PGA Tour grants Tiger Woods special ‘career-wide’ exemption

Tiger Woods hits his shot from the 11th tee during the second round of the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst.

CNN-

The PGA Tour announced Tuesday that it had created a special exemption allowing Tiger Woods to qualify for certain events on its schedule. A “Sponsor Excellence Exemption” allows players with 80 or more PGA Tour wins to qualify for “Highlight Events.”

Woods is the only active player in this group with 82 career wins. As a 15-time major champion, he is tied with Sam Snead for the most PGA Tour wins. The PGA Tour said it was implementing this to “recognize Tiger Woods in his own category.”

The changes were approved after a meeting between the PGA Tour’s policy and business boards in Hartford, Connecticut.

The PGA Tour’s eight “signature events” are the flagship tournaments on the tour schedule, offering increased prize money and more FedExCup points up for grabs.

FedExCup points are accrued over the year, with the top 70 players qualifying for the Playoffs at the end of the season. Last year, there was a whopping $75 million prize pool for the tournament with the winner netting $18 million. The eight “signature events” of the PGA Tour Calendar are Sentry, At & T Pebble Beach Pro-AM, Genesis Invitation Tournament, The Travelers Championship.

Woods had previously won the Arnold Parumer Invitational eight and five commemorative tournaments. But after suffering serious leg injuries in a car accident in 2021, Woods has not been able to play golf regularly throughout each season and therefore would not normally be eligible to participate in those events.

The 48-year-old has only played in four tournaments this year – the Genesis Invitational and the three majors. He lost in the second round at Genesis in February and finished 60th at the Masters, missing out on qualifying for the PGA Championship or U.S. Open.

Another change the PGA Tour announced Tuesday is that all “signature tournaments” will have a minimum of 72 players.

Tiger Woods hits his shot from the 11th tee during the second round of the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst.

CNN-

The PGA Tour announced Tuesday that it had created a special exemption allowing Tiger Woods to qualify for certain events on its schedule. A “Sponsor Excellence Exemption” allows players with 80 or more PGA Tour wins to qualify for “Highlight Events.”

Woods is the only active player in this group with 82 career wins. As a 15-time major champion, he is tied with Sam Snead for the most PGA Tour wins. The PGA Tour said it was implementing this to “recognize Tiger Woods in his own category.”

The changes were approved after a meeting between the PGA Tour’s policy and business boards in Hartford, Connecticut.

The PGA Tour’s eight “signature events” are the flagship tournaments on the tour schedule, offering increased prize money and more FedExCup points up for grabs.

FedExCup points are accrued over the year, with the top 70 players qualifying for the Playoffs at the end of the season. Last year, there was a whopping $75 million prize pool for the tournament with the winner netting $18 million. The eight “signature events” of the PGA Tour Calendar are Sentry, At & T Pebble Beach Pro-AM, Genesis Invitation Tournament, The Travelers Championship.

Woods had previously won the Arnold Parumer Invitational eight and five commemorative tournaments. But after suffering serious leg injuries in a car accident in 2021, Woods has not been able to play golf regularly throughout each season and therefore would not normally be eligible to participate in those events.

The 48-year-old has only played in four tournaments this year – the Genesis Invitational and the three majors. He lost in the second round at Genesis in February and finished 60th at the Masters, missing out on qualifying for the PGA Championship or U.S. Open.

Another change the PGA Tour announced Tuesday is that all “signature tournaments” will have a minimum of 72 players.