Each PGA TOUR player has earned a position on the priority ranking system that will be used to select tournament fields in 2012. The complete ranking system, in order of priority, is as follows:
1. Winner of PGA Championship or U.S. Open prior to 1970 or in the last five calendar years:
Keegan Bradley
Al Geiberger
Jack Nicklaus
Jack Burke, Jr.
Lucas Glover
Arnold Palmer
Angel Cabrera
Padraig Harrington
Gary Player
Billy Casper
Don January
Lee Trevino
Dow Finsterwald
Gene Littler
Ken Venturi
Jack Fleck
Graeme McDowell
Tiger Woods
Raymond Floyd
Rory McIlroy
Y.E. Yang
Doug Ford
Bobby Nichols
Webb Simpson
2. Winner of THE PLAYERS Championship in the last five calendar years and current year:
Phil Mickelson
Sergio Garcia
Henrik Stenson
Tim Clark
K.J. Choi
Matt Kuchar
3. Winners of the Masters in the last five calendar years and current year:
Trevor Immelman
Zach Johnson
Charl Schwartzel
Bubba Watson
4. Winners of the British Open in the last five calendar years and current year:
Stewart Cink
Ernie Els
Louis Oosthuizen
5. Winners of THE TOUR Championship in the last three years and current year
Jim Furyk
Bill Haas
6. Winners of World Golf Championships events in the last three years and current year:
Luke Donald
Ian Poulter
Adam Scott
Hunter Mahan
Justin Rose
Nick Watney
Geoff Ogilvy
7. Leader from the final FedExCup Points List in each of the last five calendar years:
Vijay Singh
8. Leader from the final PGA TOUR Money List in each of the last five calendar years:
9. Winners of PGA TOUR co-sponsored or approved events (except team events) within the last two calendar years, or during the current year; winners receive an additional year of exemption for each additional win, up to five years:
Stephen Ames
J.J. Henry
Carl Pettersson
Stuart Appleby
John Huh
Scott Piercy
Arjun Atwal
Fredrik Jacobson
D.A. Points
Aaron Baddeley
Dustin Johnson
Ted Potter Jr.
Cameron Beckman
Anthony Kim
Rory Sabbatini
Matt Bettencourt
Chris Kirk
Heath Slocum
Jonas Blixt
Martin Laird
Brandt Snedeker
Jason Bohn
Derek Lamely
Scott Stallings
Michael Bradley
Marc Leishman
Kyle Stanley
Jonathan Byrd
Justin Leonard
Brendan Steele
Ben Crane
Bill Lunde
Steve Stricker
Ben Curtis
George McNeill
David Toms
Jason Day
Rocco Mediate
Jhonattan Vegas
Jason Dufner
Bryce Molder
Camilo Villegas
Rickie Fowler
Ryan Moore
Johnson Wagner
Harrison Frazar
Kevin Na
Lee Westwood
Robert Garrigus
Sean O'Hair
Mark Wilson
Brian Gay
Ryan Palmer
Gary Woodland
Charley Hoffman
Kenny Perry
Tommy Gainey
10a. Players among the top 50 in career earnings as of the end of the preceding calendar year may elect to use a one-time, one-year exemption for the next year:
Scott Hoch
10b. Players among the Top 25 in career earnings as of the end of the preceding calendar year may elect to use this special exemption for a second year, provided that the player remains among the Top 25 on the career money list.
11. Sponsor exemptions (a maximum of eight, which may include amateurs with handicaps of 0 or less), on the following basis:
A. Not less than two sponsor invitees shall be PGA TOUR members not otherwise exempt.
B. Not less than two of the top 25 finishers and ties from the last Qualifying Tournament, as well as 2-25 from the 2011 Web.com Tour money list, if not all of them can otherwise be accommodated. (Note: PGA TOUR members may receive an unlimited number of sponsor invitations. Non-TOUR members may receive a maximum of seven per year.)
12. Two international players designated by the Commissioner.
13. The current PGA Club Professional Champion for a maximum of 6 open events (3 must be opposite British Open and World Golf Championships events), in addition to any sponsor selections.
David Hutsell
14. PGA Section Champion or Player of the Year of the Section in which the tournament is played.
15. Four low scorers at Open Qualifying which shall normally be held on Monday of tournament week.
16. Past champions of the particular event being contested that week, if cosponsored by the PGA TOUR and the same tournament sponsor (except for Team events), as follows:
A. Winners prior to July 28, 1970: unlimited exemptions for such events.
B. Winners after July 28, 1970 and prior to Jan. 1, 2000: 10 years of exemptions for such events.
C. Winners after Jan. 1, 2000: five years of exemptions for such events.
17. Life Members (who have been active members of the PGA TOUR for 15 years and have won at least 20 co-sponsored events).
Davis Love III
Tom Watson
18. Top 30 on the previous years FedExCup points list.
Chez Reavie
John Senden
Charles Howell III
Bo Van Pelt
19. Top 125 on previous year's Official Money List: If not exempt under "Special Exemptions," the top 125 PGA TOUR members on the previous years Official Money List, in order of their position:
Spencer Levin
Kevin Streelman
Tim Herron
Pat Perez
J.J. Henry
Jeff Overton
David Hearn
Steve Marino
Brendon de Jonge
Greg Chalmers
Scott Verplank
Tom Gillis
Robert Karlsson
Charlie Wi
Retief Goosen
Brandt Jobe
Chad Campbell
Billy Mayfair
Robert Allenby
Blake Adams
Josh Teater
Jerry Kelly
Chris Stroud
Kevin Stadler
J.B. Holmes
Hunter Haas
Chris DiMarco
Paul Goydos
Ryuji Imada
James Driscoll
John Rollins
Ricky Barnes
Joe Ogilvie
Kris Blanks
Troy Matteson
David Mathis
Kevin Chappell
Briny Baird
John Merrick
Jimmy Walker
Nick O'Hern
Sunghoon Kang
Cameron Tringale
Michael Thompson
Tom Pernice Jr.
