PGA Tour’s Exemption Puzzle on Full Display at WM Phoenix Open
Dylan Wu spent Thursday at TPC Scottsdale waiting for a phone call that never came. The Scottsdale resident, a fully exempt PGA Tour player, was left on the outside looking in at the WM Phoenix Open-despite having earned his card in dramatic fashion at Q-School just two months ago.
Wu wasn’t alone. Several other players with full status, including three PGA Tour University grads-Luke Clanton, David Ford, and Gordon Sargent-also didn’t crack the field. And that’s raised some serious questions about how the Tour is handling access in 2026, especially for players who’ve earned their way onto the big stage.
Let’s break it down.
A New Season, Same Old Frustrations
The PGA Tour made a point of saying 2026 would be about creating more opportunity for full members. That meant shrinking some field sizes, eliminating most Monday qualifiers, and promising better access for recent Q-School and Korn Ferry Tour grads. But if the WM Phoenix Open is any indication, the execution hasn’t matched the intent.
Wu, who secured the final Tour card at Q-School in a playoff, was the only fully exempt player who didn’t get into the event. Marcelo Rozo, who finished one spot ahead of Wu at Q-School, got in when J.J.
Spaun withdrew. Wu, meanwhile, could only vent his frustration on social media: “Only fully exempt player on Tour not to get in the event.
I guess #playbetter.”
It’s a tough pill to swallow. Wu earned his card.
He lives in Scottsdale. And yet, no start.
That’s not just bad luck-it’s a system that seems to be working against the very players it’s supposed to support.
Who’s Really “Exempt”?
The PGA Tour U grads are technically fully exempt, but their experience this week says otherwise. They’re in the same reshuffle category as Korn Ferry Tour graduates, yet the starts aren’t lining up. If Phoenix is any example, these players are still fighting uphill just to get a tee time.
Then there’s Lee Hodges. After fulfilling his major medical exemption at the Sony Open, he still found himself behind Wu and the PGA Tour U trio on the alternate list.
Hodges didn’t get into Phoenix-but somehow, he’s already in the field for The Players Championship. That kind of inconsistency is hard to explain, and it’s even harder to justify for players like Will Zalatoris, who are trying to return from injury under the medical exemption umbrella.
The Koepka Curveball
The field was originally capped at 120 players. But when Brooks Koepka committed to play, the tournament expanded to 123 to make room.
That’s not unprecedented-similar expansions happened last season at Valspar, Houston, and San Antonio. But this time, the extension stopped short of including other exempt players still waiting in line.
Expanding to 126 would’ve balanced the field and potentially avoided the awkward split tee situation that left nine players unable to finish their rounds before darkness. Alejandro Tosti, in the final group, was still on the eighth tee when play was called. That’s not just a scheduling hiccup-it’s a sign that the tournament setup itself could use a rethink.
The Monday Qualifier Fallout
Another wrinkle: the removal of most Monday qualifiers has closed a door for players who used to grind their way into events. That includes those who finish top 10 the previous week-once a reliable way to play your way into the next tournament.
Joel Dahmen was the only top-10 finisher from the Farmers Insurance Open who would’ve qualified under the old system. But he didn’t get in either-until a sponsor’s exemption came through.
And not just any exemption: Dahmen reportedly wrote a letter on a golf shirt to the tournament director. That’s the kind of creativity it now takes to get into a “full field” event as a full-status player.
Sahith Theegala and Adam Scott-both exempt from finishing in the top 30 of last year’s FedEx Cup standings-also needed sponsor’s exemptions to get in. That’s how crowded and confusing the exemption hierarchy has become.
A Scheduling Fix?
There’s a simple solution that might help with at least part of the problem: move the WM Phoenix Open to later in the West Coast Swing. More daylight in the calendar would give the tournament a better shot at finishing rounds on time, even with a full field.
But based on current signals from the Tour’s Future Competitions Committee, Phoenix is likely to remain early in the calendar-possibly right after the Super Bowl, when fan attention is at its peak. Great for TV buzz, not so great for players stuck in the exemption shuffle.
The Bottom Line
For Dylan Wu and others like him, the message is clear: full status doesn’t guarantee full access. The Tour’s restructured system has created a logjam that’s sidelining players who’ve earned their way in. And while the intention may be to create more opportunity, the reality is that too many deserving players are still waiting by the phone.
Until the Tour finds a way to clean up the exemption categories and align them with actual playing opportunities, we’re going to keep seeing weeks like this-where the field is technically full, but the system feels anything but.