Vijay Singh is weeks away from turning 63 years old, and the three-time major champion is preparing for a season-opening start in Hawaii.
However, that start isn't happening on the PGA Tour Champions at their traditional start in Hualalai. It's happening in Honolulu at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Singh, who won 34 times in his PGA Tour career, is using a one-time, one-year exemption to play as a full PGA Tour member in 2026. The PGA Tour offers these exemptions to players who lose status but are sitting in one of three categories, either in the top 25 or top 50 of the PGA Tour's all-time money list or the rare cluster of players who have made at least 300 PGA Tour cuts.
Singh last played in a standard PGA Tour event at the 2021 Honda Classic (he has a lifetime Masters invitation that he uses), but he's looking to make full use of an exemption available to him for at least a little while longer. Despite the massive increase in PGA Tour purses, Singh still sits at sixth on the career money list at $71.2 million, just $50 million behind Tiger Woods, $30 million behind No. 2 Rory McIlroy and $28 million behind No. 3 Scottie Scheffler.
If he wants, under current policy, he can take one-time exemptions under the top 25 money-list category and 50 money-list category in subsequent years. He could be exempt until he's nearly 66 years old. He cannot take the 300-plus cuts made category (509 cuts made) now that he's taken the money-list exemption. The PGA Tour offers that lesser status as a separate one-time option for players who aren't in the top 50 of the career money list.
Singh's decision drew ire of fans, analysts and players alike, with many wondering aloud how this was possible. It's a remnant of the pre-private-equity PGA Tour, when the Tour sought to reward its stars with a victory lap (or two, or three) to wind down their careers. The Fijian shouldn't be blamed for taking advantage of what's available to him, especially considering the money available on the PGA Tour is greater than what's available on the Champions by a factor of six -- and that's before any kind of FedEx Cup bonus money is considered.
Also don't forget that Singh pursued, and ultimately got a settlement for, a five-year lawsuit against the PGA Tour over his 2013 suspension under the Tour's anti-doping program for using deer-antler spray. Singh didn't forget that happened.
Nevertheless, the PGA Tour should use Singh's decision as an opportunity to set an age restriction on using these exemptions. The 2026 PGA Tour season will mark the first time in 40-plus years that the all-exempt category will consist of the top 100 on the order of merit, instead of the top 125. There are 10 fewer Korn Ferry Tour grads with status than the last two years. Fields are smaller through much of the season, and Monday qualifying opportunities have been slashed.
Sure, Singh is just one guy, but this one guy is almost 63 years old, and he hasn't seen the weekend in a PGA Tour non-major event since the 2020 Memorial. The likelihood is low that Singh plays his way into the FedEx Cup Fall top 100, much less qualify for the playoffs. If he does either of those things, it's an incredible feat. If he does neither of those things, then he denied several players opportunities to compete that might have transformed their careers.
After all, Singh got started on the PGA Tour in 1993 after he earned Special Temporary Membership following a T-2 at Bay Hill after Arnold Palmer personally invited him to play. Singh knows as well as anyone that the breaks matter.
Don't fault Singh for taking advantage of what's available to him. Rather, implore the PGA Tour to set a cap on when players can use these exemptions. Cap them at 52 or 55 years old, and let a player only use one of them and one time only. Eliminate the differentiation between the top 25 money list and top 50 money list exemptions, keep the cuts-made exemption. These changes will be consistent with all of the other exemption changes and make sure PGA Tour membership as something earned, not something owed.