Andres Romero
Chris Couch
Rod Pampling
Brian Davis
D.J. Trahan
20. Players who finished in the Top 125 on the 2010 PGA TOUR Money List as non-members:
Bud Cauley
21. Major Medical Extension: If granted by the Commissioner, if not otherwise eligible, and if needed to fill the field, Special Medical Extension.
Graham DeLaet
Hank Kuehne
Dudley Hart
Bob Estes
Jesper Parnevik
Kevin Sutherland
Bart Bryant
Jose Coceres
Wes Short, Jr.
Joey Snyder
Arron Oberholser
Jeff Klauk
22. Leading Money Winner from 2011 Web.com Tour.
J.J. Killeen
23. Leading money winner from Web.com Tour medical
Patrick Moore
24. Top 10 and ties among professionals from the previous open tournament whose victory has official status are exempt into the next open tournament whose victory has official status.
25. Top 25 and ties from Q-school/players 2-25 on the Web.com Tour prior year money list:
Ken Duke
Brendon Todd
Gavin Coles
Matt Every
Billy Hurley III
Russell Knox
Seung-Yul Noh
Charlie Beljan
Patrick Sheehan
Sang-Moon Bae
Scott Brown
Steve Wheatcroft
Daniel Summerhays
Alexandre Rocha
Mathew Goggin
William McGirt
Bobby Gates
Scott Dunlap
Greg Owen
Jarrod Lyle
Tommy Biershenk
John Mallinger
Kyle Reifers
Daniel Chopra
Martin Flores
Erik Compton
Marco Dawson
Harris English
Kevin Kisner
Edward Loar
Brian Harman
Nathan Green
Stephen Gangluff
Colt Knost
Mark Anderson
Neal Lancaster
Troy Kelly
Richard H. Lee
Kyle Thompson
Will Claxton
Jason Kokrak
Peter Tomasulo
Roberto Castro
Danny Lee
Carl Paulson
Jeff Maggert
Miguel Angel Carballo
David Berganio Jr.
Gary Christian
Garth Mulroy
Joe Affrunti
Vaughn Taylor
NOTES: In alternating order beginning with first place at Q-School Reordered after the eighth tournament; Mondays of the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship; and finally on Monday following the 38th week
26. QualifyingTournament/Web.com Tour medical:
NOTE: This category has been reordered with the above category #25.
27. Players winning three Web.com Tour events in the current year:
28. Minor medical extension:
Dean Wilson
29.Twenty-five finishers beyond 125th place on prior year's money list (126-150):
Roland Thatcher
Billy Horschel
Steven Bowditch
Garrett Willis
Matt Jones
Scott McCarron
Steve Flesch
Tim Petrovic
Paul Casey
Zack Miller
Matt McQuillan
30.Nonexempt, major medical/family crisis:
Alex Cejka
31. Reorder Categories 32-36
Dicky Pride
Shaun Micheel
Robert Damron
Ryo Ishikawa
Marc Turnesa
Omar Uresti
Boo Weekley
Richard S. Johnson
Jason Gore
Peter Hanson
Skip Kendall
Craig Barlow
Joe Durant
Corey Pavin
Ted Purdy
John Daly
Kent Jones
Guy Boros
Lee Janzen
Brent Wetterich
Jose Maria Olazabal
Todd Hamilton
Will MacKenzie
Len Mattiace
Fred Couples
Paul Stankowski
Gene Sauers
Duffy Waldorf
Tom Lehman
Steve Lowery
Rich Beem
Fred Funk
Mark Brooks
Chris Riley
Willie Wood
Eric Axley
Mark Calcavecchia
Glen Day
Peter Lonard
Woody Austin
Robert Gamez
Kirk Triplett
Michael Allen
David Duval
Frank Lickliter II
Brett Quigley
32. Past Champions, Team Tournament Winners and Veteran Members Beyond 150 on Money List: If not otherwise eligible and as needed to fill the field, Past Champion members, Team Tournament Winners and Veteran members beyond 150th place on the previous years Money List, in order of their combined official PGA TOUR and Web.com Tour earnings in the previous year.
33. Past Champion Members: If not otherwise eligible and if needed to fill the field, Past Champion members, in order of the total number of cosponsored or approved events won, excluding Team events. If two or more players are tied, the player who is higher on the PGA TOUR Career Money List shall be eligible.
34. Special Temporary: If during the course of a PGA TOUR season, a nonmember of the PGA TOUR wins an amount of official money (e.g., by playing in PGA TOUR events through sponsor exemptions, Open Qualifying, etc.) equal to the amount won in the preceding year by the 150th finisher on the official money list, he will be eligible for the remainder of the year.
35. Team Tournament Winners: If not otherwise eligible and if needed to fill the field, winners of co-sponsored team championships, in order of the total number of team championship tournaments won. If two or more players are tied based on the number of such tournaments won, the player who is higher on the official PGA TOUR Career Money List shall be eligible.
36. Veteran Members: If not otherwise eligible and if needed to fill the field, Veteran members (players who have made a minimum of 150 cuts during their career), in order of their standing on the PGA TOUR Career Money List.
