“Exhibition golf”; “Let’s get that 83rd win!” – Fans divided as PGA TOUR approves exemption allowing Tiger Woods to compete in all signature events

On Tuesday, June 18, the PGA Tour announced that they were giving a special lifetime exemption to Tiger Woods in all the Signature events from next season. They reasoned that Tiger deserves it for what he achieved in his career.

The PGA Tour Policy Board and the PGA Tour Enterprise held a joint meeting on Tuesday in Connecticut ahead of the Travelers Championship. Following the meeting, the PGA Tour sent a memo to its players, declaring that the special 'sponsor exemption' category is created for Tiger Woods' extraordinary achievements in professional golf.

Fans online had diverging takes on the 15-time Major champion's special exemption. While many felt the veteran golfer deserves it, several fans commented that it isn't warranted.

Here are some of the reactions:

"Exhibition golf," one fan wrote.

"So cool. Let’s get that 83rd win!"

"Don’t get me wrong I love tiger. But if the man is incapable of getting a top 10 in an entire season what are we even talking about," one fan opined.

"And this is why the PGA Tour struggles and continues to struggle. They are clinging to the past instead of evolving and innovating the game," this fan wrote.

"I can’t see him ever being competitive again if he only plays 4 times a year in the majors. I’d love to see him perform well again but I don’t think his body can take playing as much as he would need to if he wanted to be a threat. Good ratings for Thursday and Friday tho haha," another user posted.

"Huge tiger fan, but don’t agree with this. And very surprised he would accept this offer. His rationale for opposing LIV was that it isn’t merit based. You don’t have to “dig it out of the dirt”. He’s arguably the GOAT but this exemption is neither warranted nor equitable," this user commented.

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How many PGA Tour events did Tiger Woods compete in in 2024?

Tiger Woods competed in only one non-Major event on the PGA Tour this season. He began the season at Riviera Golf Club playing in the Genesis Invitational. This was his first start since the Masters Tournament 2023. However, the journey was short-lived as he pulled out of the event during the second round due to the flu.

Woods next competed at Augusta National, where he made the cut successfully and played all four rounds, unlike last year. He then competed at the PGA Championship but missed the cut by a huge margin. His last start was the US Open 2024, where he finished at 7-over after 36 holes and missed the weekend by two shots.

Tiger Woods will next compete at the Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland next month. This will be his last official event of the 2024 season.