Tiger Woods gets 'lifetime exemption' on all future signature events, PGA Tour creates new rule for the legend

Tiger Woods has received a lifetime exemption for all future signature events on the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour awarded this special "sponsor exemption" to the veteran golfer for his exceptional achievements throughout his career.

Woods was last seen at the US Open, where he missed the cut after shooting 74 and 73 in the two rounds. This was his third major championship appearance and his fourth overall start of the season.

On Tuesday, June 18, the PGA Tour policy board held a joint meeting with the PGA Tour Enterprises board of directors in Hartford, Connecticut. Following this, they released a memo announcing the separate exemption category for Tiger Woods.

"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+ career wins," the memo read as per ESPN.

Woods hasn't competed much outside of the majors in the last few years. This year, the Genesis Invitational was the only non-major event he played. Notably, it was the only signature event in which he competed.

Since Woods was not actively competing on the PGA Tour, he wasn't eligible for any of the signature events. For the uninitiated, only the top-ranked players and recent winners on the Tour qualify for the $20 million purse events. However, there are a few exemptions for players.

So far, seven signature events have concluded this season. The eighth one will be the Travelers Championship, scheduled to start on Thursday, June 20, at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.

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When will Tiger Woods compete next?

Tiger Woods is not competing at the Travelers Championship this week. His next event will be the Open Championship, which will be played from July 18 to July 21 at Royal Troon Golf Course in Scotland.

During his press conference at the US Open at Pinehurst No. 2, the 82-time winner on the PGA Tour made it clear that he wasn't competing outside majors anytime soon.

"I've only got one more tournament this season," Woods said on Friday, June 14. "Even if I win the British Open, I don't think I'll be in the playoffs. Just one more event, and then I'll come back whenever I come back."

The 48-year-old golfer has made just one cut this season, which came at the Masters Tournament. He missed the cuts at the PGA Championship and the US Open, and withdrew from the Genesis Invitational due to the flu.