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The move will give Woods access to the tour's
eight signature tournaments, all of which award large prize
money and extra points in the FedEx Cup standings despite
possessing smaller fields than standard events.
The exemption was approved when the policy board met alongside
the PGA Tour Enterprises board in Hartford, Conn., according to
ESPN.
The tour's memo on the decision read, per ESPN, "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-plus career wins."
Woods owns 82 victories overall, tied with Sam Snead for the
most in PGA Tour history, and 15 wins in major events, the
second-best total ever behind Jack Nicklaus' 18.
Woods, 48, has played few tournaments since a car crash in
February 2021 that caused major leg injuries.
Last year, he tied for 45th at the Genesis Invitational -- where
he is the host -- and withdrew after making the cut at the
Masters in his only two starts of the season.
Woods has played just four times this year. He withdrew in the
middle of the Genesis Invitational and missed the cut at the PGA
Championship and last week's U.S. Open. In the one event he
completed, he finished 60th at the Masters. He is scheduled to
tee it up at the Open Championship in Scotland in mid-July.
The last of the year's eight signature events on the PGA Tour,
the Travelers Championship, is scheduled for this week in
Cromwell, Conn. The others are The Sentry, AT&T Pebble Beach
Pro-Am, The Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational,
RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship and the Memorial.
The Genesis, Arnold Palmer Invitational and Memorial feature
36-hole cuts, while the other signature events don't. However,
ESPN reported that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said at the
Tuesday meeting that discussions are underway about possibly
implementing cuts at each of the signature tournaments.
--Field Level Media [© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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