Finchem memo supporting Elkington seen as bias

ORLANDO, Fla. - PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem sent a memo to tournament directors to explain why Steve Elkington needed invitations to get into tournaments this year. At least two players criticized Finchem for favoritism.

Elkington had been exempt for 23 consecutive years until the former PGA champion finished 183rd on the money list last year and lost his card. Four other times he finished out of the top 125. He had a 10-year exemption for winning The Players Championship in 1997.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of Finchem's memo, which was dated Nov. 23.

"I think it's out of line," said David Duval, a former major champion who also has only conditional status this year. "It never crossed my mind to ask Tim to do that for me."

Tim Herron, who has been writing tournaments for exemptions this year, said it smacked of favoritism.

"That's terrible of the tour," Herron said from Bay Hill, where he is playing as a past champion. "The tour needs to be unbiased and treat everyone the same. That's like a slap in the face. Nothing against Steve Elkington. But the tour is supposed to represent the players as a whole, and not just one player."

Elkington has played five times this year, although he has yet to receive a sponsor's exemption. He got into four tournaments through his status as a past champion, and played last week at Innisbrook because of a top-10 finish in Puerto Rico.

Elkington told KRIV-TV in Houston he wonders how anyone could believe Finchem or the PGA Tour is showing him any favoritism.

"All I did was call Tim Finchem to see if he could get the board to consider giving me a year since I met the requirements for the Hall of Fame, which is 10 wins and 2 wins in the majors," he said.

"I won the PGA and the Players Championship, which counts. Finchem came back to me and said that wouldn't happen, but he said that he would be happy to write a letter for me and let the tournaments know my status has changed and how much I have meant to the tour over the last 23 years."

He also told KRIV he wasn't upset with the comments made by Duval and Herron.

"No, I'm not bothered by what Duval and Herron said," Elkington said. "It's a complicated situation and I don't begrudge anyone who gets to play because everyone wants to play on tour."

Finchem was in meetings with the policy board and with Arnold Palmer and not immediately available for comment.

"We've done it with other players," Rick George, chief of operations for the PGA Tour, said Tuesday. He declined to identify those players. "If there's a unique change in eligibility or status ... we've done it a number of times."