Amateur golfer Scott Verplank has been given...

Amateur golfer Scott Verplank has been given an exemption to play in as many as 10 PGA Tour events in each of the next two seasons, a Tour policy board member said in Akron, Ohio.

“Presumably, that includes the Tournament of Champions,” said Roger Maltbie, a board member who is competing in the World Series of Golf at Akron.

Verplank, 21, of Dallas, became the first amateur since 1956 to win a Tour event when he won the Western Open last month.

The complex rules governing eligibility for the PGA Tour did not specifically cover amateurs.

Verplank has said he will not turn professional until he completes his undergraduate work at Oklahoma State next spring.