Vijay Singh’s surprise start at the Sony Open got a lot of attention last week, firstly because of how did it get there (putting an exception to the career money list) and then because of how did he play just arrived (T40, tying or beating two-thirds of the early-season PGA Tour field). It was an ode to the longevity of his career and an inspiring stand against the times.
But he unlocked it another one PGA Tour season underway?
Maybe.
And it will be interesting to see if the PGA Tour responds.
Singh’s swan song from Sony
First, a word about Singh’s start at Sony: The soon-to-be 63-year-old was able to make it at Waialae Country Club because every player within 50 balls on the all-time money list is given a single season access card for a season of their choice. Singh, who is No. 8 on that all-time list (No. 6, if you don’t include the LIV guys) used his top 50 exemption for 2026 and played at Sony, where he became one of the tour’s longest-serving producers. AND warmed up for this week’s PGA Tour Champions Open on several islands in Hualalai.
It was also his last chance to play a tournament he loves (and won in 2005); Sony’s sponsorship ends this year and the Hawaiian pacer faces one uncertain future on the PGA Tour.
Now Singh can play a lot more this year if he wants; his category makes him effectively eligible for any full field event. But he is unlikely to do so. IN an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Max Schreiber suggested he would not play more than a pair in preparation for the walk at Augusta National.
“Maybe if I’m fit enough to walk into the Masters because it’s a hilly golf course, I can play San Antonio the week before and Phoenix is a pretty flat golf course so I can play that,” he said. AND.
Singh also said some other interesting things in the interview. “I went in there to play well, to compete,” he said, pushing back on the idea that he was an infield filler. “It’s the first time I’ve walked 18 (holes) in a long time,” he added, recalling the benefits of the Champs Tour. And then there was this: “I got the lifetime ban … (and) I have to get my ban back for next year, so if I wanted to play next year, I could.”
This caught my eye. Wow – next year too?
What is a “Lifetime Member”, anyway?
A little digging revealed more specifics about the PGA Tour lifetime membership; let’s check them out. When a player wins his 20th PGA Tour event, he joins an elite group called Lifetime Members, who have access to PGA Tour courses through a special category. Singh has a total of 34 wins, the most of any non-American in history. But to remain acceptable for Life Member access you need to do two things:
1. Play at least one PGA Tour event in the past year
2. Maintain a scoring average within three strokes of the field average for the rounds you play
And here’s where things get interesting. Singh’s four-day average at Sony was 68.75, actually better than the ground average of 69.26. This means he is good on the first criterion and three and a half shots clear on the second. If he didn’t play at all the rest of the year? That’s right, he would qualify as a Lifetime Member for 2027. On the other hand, if he plays poorly at the Masters or other starting spots here and there, his scoring average could go up and he would fall out of eligibility for 2027.
Who else could this potentially affect? Fewer golfers than you think. The 20-plus group is rarefied air; only 34 men have ever crossed the threshold and only 15 of them are alive. Of those 15, only six are active players in every tournament, and two of them (Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson) play in the LIV. No one played outside of the Life Member category in 2025.
That leaves us with four names: Tiger Woods, who hasn’t played in a while but has his own category (80 wins gets you special access) if he tries to come back; Rory McIlroy, who is quite right at the moment (being the reigning Masters champion will do); Davis Love III, who plays a partial PGA Tour Champions schedule plus the occasional PGA Tour start (he has served as host player at the RSM Classic); and Singh.
This is a fun quirk of the tournament more than a sort of problem; we’re talking about two players in their 60s who are Tour legends and wouldn’t be interested in playing many events anyway. There aren’t loads of pros who will suddenly be 20x winners; Scottie Scheffler (19) could get there this week and Justin Thomas (16) is within striking distance, but no one else from the current contending group is within five. Still, in an era where the Tour is shrinking its field sizes and outright exempt cardholders, every available start is under scrutiny.
Side door opening
What’s strange and fascinating about this particular customization is how quickly it can be unlocked. For example, when Love played RSM last fall, he shot 71-76 and missed the stroke. The scores were low at Sea Island that week (67.78 and 67.92 stroke averages on the courses he played each day) but if he had shot a two-under 34 instead of a four-over 40 on the second nine Friday and posted a 71-70, he would have suddenly regained Life Member eligibility for the entire 2026 season.
That probably wouldn’t be a big deal. Golf fans love Davis Love III, and would he add another start anyway? But it’s worth thinking about the implications of the rule. A slightly more plausible case: If Phil Mickelson stops playing LIV Golf at some point, serves some sort of PGA Tour suspension, or a deal is reached between the two sides, a few good rounds in the majors could get him back on Tour in the Life Member category.
To push the limits of your imagination, here’s a scenario that won’t happen but in theory can: If 70-year-old Greg Norman (20 career PGA Tour wins) qualified (or received some kind of special fence-mending exemption) back into the Open Championship and hovered around the cut line, he’d suddenly be eligible to play the tour full-time again. (In law, serving as the commissioner of a rival startup league might trigger another bylaw. Let’s turn this thing around.)
Closing the side door
What is the purpose of all this? Mainly because, as the Tour redesigns its future, there are a few side doors everywhere that they’ll have to decide whether to leave open or close for good.
It’s easy to laugh at the idea of someone having to explain this sort of thing to Brian Rolapp, the Tour’s new CEO, who comes from the NFL and has no real golf experience. It’s safe to say that there is no pro-football equivalent of a 63-year-old returning to a PGA Tour card that could violate each of Rolapp’s three stated principles of equity, scarcity and simplicity. And as a tournament rethinks his schedule — and its eligibility criteria — for 2027 and beyond, it is easy to imagine that this type of category will be more formally restricted.
There’s a lot to like about running the tournament as it looks to get bigger, splashier and more efficient. Rolapp is already leading that charge with Woods and others at his side. But there will be some quirks we’ll miss as it happens, some intriguing subplots, like Singh’s thrill of making it on Tour at his own pace — and outmaneuvering players half his age when he does.
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