Scottie Scheffler coach hits back after controversial PGA Tour comments
Renowned PGA Tour putting coach Phil Kenyon has leapt to the defence of one of his players Gary Woodland by claiming he 'warrants a sponsors invite', despite calls from one golf publication to bin them.
Scottie Scheffler's putting coach Phil Kenyon has hit back at Fried Egg Golf's claims that sponsor exemptions should be eradicated from the PGA Tour.
Kenyon leapt to the defence of one of his players, Gary Woodland, who was targeted in a post by Fried Egg's Joseph LaManga.
A debate was sparked on X / Twitter after LaManga wrote it was 'particularly egrergious' that two of the four sponsor exemptions in this week's ZOZO Championship in Japan were handed to Woodland and Joel Dahman.
LaManga pointed out that Woodland and Dahmen's position in the FedEx Cup standings means a strong performance this week could likely be the difference between retaining their Tour cards.
Dahmen started the week at 129 in the standings, with Woodland at 137.
The top 125 on the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup standings after the RSM Classic retain their cards for 2025.
LaManga's point was that players on the bubble of the top 125 were having to just sit on the sidelines this week because Dahmen and Woodland 'have bigger brands'.
"Sponsor exemptions shouldn't exist at all," LaManga wrote.
"But they definitely shouldn't alter the trajectory of players' futures."
While Kenyon did not specifically mention anything to do with Dahmen, he did stand up for his man Woodland, who won the 2019 U.S. Open.
'Woodland coming off a top 10 in Vegas, played the season recovering from brain surgery,' replied Kenyon, who also works with the likes of World No.1 Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood.
'Rather than take a medical he competed when he probably shouldn’t have. I think that warrants a sponsors invite. Also being a major champion you have earned the chance to be considered too.'
Woodland opened with a solid 2-under 68 at the ZOZO Championship to lie T22, while Dahman began with a 1-over 71 to lie T53.
PGA Tour pro Michael Kim also chimed in on the subject, albeit he offered something of a tongue-in-cheek response.
"I can obviously relate to the guys that would love to get some free points and secure my card for next year," said Kim.
"But I don't have much of a complaint about sponsor exemptions.
"These companies sign a eight-figure check. They can have four out of 80 spots to control.
"If I had played a little better earlier in the year, I would have been in the tournament."
Kim couldn't resist a cheeky dig towards Max Homa and Justin Thomas.
"[They] just stay home and watch the Dodgers and Bama so I can play god dammit lol."
Why are sponsor exemptions controversial?
Sponsor exemptions on the PGA Tour can be controversial for several reasons.
Mainly, their use revolves around fairness and meritocracy.
Some argue their use bypasses the qualification process.
They can also be seen as unfair when they are handed out to popular players that are simply underperforming.
There is also a perceived lack of transparency because it's not always clear what criteria sponsors use to pick players.
It leads to speculation that exemptions may be influenced by personal relationships or business connections.
What have the players said?
Earlier in the year, Webb Simpson defended his use of sponsor exemption to compete in the signature events.
He stated that his inclusion in the events had nothing to do with the fact he sits on the policy board.
Simpson agreed that the optics weren't good though.
"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," he said.
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