PGA Tour ripped into over latest unsurprising announcement

PGA Tour fans vented their frustrations after Billy Horschel, Matt Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker were given exemptions into the Memorial Tournament.

PGA Tour

The PGA Tour has come under fire once again over the use of sponsor exemptions. 

On Friday evening, the North American circuit announced three players who will be playing in next week’s Memorial Tournament, hosted by Jack Nicklaus.

There is a further sponsor exemption that is yet to be announced, but Billy Horschel, Matt Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker will be teeing it up at Muirfield Village.

The 2024 edition has been given signature status, meaning a $20m prize purse.

It will come as no surprise to you that every Tour member wants in.

But some players claim the process whereby some members are getting in is not fair.

In fact, some players believe there is some collusion going on.

Webb Simpson has been the beneficiary of multiple sponsor exemptions this term, along with Peter Malnati.

Both players are on the PGA Tour’s policy board but sit outside the top 200 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

One PGA Tour player previously told Golfweek earlier in the season that the sponsor exemptions ‘did not pass the smell test’.

“It seems like collusion, a political game that should never happen on Tour,” the player said.

Simpson has previously spoken at length on the topic.

Before the Wells Fargo Championship, he launched a robust defence.

He acknowledged the optics weren’t great, but said: “There’s things that I’m way more interested in and that get me excited than kind of worrying about what a certain person thinks about who should get sponsor exemptions.”

Malnati defended his exemption into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by saying over the years he has always supported the tournament when others haven’t.

Webb Simpson

The full field for the Memorial Tournament will be announced on 2 June after the conclusion of the RBC Canadian Open.

There was some speculation that Tiger Woods was going to be in the field but it’s unlikely the 15-time major champion will play.

Unsurprisingly, a number of golf fans on X suggested the final spot in the field will be going to one man and one man only.

“That fans want Webb,” one person wrote sarcastically.

Another added: “Shocked Webb Simpson isn’t the fourth.”

This person wrote: “Here comes Webb for the final spot!”