Tiger Woods: PGA Tour Board creates ‘lifetime achievement exemption category’ for golf legend

Tiger Woods has been given a lifetime exemption into PGA Tour Signature Events starting next year.

An additional Signature Events sponsor exemption will be created to recognise Woods in his own category having reached an exceptional lifetime achievement threshold of more than 80 career wins.

The exemption, voted through by the PGA Tour policy board, enables Woods to participate in all eight signature tournaments of the tour for the rest of his career, each of which has substantial prize money and limited fields.

The Tour also confirmed the Signature Events, which were established this year, will feature a minimum of 72 players from next season, two more than the current number.

Woods, who counts 15 majors among his 82 wins on the PGA Tour, has been playing a limited schedule for years due to several injuries and has not automatically qualified for these events.

The 48-year-old has competed in only nine official PGA Tour events in the past three seasons since returning to action at the 2022 Masters. The only non-major event he has competed in is the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club outside Los Angeles, which he hosts.

In his first four starts this year, Woods withdrew from one event, finished last among those who made the cut at the Masters and then missed the cut at the PGA Championship and last week’s US Open.

In the US Open, Woods finished his two rounds seven over par, meaning that he missed the cut after ending just two shots over the limit with 74 golfers making the cut on five over.

Signature Events are limited-field tournaments featuring top players with increased prize money. In 2024, three of the eight Signature events featured a 36-hole cut while the remaining five did not have a cut.

For 2024, the top 50 players from the previous season’s FedExCup points list through the Tour Championship were eligible to participate in all Signature Events this year.

Talks ongoing to reunite men’s golf

A year on from the stunning Framework Agreement between PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Saudi Public Investment Fund governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, talks continue between the parties to reunite men’s golf.

A date of December 31, 2023 was set to conclude the deal to bring men’s professional golf back together, but that passed without the Framework Agreement being ratified.

The PGA Tour’s policy board held a meeting on Tuesday in Hartford, Connecticut, ahead of this weekend’s
Travelers Championship – live on Sky Sports Golf – where they said progress is still being made.

Sky Sports‘ Jamie Weir said: “We were hoping more would come out of it than it has. We were hearing whispers last week that the future of men’s golf had been panned out, everyone had kissed and made up and this would happen, that would happen.

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“The details are very hazy. I have been sent a memo where they say they can’t negotiate in public but we are making progress.

“Two weeks ago, the players that are trying to patch up the differences between the PGA and Saudi Public Investment Fund, met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the chairman of PIF.

“They said they reached consensus on several items but both parties recognised there is still work to do to reach a final agreement and have a shared goal of what the best future is for men’s golf.”

Watch PGA Tour and DP World Tour action live this season on Sky Sports. The 152nd Open at Royal Troon is live from July 18-21 on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the PGA Tour, majors and more with NOW.