Curtis, Weekley Recieve PGA Championship exemption
Ben Curtis and Boo Weekley were the lucky recipients of a special invitation to the PGA Championship held at Whisteling Straits next week. Despite the fact that both had fallen from the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings, the Ryder Cup members were selected by the PGA of America to fill the 156-player field.
Last year the PGA changed its entrance criteria for the prestigious competition, dictating that all Ryder Cup members must stay within the top 100 if they want an invitation. Curtis is currently ranked at 106th on the list, while Weekley is at 162nd.
Entrance into the PGA Championship is limited to those players who are within the top 100 as of Monday August 2nd. Players who have won a major tournament in the past four years plus all former PGA Champions are also eligible to compete, and the PGA has the right to invite any other player who they deem worthy to fill the quota of players.
This year the PGA invited Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, England’s Simon Khan and Seung-Yul Noh of South Korea to attend the competition despite their ranking outside of the top 100 and lack of any wins this year.
Curtis’ last victory was at the 2003 Open Championship, the same year he was named Rookie of the Year. He tied for second place at the 2008 PGA Championship, qualifying him for a position on the 2008 Ryder Cup team. He tied for 14th place at this year’s U.S. Open.
Weekley has never won a major tournament though he has two PGA wins at the Verizon Heritage event in 2007 and 2008. He rose into the top 25 after successfully defending his Verizon Heritage title and was selected for the 2008 Ryder Cup team where he displayed superb technique in his 4-and-2 victory over Oliver Wilson on the last day of singles play.
Curtis and Weekley were not the only Ryder Cup players to make it in despite their official standings. Justin Leonard was 101 on the list but earned his spot in the competition due to his standing on the PGA points list, a list compiling the amount each player earns in winnings per season.
The PGA Championship will take place on August 12th through 15th. The final majors this season are the Bridgestone Invitational and the Turning Stone Resort Championship, both taking place this week. The winners of these competitions are given a berth in the competition if they are not already eligible, in which case the two alternates who will attend are D.J. Trahan and Matt Jones
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