Why a special Open exemption for Vijay?

            Maybe it's that winning personality of his. In any event, the USGA has sought fit to grant a special exemption to Vijay Singh that will allow him to play in the U.S. Open this month at Pebble Beach.

              The way Singh is playing now, he likely wouldn't make it through qualifying. It was something to see the big stoic fling his wedge onto the fairway in front of him rather violently last week after an awful pull.

               I'm a little puzzled as to why the USGA thought him worthy of such a high honor, given that Singh has no great history in the U.S. Open. “There were many compelling reasons for us to invite Vijay Singh into the field of this year’s U.S. Open, particularly his three wins in Majors in the last 12 years,” Thomas J. O’Toole Jr., chairman of the USGA’s championship committee said in a USGA release. “He has played through injuries, which caused him to drop, quite quickly this year, in the World Rankings. He’s always been competitive at the U.S. Open and he is healthy and playing well again.”

        It's not a travesty. It does no harm. But I just thought that such an honor would be reserved for the likes of Tom Watson, who also received an exemption.