
HONOLULU (AP) -- When Davis Love III won for the 20th time to become a life member of the PGA Tour, he received notoriety for his achievement everywhere but the PGA Tour media guide.
In his bio, it lists his exempt status as through 2010 because of his victory at Disney. But there's a reason for that.
The Tour matches exempt status with its priority ranking system. That starts with U.S. Open and PGA Championship winners (lifetime exemption before 1970, now a five-year exemption), then goes through categories such as winning the other two majors, The Players Championship, the Tour Championship, any PGA Tour event, career money, etc.
Life members -- 20 victories and active members for 15 years -- is No. 17 on the priority list.
There's a reason for that, too.
According to Andy Pazder, the Tour's senior vice president of tournament administration, the lifetime tournament exemption is effective only as long as the player maintains a proper scoring average (three strokes above the field average for the tournaments he plays) and competes in at least one PGA Tour event each calendar year.
Pazder said the scoring average requirement is what caused Lanny Wadkins and Hale Irwin to be moved out of the "Life Member" category and into the past champions category.
A player can regain lifetime membership if he meets the scoring requirement in a subsequent year.
DRUG TESTING: Even though he hasn't played since the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods is eligible for drug testing. He said last month the PGA Tour did not come to his house for the test, even though he was expecting a visit.
PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem would not say who was tested. Finchem said the Tour has random testing, selective testing (when it singles out players to be tested) and regular testing for those who might have a history of substance abuse.
"If, in fact, Tiger has not been tested -- and I'm not in a position to say whether he has or hasn't -- it would mean that he didn't pop up in the random poll, I think before he got hurt," Finchem said. "And if he was on the selected list, which he may or may not have been ... we reserved the right in certain situations to go outside the scope of the tournament and test, and we may or may not have done that. But if he says he wasn't tested, it's one of those reasons."
DIVOTS: Morgan Pressel raised $300,000 toward breast cancer research at her second annual "Morgan & Friends" charity event earlier this month. The money will go toward treatment through a new cancer drug and to pay for a traveling mammography van. Pressel's mother died of breast cancer in 2003. ... John Daly, who had planned to play the "Desert Swing" on the European Tour, didn't play in Abu Dhabi last week and has withdrawn from the Qatar Masters this week. His agent said Daly did not feel his game was ready. ... Rory Sabbatini has a corporate deal with Hasbro, the Rhode Island-based toy company, which explains the Nerf logo on his bag. Considering his charity work with the military, don't be surprised to Sabbatini get involved with another of the company's products: G.I. Joe.
STAT OF THE WEEK: Davis Love III now has 166 finishes in the top 10 on the PGA Tour, most among active players and one top 10 ahead of Vijay Singh.
FINAL WORD: "Every club in my bag is my favorite club." -- Paul Azinger, without an equipment deal for the first time since 1995.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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