Tiger Woods now eligible for all PGA Tour Signature events under 'special exemption' | Read Why

PGA Tour has decided to recognise former world no. 1 golfer Tiger Woods for his "exceptional lifetime achievement." This means that Woods will be given sponsor exemption in Signature events of PGA Tour going forward.

The Sentry, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship, Memorial Tournament and upcoming Travelers Championship are the eight Signature Events on the 2024 PGA Tour schedule.

Woods, a 15-time major winner and 82-time PGA Tour winner, is now automatically eligible for all the Signature events on PGA Tour's annual schedule.

“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,” read the PGA Tour memo on Tuesday (June 18).

Since his car accident in 2021, Woods, now aged 48, has spent limited time on the course. He has, however, played in all majors since making a comeback in 2022 along with Genesis Invitational - one of the three player-hosted events among eight Signature events of PGA Tour.

It is to be noted that Woods hosts the Genesis Invitational.

The Signature events have smaller fields, FedEx Cup points and higher prize money, especially in player-hosted events.

Apart from the Genesis, Arnold Palmer and Memorial Tournament are the other two player-hosted events with prize money of 20 per cent to the winner compared to 18 per cent in rest of the five events.

Woods had to withdraw from the Genesis Invitational in February earlier this year due to illness. He followed it up with a 60th-place finish at the Masters.

In the next two majors, that is, PGA Championship and recently-concluded US Open, he failed to make the cut.

Woods is now expected to feature in next month's Open championship at Royal Troon Golf Course in Scotland.