Garcia the heart and soul of the team. While they likely wouldn’t have qualified for the team or even garnered a captain’s pick given the current state of their games, they likely would have been involved in the backroom as a vice captain or in some capacity had they not defected to LIV Golf and renounced their DP World Tour membership, which made them ineligible for the Ryder Cup team. McIlroy mused the consequences of their decision to jump ship for the riches of LIV would be most apparent this week.
“I think this week of all weeks, it’s going to hit home with them that, you know, they are not here, and I think they are going to miss being here more than we’re missing them,” he said. “It’s just more I think this week is a realization that the decision that they made has led to not being a part of this week, and that’s tough. The landscape in golf is ever-changing and more dynamic, and we’ll see what happens and whether they will be part of it in the future.”
He added: “This is a bit of a transitional period for the European Team and there’s people that have been part of the European Team for a long time that aren’t here this week. But I think the guys that we brought in are going to be awesome. Nicolai (Hojgaard), Ludvig (Aberg), Bob (McIntyre), that’s the future of our team and the future of the Ryder Cup.”
Rory McIlroy of Team Europe tees off on the 11th hole during a practice round prior to the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, Italy. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
But McIlroy’s Euro teammate, Jon Rahm of Spain, said he reached out to some of the old guard, including Poulter and Garcia, who teamed with Rahm to great effect as one of the few bright spots for the Euros at Whistling Straits in 2021.
“I did have a little bit of a chat with him, and with Poulter, as well,” Rahm said. “Not that it’s going to be easy to take on the role that those two had both on and off the golf course, but just to hear them talk about what they thought and what they felt is obviously invaluable information.”
While the Euro side has lost a great deal of veteran leadership – Graeme McDowell and Henrik Stenson deserve mention too – McIlroy contends the void will be filled and the European scouting trip to Marco Simone before the BMW Championship earlier this month laid the foundation for team unity.
“I couldn’t believe that we’ve never done it before,” McIlroy said. “We played a practice round and we got familiar with the golf course but then the sort of time we spent off the course I thought was great. Just sort of sharing stories around the fire pit and sort of describing our journeys in golf and what the Ryder Cup means to us. Sort of just getting to know one another a little better, even people that I thought that I knew for a long time, sort of getting to know them a little better, too, was wonderful.”
McIlroy also shared what he told the younger players about his role in the team room and mentoring the newcomers.
“I don’t want anyone looking up to me,” he said. “I just want everyone looking at the side. I want them looking over to me. I don’t want them looking up to me in any way. I want them to see me like I’m on their level. And there’s no hierarchy on our team. It’s we are all one part of a 12-man team and we all go forward together. I guess that’s the one message I’ve tried to relay to some of the younger guys on the team.”
McIlroy credited Euro captain Luke Donald with setting a proper mood for the team.
“I think Luke and his vice captains have really sort of tapped into that emotional connection around Team Europe this week, and we have all bought into it,” he said. “It’s been an amazing experience so far, and it’s only Wednesday. There’s a lot of great things to come. But couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the team, and to have those other 11 guys be my teammates.”
Former European Ryder Cup stalwart Paul Casey won’t be involved in this year’s match in Rome largely because he jumped to LIV Golf, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t care anymore about the competition that he played in five times.
Speaking to Golf Digest’s John Huggan recently, Casey opened up on his feelings about this year’s Ryder Cup, which will be held in Rome from Sept. 29-Oct. 1.
The entire article is worth your time, but here are some highlights, starting with touting Padraig Harrington as the best captain he played under despite Harrington’s team suffering a 19-9 defeat at Whistling Straits two years ago:
“I’ll tell you how good a captain Padraig was,” Casey said. “The caddies bought him a watch. They all got together, bought him a Rolex and brought him to tears when they presented it to him in Dubai, a few weeks after the matches. That said so much. Caddies normally don’t like dipping their hands in their pockets for players. But it was actually the flip side of what was going to happen if we won. Padraig was going to buy every caddie a watch. He was so highly respected.”
