Career Money List Exemption: Anyone inside the top 25 on the career money list can use that status on a one-time basis to retain full exempt status. There is also a one-time exemption for anybody in the top 50.

In the latest news, 62-year-old Vijay Singh has made an interesting move, using this exemption. He is sixth on the list, having earned $71,281,216. Though his 2026 schedule remains unclear, for now, the 3x major winner is all set to compete in the 2026 season opener, the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club. This move, indeed, has garnered a lot of attention online, forcing questions about fairness, chance, and who earns a spot in a tight 144-player field.

Those who think Singh has every right to play, they claimed, say it’s something he has earned through his legendary career, and the question shouldn’t be raised. As former Athletic and NBC Sports writer Matt Williams commented, “My take: He earned it. Not much else to say.” Another person just repeated the same sentiment, saying, “He earned it. End of story.”

And those who feel Singh is being selfish wrote things like: “Douche move, but he’s always been a douche.”

The sentiment is understandable, considering Singh’s past move in 2020 when he entered the Korn Ferry Challenge at Dye’s Valley at TPC Sawgrass during the pandemic, but withdrew later, following the criticism. Another Korn Ferry Tour professional, Brady Schnell, called Singh “a true piece of trash” had he accepted the KFT money. Although Schnell later apologized, and Singh’s move looked small on paper, it bit into someone else’s opportunity, something similar to what is happening now.

The career money list exemption does not expand the field. It simply shifts one place away from a bubble player. That ripple effect hits other rookies and conditional members who chase every chance to have a spot on the Tour.

The debate took place on NUCLR GOLF’s X post. See below:

This move is opposite to what Matt Kuchar did.

For the first time since 2001, Kuchar found himself on the outside looking in regarding the PGA Tour. He finished the 2025 season at 118th on the FedEx Cup points list, earning conditional status, ending his 19-season streak. However, having earned $61.5 million in his career, he sits at 13th on the Tour’s all-time career money list. He could have taken a full exemption and not broken the prestigious streak, but he decided otherwise.

After realizing that earning full status would give him 3-4 more starts, that too without signature events, he decided to pass on the money-list exemption and take his chances with conditional status. As a past champion of the Sony Open, he is in the field in Hawaii.

Kuchar’s 13th spot on the money list means that no matter what happens in 2026, he’ll still be inside both the top 25 (Tommy Fleetwood is No. 26 with $43.4 million) and top 50 (Geoff Ogilvy is No. 51 with $30.6 million), and this will allow him to use those two exemptions in 2027 and 2028. He turns 50 in ’28 and would be eligible to play on the Senior Tour.

The PGA Tour offers a one-time top-50 career money exemption to help veterans keep starts, but this does pose an important question about fairness. Another question that comes to mind is, why the Sony Open, though?

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But why did the PGA Tour veteran choose the Sony Open?

Singh has not played a regular Tour event since failing to make the cut at the 2021 Honda Classic. He has spent most of his recent time playing on the Champions Tour. And in between, his results in the majors were largely non-competitive, missing the cut at the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Masters. However, in 2024, he finished T58 at the Masters but missed the 2025 Masters because of an undisclosed injury in early 2025.

But the Sony Open at Waialae is a very special place for Singh. He won this exact tournament back in 2005 with a score of -11, famously defeating Ernie Els. Even when he aged, he remained relevant here. In 2016, at age 52, he shot a 63 in the opening round of the Sony Open to share the lead. Singh has played the Sony Open over 20 times.

Still, it’ll be tough for Singh to match the grind with the younger players at this age. Because of this, many even question whether he truly readied himself for full PGA Tour competition.

Yeah, history shows that older golfers sometimes still shock fans with great performance. For instance, Sam Snead made a cut at the Westchester Classic when he was 67 years old. Tom Watson nearly won the British Open at age 59. Fred Funk made the cut at 64. So, age alone cannot settle whether Singh belongs in the field. Now, how Singh fares in the field of the Sony Open remains to be seen.