Why staying at top 50 is every golfer’s game plan

In the aftermath of the Magical Kenya Open, many readers have asked me what it really means to win the event and whether the victor will now get invites to other European Tour events including The Open Championship and even the Masters. Delving behind these questions, which I will attempt to answer, I found that most readers were hypothesising what a win for Simon Ngige would have meant to his career.

If Ngige or any other Kenyan was to be victorious at the Magical Kenya Open, would that give him an automatic ticket to the Masters? Or the WGC Dell Technologies MatchPlay that is currently taking place in Austin, Texas?

To participate in any European Tour or indeed PGA Tour event, players have to firstly be members of that particular Tour – the only exemption to this rule are Sponsor’s invites and National Spots. For example, at the Magical Kenya Open, our Kenyan pros were registered either under the eight available National Spots or under Sponsor’s invites. Korea’s HoSung Choi was also invited under this category latter category. Members of the Tour register to play in whichever event they desire to play in – with preference being given to players with higher ranked categories or exemptions. Let me try and explain using the upcoming Masters Championship.

Theoretically, the masters is an invitational – players are sent personal invites from the Augusta National Golf Club; however the criteria for whom gets an invite is well laid out. Past winners of the Masters get a lifetime exemption, and most have continued to play well into their sunset years.

It is under this category that Angel Cabrera, Fred Couples, Sandy Lyle and Vijay Singh get invited. Category Two includes US Open Champions who get a five-year exemption. So, if you win the 2019 US Open, you get automatic entry into the 2020 to 2024 Masters! PGA Champions and Open Champions get a similar five-year exemption whilst Players Championship Winners get a three-year exemption. Others who get invites include the Top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking, the week prior to the current tournament (www.pgatour.com). Amateurs who get invites include the US Amateur champion and runner-up, the British Amateur Champion, the Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion, the Latin America Amateur Champion and the US Mid-Amateur Champion.

On the European Tour, Category One players include Winners of the Race to Dubai and Majors –these guys have a five year exemption. This exclusive category includes – Francesco Molinari, Tommy Fleetwood, Henrik Stenson, Ernie Els, Martin Kaymer, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia and Danny Willett. Category Two includes winners of any of the Rolex Series events and winners of the World Golf Championships (WGCs) – players such as Branden Grace, Tyrrell Hatton and Thongchai Jaidee fall under this category.

Category Three includes players who have been victorious in 2018 or 2019 – but there is a twist – those winning events with over $1.75 million get two year exemptions whilst those winning events below $1.75 million like the Magical Kenya Open, get one year exemption (www.europeantour.com). As mentioned before, players in higher ranked categories get priority.

The Magical Kenya Open 2019 did not have any Category One or Two players, whilst three players registered under Category Three, they included Justin Harding, Shubhankar Sharma and Renato Paratore. Thomas Bjorn registered under Category Five – Legends Category.

At the ongoing WGC Dell Technologies MatchPlay – preference is given to the top 64 players in the world; and since Rickie Fowler, ranked 8th on the OWGR and Adam Scott, ranked 29th, opted not to play, Satoshi Kodaira and Luke List, ranked 65th and 66th were invited.

In conclusion, to qualify and play at the top golf events in the world, players have to firstly work their way into the Top 50 of the world – this is important; after that a win on the European Tour or the PGA Tour goes a long way in ensuring some exemptions.