Casey concedes some of the Euro stars of the past might not have qualified for the team this year even if LIV players were eligible, but their absences will be missed in other ways.
“I would still have [Ian Poulter] be involved. That’s what is going to be missing in Rome, guys like Poulter and [Lee] Westwood in the locker room. I’ve been in those locker rooms. The pundits and the commentators have not.”
Paul Casey of the European Team celebrates holing a long birdie putt to win the second hole in his match against Brooks Koepka of the United States Team during singles matches of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National on September 30, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
Casey hopes as the divisiveness in golf is repaired, the Euro LIV players can be brought back into the fold.
“The Ryder Cup is so valuable in terms of what it gives to golf in Europe, not just monetarily. We don’t want that to be damaged any more than it has been already. I don’t watch a lot of golf outside of the majors. But I will certainly watch the Ryder Cup. And I might just have a piece of Euro team clothing on under my top. I won’t have the commentary on though,” he said with a laugh.
Casey said he has no regrets about his move to LIV.
“Moving to LIV has changed me for the better as a person” he says. “I was probably in a spiral before, and not in a good way. There are so many things people don’t necessarily want to hear from pro golfers. Whatever the sport. But I was trying to play multiple tours. Then there were team matches and the Olympics and all the rest of it. It was taking its toll. Look, I still want to do what I do. But something had to give. I just don’t want to do it all as often.”
“It’s exciting just to be a part of something new.”
There has been no shortage of drama, excitement, storylines and plenty more since LIV Golf made its debut last June at Centurion Club in London.
Players choosing to stay on the PGA Tour or go to LIV Golf. Some taking jabs at one another, back and forth. Numerous legal battles. Seemingly every day, there was something newsworthy related to LIV Golf and its attempt to thrust itself into the golf ecosystem.
This week, LIV Golf returned to Centurion Club, where 2023 LIV Golf London begins Friday. It’s the return to the place where LIV Golf began, and it’s the first time LIV has played a course twice.
Last season, it was the first of eight events. This year, it’s the ninth of 14. Although the future of LIV Golf is up in the air since the announcement of the agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the financial backer of LIV, players and executives are marching forward as if the circuit will continue.
Only time will tell.
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There are 23 golfers in the field this week who participated in the first LIV event last year. Some of those players and others reflected on the first year of LIV Golf ahead of kicking off Friday’s event in London. Here’s what they had to say.
After 117 players advanced from regional qualifying for the 2023 Open Championship, just 16 spots are left to fill the field for the final men’s major of the year next month in Royal Liverpool, July 20-23.
One LIV Golf player will look to earn his spot the hard way, just as he did for the U.S. Open, while another will end a nearly three-decade streak of competing in his national open.
Sergio Garcia has entered final qualifying, while Lee Westwood will miss his first British Open in 28 years. Westwood was also recently denied entrance to the Senior Open due to unpaid DP World Tour fines related to his move to the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit. Ian Poulter has also elected not to enter final qualifying. The Telegraph was first to report.
Garcia will play a 36-hole qualifier on Tuesday, July 4, between a pair of LIV Golf League events in Spain (June 30-July 2) and London (July 7-9). In fact, of the 52 players to tee it up this season for LIV, 21 have entered final qualifying across the four sites:
Dundonald Links
Jason Kokrak
Sebastian Munoz
Andy Ogletree
Carlos Ortiz
Peter Uihlein
Royal Cinque Ports
Dean Burmester
Branden Grace
Wade Ormsby
David Puig
Charl Schwartzel
Brendan Steele
Kieran Vincent
Royal Porthcawl
Laurie Canter
Matt Jones
Anirban Lahiri
Marc Leishman
Cameron Tringale
West Lancashire
Sergio Garcia
Graeme McDowell
Mito Pereira
Scott Vincent
Other notable names to enter final qualifying include Alex Fitzpatrick, Aaron Wise and Matt Wallace at West Lancashire, Thomas Detry at Royal Cinque Ports and Matt Kuchar, Michael Block and Mackenzie Hughes at Dundonald Links.
