This new rule means Tiger Woods can play the PGA Tour’s biggest events in 2025!
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Tiger Woods has only teed it up in four events this year, but all that could change in 2025 after a new exemption was rubber-stamped by the PGA Tour Policy board.
Christened the ‘Tiger Rule’, the board has agreed to grant the 15-time Major champion entry into the big-money Signature Events, despite him not meeting the qualifying criteria. He’ll receive a ‘Lifetime Achievement Exemption’, meaning he can tee it up in the limited-field tournaments with their big-money purses. The inaugural season of eight Signature Events concludes with this week’s Travelers Championship with $20m on offer.
Whether Woods’ fitness allows him to take up any of the opportunities remains to be seen because the 49-year-old has played just four events so far in 2024 and has cast doubt on his future in the game.
What has been clear in all of his appearances is that the 82-time PGA Tour winner needs to play more if he is to become competitive again. He withdrew from his own Genesis Invitational, before breaking the record for the most consecutive cuts made at The Masters, finishing 60th at Augusta. Missed cuts followed at the PGA Championship at Valhalla and most recently at the US Open at Pinehurst, after which Woods admitted he didn’t know if that was his last homeland Open.
He is still expected to head to Scotland and play in The Open at Royal Troon in July, but speculation is rife that Woods could call it a day at the end of the season.
Approval of the new ‘Tiger rule’ comes as no real surprise with the Tour’s Player Advisory Council, backing the exemption during a meeting at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May.
In the PAC’s monthly newsletter for Tour members, it said: “These exemptions are intended to capture players who are important to the tournament sponsor but who are not otherwise qualified.
“To maximize these spots for the membership and to provide optimal flexibility for the tournament sponsor, the PAC supported adding an additional sponsor exemption recognizing Tiger Woods in his own category as a player who has reached an exceptional lifetime achievement threshold of 80+ career wins.”
Adam Scott and Webb Simpson – two player directors – faced criticism this season after being awarded sponsor exemptions for Signature Events.
As well as the exemption for Woods, further changes look set to be made to the events in 2025, with the fields increased to 72 players and a selection of alternates to maintain that number should anyone pull out. It is believed that discussions around Signature Event cuts are ongoing with the Board debating whether to remove cuts from all of the tournaments or include them at every event.
What are the PGA Tour Signature Events and who has won them in 2024?
World No.1 Scottie Scheffler has been victorious in three of the seven Signature Events played to date, which has helped him rocket up the PGA Tour’s all-time money list.
Chris Kirk won at The Sentry to win the inaugural event, before Wyndham Clark lifted the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am title in February. Hideki Matsuyama won his first title in more than two years at The Genesis Invitational, before Scheffler got his first Signature Event win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March.
Little more than a month later, and just a week after winning the Masters, Scheffler won again at the RBC Heritage, before Rory McIlroy romped away at May’s Wells Fargo Championship at his beloved Quail Hollow. Scheffler completed his hat-trick at the Memorial for his fifth PGA Tour win of the season.
| DATE | TOURNAMENT | WINNER |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 4-7 | The Sentry | Chris Kirk |
| Feb. 1-3 | AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am | Wyndham Clark |
| Feb. 15-18 | The Genesis Invitational | Hideki Matsuyama |
| March 7-10 | Arnold Palmer Invitational | Scottie Scheffler |
| April 18-21 | RBC Heritage | Scottie Scheffler |
| May 9-12 | Wells Fargo Championship | Rory McIlroy |
| June 6-9 | the Memorial | Scottie Scheffler |
| June 20-23 | Travelers Championship | – |
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Tiger Woods has been granted a special exemption to play in all of the PGA Tour's Signature Events from 2025.
