Golf needs Tiger Woods, and golf gets that.
A special sponsor exemption has been launched by the PGA Tour for the legendary Tiger Woods due to his “exceptional lifetime achievement.” The Tour announced the news Tuesday night in a memo to its members.
The exemption is available for the 15-time major champion to place his name in the PGA’s eight signature events, which have limitations on fields, ratcheted up prize money and FedEx Cup points get higher too. (RELATED: Triple Threat Tag Team Match Breaks Out On Ohio Golf Course, And My Oh My, What An Idiotic Show)
If there was no exemption, Woods — who has won 82 PGA Tour events — wouldn’t be able to qualify for signature tournaments that feature $20 million purses due to him not playing enough golf competitively after coming back from major injuries that stemmed from a Feb. 2021 car wreck.
“An additional sponsor exemption will be created to recognize Tiger Woods in his own category as a player who has reached an exceptional lifetime achievement threshold of 80+ career wins,” the memo read, per ESPN.
🚨#JUST IN: Today, the PGA TOUR policy board approved an exemption that will allow Tiger Woods to compete in Signature Events for the rest of his lifetime, beginning in 2025, per @Sean_Zak pic.twitter.com/8AtB9wv909
— TWLEGION (@TWlegion) June 19, 2024
I can’t help but to get a big smile on my face from this news.
Every time we watch a first round with Tiger in it, we all cheer him on, we all want him to make the cut. And I know me personally, I get bummed out when he doesn’t. It just happened at the U.S. Open, I was really riding on his son to help him just enough to get through.
So yeah … it’s cool to see the PGA recognize that golf needs Tiger, events get a little deflated without him.