As uncertainty swirls around the future of LIV Golf amid the news of a partnership between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to create a new global golf entity, one team is moving ahead like it’s business as usual.
On Wednesday morning Majesticks GC named OKX, a crypto exchange company, as its first global sponsor. The Majesticks are three-way captained by Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson, with Sam Horsfield and Laurie Canter (a temporary injury replacement for Horsfield) filling out the roster. The OKX logo will feature on team uniforms.
“Having been an OKX Ambassador, I know that the company brings passion, technological expertise and creative thinking to everything it does,” said Poulter. “We both have ambitions not only to win but to challenge the status quo.”
The sponsorship is OKX’s latest venture in the sports world after previous partnerships with the McLaren Formula 1 Team, as well as English Premier League giants Manchester City. OKX is not available in the United States due to regulatory and compliance reasons and the press release came with a lengthy disclaimer warning about the high degree of risk that comes with trading digital assets.
With a global sponsor and team principal already in place, the Majesticks are furthest along with regard to team development compared to the other 11 squads in the league. LIV Golf will return to action next week, June 30-July 2, at Real Club Valderrama in Spain.
“If you’re not going to go out there 100%, then there’s not really any point going out there.”
Lee Westwood was near the bottom of the leaderboard after two rounds of LIV Golf Tulsa after posting a 36-hole score of 2 under.
Before the final round at Cedar Ridge Country Club, Westwood withdrew from the event.
He told Dom Boulet he injured himself while running on the treadmill before Saturday’s second round.
“Rather than play today, just give it another day to recover,” he said. “If you’re not going to go out there 100%, then there’s not really any point going out there.”
Westwood added he’s confident he’ll be back for LIV Golf DC, slated for May 26-28 at Trump National Golf Club.
Lee Westwood tells our @DomBoulet that he injured his left leg during a lengthy run on treadmill before Saturday's Rd. 2 #LIVGolfTulsa. Says it's a strain of his medial ligament.
"Rather than play today, just give it another day to recover," he said. "If you're not going to go…
“That was their choice and they knew that these were potentially going to be the consequences,” added McIlroy.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood were going to be long shots, or at best on the fringe, for the European squad at the 2023 Ryder Cup later this year in Italy, but the trio were sure-fire future options to captain the team in the biennial bash against the United States.
After the three players, as well as Richard Bland, resigned their DP World Tour membership on Wednesday, their hopes of being at the helm for Team Europe were dashed.
“Their resignations, however, along with the sanctions imposed upon them, are a consequence of their own choices,” said the DP World Tour via a statement, and world No. 3 Rory McIlroy, the face of the European team, couldn’t help but agree.
“I think it’s a shame, right? I think it’s a shame that you’ve got the highest points scorer ever in the Ryder Cup and two guys that when they look back on their career, that’s probably going to be at least a big chunk of their legacy is the roles that they have played in the Ryder Cup for Europe,” said McIlroy after the first round of the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship on Thursday. “For those three guys to not captain Europe one day, it’s a shame.”
Garcia leads the European side in total points score (28.5) and boasts an impressive 25-13-7 record, while Westwood is the most capped player with 11 appearances and is tied for the third-most points scored (24) with Bernhard Langer. Poulter has been a chest-thumping thorn in the Americans’ side with his 15–8–2 record, 6-0-1 in singles.
“But as the DP World Tour said in their statement, at the end of the day that was their choice and they knew that these were potentially going to be the consequences of those choices and of those actions and here we are. Yeah, it’s certainly a shame.”
For a player to be eligible to represent Europe, they must be a DP World Tour member.
The players “were sanctioned for serious breaches of the Tour’s Conflicting Tournament Regulation committed last June,” after they played in the inaugural LIV Golf event in London without conflicting event exemption from the tour. On April 6, an independent United Kingdom-based panel, Sports Resolutions, ruled in favor of the DP World Tour to be able to fine and suspend LIV players who played in conflicting events without permission.
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