There’s been so much discussion over who didn’t get an exemption into the Arnold Palmer Invitational – namely Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth – that those who did have been all but forgotten.
The Arnold Palmer Invitational is granted four sponsor invites plus a fifth is granted for a participant in the Arnold Palmer Cup, which is voted on by the competitors in the annual Ryder Cup-style team event. That went to Auburn sophomore Jackson Koivun.
The API sponsor exemption committee chose to give its four spots to Rafael Campos, ranked No. 186 in the world, who won the Bermuda Championship last season and wrote an impassioned letter to tournament organizers; Mackenzie Hughes, who narrowly missed out on the top-50 automatic qualifiers last season (No. 52) and is ranked No. 67 in the world; Min Woo Lee, an up-and-coming pro from Australia ranked 55th in the world and who represented the international team at the Presidents Cup last year and has a large social media following; and former U.S. Open champion Justin Rose, who has been a mainstay of the tournament and longtime ambassador of MasterCard, the presenting sponsor of the tournament. At No. 36 in the world, Rose had the best ranking of all the sponsor invites.
To borrow a phrase from tournament sponsor MasterCard, sponsor exemption have become priceless in the age of the $20 million limited field, playing for elevated FedEx Cup points and often no cuts. But sponsor exemptions are given at the prerogative of the tournament for a variety of different reasons. There’s often no rhyme or reason, nor does there need to be. Bottom line: Fowler and Spieth had numerous chances to qualify but due to poor play, injury and newborn babies for both to care for, they didn’t get the job done and were left with only one last avenue into the tournament via a sponsor exemption and didn’t get the call this time. Sam Saunders, the grandson of Arnold Palmer, discussed the exemption process in great detail here last week.
Spieth shared his disappointment at being overlooked for a sponsor invite here.
The field of 72 at the signature event are competing for a purse of $20 million. There is a 36-hole cut this week to the top 50 and ties plus any player within 10 shots of the lead.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Sponsor exemptions are a hot commodity. Who got in the Arnold Palmer?
