If there is one thing that is killing the PGA Tour, it is granting voluntary invitations to their signature event. Jordan Spieth, who has won only twice in the last eight years, was part of the 2025 Genesis Invitational earlier. Although the Jay Monahan-led PGA Tour exempted these players before the final cut, the fact that they made it to the list remains a bigger question. “Spieth doesn’t deserve to be there. None of the guys who received exemptions deserved it,” Sean Fairholm of mygolfspy.com said. With mounting criticism, the debate over these exemptions is far from over—and this time the PGA Tour commissioner has been caught under fire.

So, the next time when you find someone debating over PGA Tour vs LIV Golf, do not forget that one has been positioning itself as “the serious golf” against “the invitational golf.” Sometimes, tournament sponsors get to handpick a few golfers who have not qualified earlier for a PGA Tour event. The ongoing Genesis Invitational, a limited-field event where players must earn their spot, has sparked controversy for this very reason. Golf pros like Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose, and Gary Woodland made the cut despite not meeting the official criteria for the sig event at Torrey Pines.

“Not sure I’ve ever seen a more stacked list of sponsor’s invites than the Genesis next week, including: Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Gary Woodland, and Min Woo Lee,” informed famed journalist Dan Rapaport. However, just 2 days after this announcement, the PGA Tour confirmed that Spieth would not be part of the mega event.

“Former FedExCup champions Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Billy Horschel and Viktor Hovland all missed the cut, as did Robert MacIntyre, Gary Woodland and FedExCup leader Sepp Straka,” PGA Tour wrote on Feb 13.

Among all the names, Spieth was the most surprising name to miss the cut last Saturday. This further justified the criticism Jay Monahan & Co. received for giving him an exemption. With the PGA Tour already under fire, another questionable exemption was recently revealed by an insider.

Monday Q Info tweeted, “A sponsor exemption on the Champions Tour this week shot +42 for three rounds. Finishing 23 strokes behind the next player. And it was a 23-stroke improvement from his last exemption in this same event in 2022. That year he fired 90-95-96 =(+65).” Yes, the 2025 Chubb Classic saw someone shoot 93-79-86 in 54 holes to end up with 42-over par 258.

Diving deeper down the exact numbers, Mike Balliet managed to get 18 bogeys, 6 double bogeys, 2 triple bogeys, and 2 quadruple bogeys. In fact, he has had as many birdies over the three-day event as triple and quadruple bogeys. And this is supposed to be an improvement from Balliet’s performance in his last exemption in the same event in 2022.

Fans were obviously not thrilled to learn about this. They rightfully questioned the PGA Tour Champions’s ability to provide exemptions to the right players. Though some had a soft corner, most voices were on the harsher side. Here’s what they had to say.

Jay Monahan & Co. asked to close the shutters on the PGA Tour Champions

The ridiculous score accumulated by Mike Balliet was sure to receive a lot of criticism. However, it is directed more towards the Commissioner; Jay Monahan & Co. Fans expect the PGA Tour management to be able to make a better call at whom they should provide an exemption. And if they can’t then they should listen to one fan’s suggestion who said, “The champions tour shouldn’t exist.” Perhaps taking it down altogether would be a viable solution than letting fans witness such miserable performances.

There was another fan who preferred to take a more satirical approach to the whole scenario. They commented, “It took him 3 years to improve by 23 shots. Quite impressive 👏. Can’t wait to see him in 2028.” And for anyone who couldn’t guess it, they did add a “(Sarcasm)” at the end of his response. Although, on a serious note, hope the PGA Tour doesn’t make the same mistakes again.

But the PGA Tour shouldn’t be entirely blamed for the fiasco. As one fan stated, “How embarrassing to accept that exemption.” They believe that Mike Balliet should have been more aware of his abilities on the course to not embarrass themselves in a professional tournament. Especially when the entire world has access to watch him live. Another fan had similar views regarding Balliet as they said, “So whacky. Probably the outside service guy who thinks he can stripe it. Silly.” Many believe that he was in over his head to join the professional course again.

Someone was more sympathetic towards Balliet and the situation he was in. They said, “Guy is either extremely old or extremely nervous. feel awful for him, but if he had fun that’s what counts.” While his statistics may get ridiculed, everyone should also be wary of how much of a mental toll it would have taken on the 55-year-old.

A fan did some background check on Mike Balliet as they mentioned, “He’s the director of golf at a local private club in Naples FL. Guess he doesn’t have much time to play/practice.” That explains why Balliet actually got an exemption. But that still doesn’t justify why he thought he could leave a good impression at the 2025 Chubb Classic.

What are your views about the PGA Tour’s sponsor exemption, Mike Balliet? Share them in the comments section.