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Golf’s ongoing sponsor exemption debate has once again flared up at the Zozo Championship.

With the PGA Tour’s fringe players scrapping for 2025 playing rights in the FedEx Cup Fall Series, the limited-field, no-cut event in Japan has raised a few eyebrows.

Joseph LaMagna, an analyst for Fried Egg Golf, pointed out that, with just a couple of weeks left for golfers to get into the top 125 and earn their cards for at least one more year, for Zozo to be handing Joel Dahmen – currently 129th in the FedEx standings – and Gary Woodland – 137th – sponsor’s invites is “particularly egregious”.

Why not, as LaMagna points out, Pierceson Coody in 130th? Or even Kevin Tway, Alejandro Tosti or Daniel Berger, who all went into the week ranked outside the 125 but above Dahmen?

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Of course, it’s divided opinion on social media, with many agreeing and many – correctly, it should be noted – pointing out that players know what they need to do from the start of the season and avoid putting themselves in this situation.

Michael Kim, though, made a whole other case altogether.

The South Korean, whose sole PGA Tour title came at the John Deere Classic in 2018, never lets us down when it comes to wading in on the topics of the day or giving us interesting behind-the-scenes details about life on tour.

“I can obviously relate to the guys that would love to get some free points and secure my card for next year,” Kim wrote on X, “but I don’t have much of a complaint about sponsor exemptions.

“These companies sign an eight-figure cheque. 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.”

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Then, with his tongue firmly in his cheek, he added: “I’m more annoyed at Max Homa and Justin Thomas. Just stay home and watch the Dodgers and Bama so I can play goddammit.”

He even added a “lol” to show he was joking.

If the shunned players are saying they’re OK with sponsor exemptions, who are we to argue?


author headshot

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor

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