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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Thanks to two new exemption categories approved by the PGA TOUR Policy Board last July, Ken Duke and Bobby Wadkins will tee it up at the 2007 PLAYERS Championship -- one for the first time and the other for the 21st time.

Duke, the 2006 Nationwide Tour money leader, and Wadkins, winner of the 2006 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, will add to what is already the strongest field in golf facing off May 7-13 at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

Bobby Wadkins gained entry into THE PLAYERS with his win at the 2006 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship. (WireImage)

This year, Duke returned to the PGA TOUR after two seasons on the Nationwide Tour, where he was voted 2006 Player of the Year and earned fully exempt status for the 2007 PGA TOUR as a result of his No. 1 position on the season-ending money list. For Duke, who just posted a career-best tie for 10th at the weather-delayed Verizon Heritage, THE PLAYERS will be the biggest start of his career since qualifying for and competing in the 2002 U.S. Open.

"Honestly, that was the whole focus of last year for me," said Duke. "Everybody was talking about THE PLAYERS [exemption], so it wasn't so much about winning the money title as it was about playing at THE PLAYERS. I tried not to think too much about it until we were in, but now I'm just so excited about it.

"I was told I won't believe how many people are there and that the golf fans appreciate good shots. Just the atmosphere -- it's our championship and that's what it's all about."

Wadkins knows the atmosphere at TPC Sawgrass well. The 2007 PLAYERS marks his 21st appearance in the event, but his first since 1996. His best finish came at his first PLAYERS in 1975 when he tied for eighth. The exemption affords Wadkins another chance to win a title his older brother, Lanny Wadkins (1979), won 28 years ago at Sawgrass Country Club.

Ken Duke punched his ticket to THE PLAYERS by leading the Nationwide Tour money list. (WireImage)

"I appreciate THE PLAYERS recognizing the success that I had on the Champions Tour last year by giving me this chance to play in this year's tournament," said Wadkins, who collected his fourth Champions Tour trophy earlier this year at The ACE Group Classic, an event Lanny Wadkins won seven years earlier in his Champions Tour debut. "The PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is always a great challenge and hopefully I can put together a good week of golf and keep the ball dry on 17."

The exemptions reflect the strength and competitiveness of the Nationwide and Champions Tours. Mark Wilson's win at the 2006 Honda Classic marked the 200th PGA TOUR victory by a Nationwide Tour graduate on the PGA TOUR, and Zach Johnson's recent triumph at the Masters Tournament was the first by a Nationwide alum. Fred Funk, the 2005 PLAYERS champion, won the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun to become only the second man to win a PGA TOUR event after winning on the Champions Tour.

The addition of the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship winner is consistent with current practice of the USGA, PGA of America and R&A whereby champions of the U.S. Senior Open, Senior PGA Championship and Senior British Open are extended invitations to compete in the U.S. Open, PGA Championship and British Open, respectively.