Blake Davis
The PGA Tour this week created a special exemption category for Tiger Woods to play in its signature events, citing the 15-time major champion’s “exceptional lifetime achievement” in the game of golf. Woods, winner of 82 PGA Tour events, has long been a lifetime member of the Tour, surpassing the organization’s 20-win barrier, but exclusive events require other qualifications.
The eight limited-field – and in some cases, no-cut – tournaments, which offer purses of $20 million and $4 million in winners’ equity, can only be played by the Tour’s most successful golfers. To qualify for exclusive events, golfers must be among the top 50 players on the previous season’s FedEx Cup points list, the top 30 players on the current Official World Golf Ranking, the current year’s tournament winners and/or or those considered to be playing the best golf in a given season.
Woods, the biggest attraction in golf (and perhaps all sports), does not meet these criteria nor does he currently play enough golf to have a chance to do so. Previously he had received sponsor exemptions in any exclusive events he was interested in playing in, but there has been widespread criticism of sponsor exemptions in general in golf, with some suggesting they should disappear altogether.
Tiger recently received a special exemption from the USGA to play in the 2024 US Open.
The PGA Tour’s decision is a tribute to Woods’ past greatness and the reality that the big signature events and popularity of modern golf came largely on the back of Woods, ushering the sport into a new, richer era.
Despite the exemption category, Woods is unlikely to participate in many of these exclusive events. He only started four tournaments this year, one of which was an exclusive event, the Genesis Invitational in February. Woods hosts Genesis and this year withdrew in the second round due to illness.
After missing out on qualifying at the US Open last week, Woods was non-committal about his future on the PGA Tour.
“I only have one more tournament this season,” he said. “…I don’t think that even if I win the British Open, I don’t think I’ll be in the [FedEx Cpu] decisive games. Just one more event and I’ll be back whenever I come back.”
Woods is not expected to frequently use the new exemption category, and technically it is not exclusive to Tiger. The category includes a limit of 80+ wins, according to ESPN, which makes Woods the only member of the PGA Tour who will qualify in the near future. Rory McIlroy has the second-most PGA Tour wins for an active member behind Woods with 26, ranking him 22nd all-time on the organization’s wins list.
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