PGA Tour Creates New Lifetime Achievement Category Giving Tiger Woods A Spot In Every Signature Event

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The PGA Tour would like to see Tiger Woods play in the biggest tournaments on the calendar and has made the path to that reality as easy as it can be by creating a lifetime achievement exemption category giving Woods spots in all signature events beginning next season.

Woods has made just nine starts since his single-car crash in February 2021 with seven of the nine being major championships. The other two starts both came at the Genesis Invitational, a tournament he plays host to, in which the event benefits his foundation. Woods was forced to withdraw from this year's Genesis due to illness.

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Tiger Woods has his own exemption category on the PGA Tour to receive starts in signature events. Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

With extremely limited starts and just one made cut in 2024 coming at the Masters, Woods would not qualify for the limited-field signature events. This newly created exemption category changes that while also allowing tournament hosts to hand out sponsor exemptions to other players.

On top of approving the new exemption category for Woods, the PGA Tour policy board also reportedly approved signature events to play host to 72 players and have an alternate player list in the instance of a player withdrawing, which is something that was oddly not part of the equation in the past. These changes are set to be introduced in 2025.

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While some may see the news of Woods being handed free starts - and in some cases a free paycheck - as a move that goes against ‘earning it,’ when you've won 82 times on Tour and still draw eyeballs then exemption categories can be created specifically for you.

This isn't to say that Woods, 48, will be playing in every signature event on top of all four major championships beginning next season, it's safe to assume his schedule will still be extremely limited, but he now has the freedom to pick and choose his schedule more so than he did before.

Woods' next and final start of 2024 is expected to be at The Open at Royal Troon in July. 

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.