Jordan Spieth hasn’t hit a competitive shot since August, yet his name continues to shape one of the PGA Tour’s biggest debates. The 13x PGA Tour winner last appeared in the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where he finished at T38. Since then, he has been on hiatus from professional golf. For some golfers, this could be worrisome, as only the top 50 on the FedEx Cup standings get full exempt status to play signature events on the PGA Tour. But for Spieth, it’s time to relax and enjoy.

The 2022 RBC Heritage winner is currently ranked 87th on the FedEx Fall standings. Only the top 50 on the list get full exemption status for the next PGA Tour season. However, instead of solidifying his position on the list, Spieth is skipping all fall events. Golf analysts from The Shotgun Start podcast think he is doing it because he knows that he could get sponsor exemptions to play in 2026. “I think Brian Rolapp, who’s like, how do we you know, the premise of, like, how do we make all of our events more relevant, has to look at this and be like, well, this is messed up,” said Andy Johnson on his The Shotgun Start podcast.

Spieth ended the regular season at 56th. This was certainly a precarious spot, as any golfer behind him who performed well in the fall events could have out-passed him. But just because the 13x PGA Tour winner is confident of getting a sponsor’s exemption, he is not worried at all. Andy believes that this kind of backdoor makes the PGA Tour less competitive. It basically defies the meaning of having a system of relegation.

The whole point of having a separate points system for the fall events is to make the PGA Tour more competitive and interesting. Golfers who finish between 51 and 60 get to play in signature events, such as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational, through the Aon Next 10. Jordan Spieth is among the most popular names who could end up there. However, he simply doesn’t care because of the safety net that sponsor exemptions provide.

Reflecting on the same, Johnson said, “The most interesting player in the Aon Next 10 is just saying, nah. I’ll just take my whole off-season here because I know the safety nets of this uncompetitive tour.”

Jordan Spieth received five sponsor exemptions in 2025 alone. The story for other elite golfers is the same. For instance, Rickie Fowler got six of them this year. This makes the tournament so unfair for some golfers. Despite being in horrid form, both Spieth and Fowler maintained their status as sponsors continued to offer them exemptions. Even fans have started saying that such exemptions are stealing spots from much more deserving candidates.

The PGA Tour is making some changes to make the Tour more competitive. While some changes are directed at sponsor exemptions, there are no primitive changes.

PGA Tour sponsor exemption status changes

Starting in 2026, the PGA Tour is eliminating four restricted sponsor exemptions that were previously allocated for players from the DP World Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, and Q-School. These spots will be reallocated to an alternate list, essentially removing some of the special sponsor exemption categories and increasing fairness in tournament entry.

“The PAC discussions were based on a number of guiding principles, including our belief that PGA Tour membership is the pinnacle of achievement in men’s professional golf,” said Adam Scott, a member of the Player Advisory Council.

The problem here is that these changes are related to exemptions from other tournaments. However, sponsors still have their four exemptions they can give to anyone. Each Signature Event continues to offer four sponsor exemptions restricted to PGA Tour members, plus an additional exemption for players with 80 or more PGA Tour wins (this applies uniquely to Tiger Woods). One host exemption is available for each player-hosted Signature Event.

These regulations are consistent with policies in place for 2025. Thus, golfers like Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler still don’t have to worry about their status.