PGA Tour players call collusion, bull**** on AT&T Pebble Beach sponsor exemptions

Eighty players are scheduled to tee up this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, making it the smallest yet strongest field in tournament history.

Ten of the top 11 players in the world will compete for a purse of $20 million. The winner will not only receive $3.6 million, but also 700 FedEx Cup points.

This elusive field includes the top 50 players from last year’s FedEx Cup standings, players who finished between 51st and 60th in the FedEx Cup Fall Tournament, and Nikolai, the top player in the Race to Dubai standings who will not be excluded. Hoygaard, as well as players in the top 30. There are no exclusions from the Official World Golf Ranking.

Thanks to that last condition, Justin Thomas received an invitation this week.

Also included are five players from the new category “Aon Swing 5” that will be implemented in the 2024 season. It consists of the top five FedExCup point earners from the past three full-field events: Sony Open in Hawaii, American Express and Farmers Insurance Open, who are not otherwise exempt.

Matthieu Pavon, Grayson Murray, Christian Bezuidenhout, Kevin Yu and Stephan Yeter made up the first Aon Swing 5 and earned an entry into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Still, four other players received invitations to Pebble Beach through sponsor exemptions: Peter Malnati, Maverick McNeely, Webb Simpson and Adam Scott.

All four players serve as player directors on the PGA Tour Policy Committee. Over the past few months, they have had to help guide the tour through negotiations with the Strategic Sports Group (SSG) and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).

But the reality is that three of these four players do not need to play in this prestigious tournament.

That’s why some players have expressed anger over the addition of Malnati, McNeely and Simpson to the squad this week.

“This seems like collusion and political maneuvering that should never happen on tour.” One veteran player said to golf week. “That’s very suspicious if you ask me.”

I added another one to golf week: “It didn’t pass the smell test. The great thing about sports is that it used to be the outlet where everything was decided on the field or court. Golf has always been the ultimate meritocracy.”

Of the four players who received sponsorship exemptions, Scott is the only one ranked within the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking. The 2013 Masters champion is currently ranked 51st in the world and had five top-10 finishes before the season.

Photo credit: Tracy Wilcox/PGA Tour (Getty Images)

Scott missed the 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs not because he played poorly, but because he didn’t play well enough. He made 15 of 17 shots on tour last year. The 43-year-old Australian has made it a priority in recent years to play around the world rather than just on the PGA Tour.

Meanwhile, the other three players are far from sniffing the top 100.

McNeely is currently ranked 197th in the world, while Simpson and Malnati are ranked 225th and 249th, respectively.

Sure, Simpson won the 2013 U.S. Open and was once a top-five player in the world, but his play has declined in recent years. His recent performance doesn’t guarantee him a spot at this week’s prestigious fields like Pebble Beach, where some players ranked within the top 100 don’t have a chance to play.

But on the flip side, the PGA Tour and Pebble Beach tournament organizers are perhaps rewarding their hard work, time and dedication during this hostile time in the sport.

Sure, that’s great, but there’s no room for politics in golf, and other players can smell it.

Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.