Request of professional golfer, now an amputee, for medical exemption for Champions Tour refused

From The New York Times:

The comeback effort of the professional golfer Ken Green (pictured) was dealt another blow Tuesday when he learned that his request for a major medical exemption on the Champions Tour had been denied.

Green, 51, whose right leg was amputated last June after his motor home crashed following a Champions Tour event, had been hoping he would be restored to the status he had on the tour before the accident.

During the months of work he has put into rehabilitation from multiple operations to his leg, ankle and head, Green has battled physical setbacks while mourning the deaths of his brother and his girlfriend in the crash and the death of his son in January from an accidental overdose.

“I was just asking basically for the year that I’ve lost,” said Green, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour whose limited status on the Champions Tour was in the career victories category, which is open to the winners of at least two tour events for a 24-month period after their 50th birthday. “I had played for 11 months before the accident and was just asking that the 13 remaining months would be given back to me when I’m able to play again.”

The Champions Tour regulations do not allow for such an exemption, said Mike Stevens, the tour’s president. He added that the tour’s major medical exemption is open only to players in the categories of top 30 money winners from the previous season and winners from the current year.

Because the policy board refused to extend the exemption to Green, his current status on the tour will expire on July 23, his 52nd birthday. “They’re basically, and I don’t mean this as a pun, cutting my foot right out from under me,” Green said. “I’m baffled by it.”

Stevens, whom Green said had lobbied on his behalf with the board, said that the Champions Tour regulations for eligibility and field makeup are “a little confusing.” For example, he said, the term “major medical” is often thought to refer to the severity of the injury or condition of a player, but it actually refers to a player’s eligibility status.

While no one would confuse the devastating nature of Green’s injuries with the usual array of hip- and knee-replacement procedures that generally receive major medical exemptions on the Champions circuit, it was considered in the same vein, Stevens said.

“The injury could be anything that denies him the ability to play golf,” Stevens said, “whether an accident like Ken’s, or a knee problem, a shoulder problem, a back problem, anything the player submits as documentation that he is unable to play. They are submitted for major medical and reviewed and either granted or denied.”

The tour also must consider potential legal challenges that could accompany any change in a regulation affecting a player’s eligibility, Stevens said, particularly when fields are limited to a maximum of 81 players.

“There are a lot of cases in the past where a player that was, like Ken, not fully exempt and has submitted a major medical request,” Stevens said. “And their request was denied. We looked at this in every which way you can.

“Obviously, it’s tragic what happened to Ken. But when you look at changing the major medical category for a nonexempt player, the ramifications it has for field makeup are incredible.”

Stevens said he understood Green’s disappointment with the decision. He said when he called him to give him the news, and Green told him he had the flu, he wanted to wait to call him back when he felt better.

“The decision on Ken wasn’t the one he wanted,” Stevens said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m leaving Ken Green on the outside.”

Stevens added: “I want him to get back out with the players. I think he needs to get back with his friends to help him in the total recovery process.”

Green said he appreciated the thought and the efforts that some Champions Tour players have made in calling sponsors to get them to consider him for exemptions.

“I understand it,” he said. “I know a lot of tournaments would be happy to let me play. But I wasn’t asking for anything I didn’t already have.

“It’s not like I said: ‘Hey, I’m missing a leg. Besides everything else, can you give me an extra year ’cause I’m missing a leg?’ I wasn’t looking for anything more than I already had.”