Jordan Spieth may not have been in action in Georgia this past week, but his name was certainly one of the talking points to emerge from the RSM Classic.
The PGA Tour season has concluded. Of course, much of the focus at the RSM Classic was on those fighting for their futures at golf’s top table. But there was also a decent amount at stake further up the standings.
Successful weeks for the likes of Sami Valimaki, Max McGreevy and Nico Echavarria ended up having implications for Jordan Spieth as he was one of the players knocked out of the Aon Next 10 – and is now on course to miss out on the first two signature events of 2026.
Or so you would perhaps think.
Jordan Spieth criticized following the conclusion of the 2025 PGA Tour season
Spieth played in a number of signature events in 2025 despite finishing the previous season 80th in the FedEx Cup.
The 32-year-old was unable to make the most of the platform as he will now be relying on sponsor invites once again.
Do you think Jordan Spieth will be deserving of invites into the signature events in 2026?
The problem is that Spieth will almost certainly still play the first two signature events of 2026. And given that he did not play in a single tournament during the Fall Series, Rex Hoggard has told the Golf Channel Podcast that the opportunities afforded to Spieth next year will give the PGA Tour a big headache.
“I was talking with one tour player about this and they pointed out really, really quickly that Jordan Spieth’s main sponsor is AT&T, so he’s getting into Pebble Beach – and I agree with that. And it doesn’t seem likely at all that he’s not getting into Genesis as Tiger Woods is the host there. He clearly has a good relationship. He’s going to get in there as well,” he said.
“I agree with both of those things. I just think it’s an incredibly poor look for Jordan Spieth. And the part that I wrestle with a little bit is the conversation he had with our very own Damon Hack last week, where he was working on things, he was trying to get healthy, he was trying to be around his family. A lot of things going on off the golf course, which is more than fair. These guys play all year long, they play a really gruelling schedule, it’s only going to become more gruelling next year. You deserve the time off. But it is tough when you’re in that category and you didn’t play once in the fall.
“You didn’t even give it one shot. You didn’t go to Mexico of all places; Cabo is pretty nice this time of year from what I hear. You didn’t go to Napa, really nice. I just don’t understand why he made the choice of not even playing if all he needed to do was make one cut and he would have finished in that category and he wouldn’t even be in this conversation.
“I am tired of talking about it. You’re tired of talking about the idea of sponsor exemptions and why these exemptions into these big events, the signature events, always seem to go to the four or five or six different players. No one wants to hear it anymore. But it’s going to become an issue next year when there’s going to be a guy that’s watching that field and knows that Jordan Spieth got in because he’s on a sponsor exemption, and he could’ve made the least amount of effort and not taken that spot.”
What Jordan Spieth said about receiving a number of sponsor invites in 2025
The PGA Tour is in a difficult position. Spieth is a needle-mover when it comes to television ratings; one of the only players who has a significant impact on how likely fans are to tune in.
So of course, it makes all the sense in the world to have Spieth at all of the biggest events on the PGA Tour. However, there is a hint of arrogance about his stance.
If Spieth had any real concerns about being in the first two signature events of 2026, he would have surely played at some point during the fall.
Funnily enough, ahead of the Wyndham Championship earlier this year, Spieth claimed that he did not like the position he found himself in.
Jordan Spieth on receiving sponsor invites to PGA Tour events
Spieth could have helped the PGA Tour out by just playing in one or two events in the final months of the season.
And clearly, it would have silenced a lot of people had he wrapped up his spot in the Aon Next 10 for 2026 with his performances.
But he now has to accept there is going to be a lot of criticism coming his way.
Meanwhile, the calls for reform over how sponsor exemptions are decided are likely to get even louder.
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