The United States Golf Association (USGA) announced Thursday afternoon that Tiger Woods has accepted the contract. special deduction He will compete in the 124th U.S. Open to be held at Pinehurst.
This will be his first appearance at the US Open since he missed the 2020 Winged Foot tournament.
Woods missed last year’s U.S. Open due to rehabilitation following surgery.
“The U.S. Open is a truly special event for our sport and a tournament that helped define my career,” Woods said. “We are honored to receive this exemption and couldn’t be more excited to have the opportunity to compete in this year’s U.S. Open, especially at Pinehurst, which means so much to the sport. .”
The three-time U.S. Open champion, who won in 2000, 2002 and 2008, has nine USGA titles, matching Bob Jones. These USGA wins include his third consecutive victory at the U.S. Amateur from 1991 to his 1993, his third consecutive victory at the U.S. Amateur from 1994 to his 1996 It is.
He also owns a 42-3 overall USGA Match Play record.
The special exemption is in addition to what the USGA offered Woods this year, as he won the Bob Jones Award in March.
His 14th major championship came in 2008 at Torrey Pines, which he won despite breaking his foot. It would be 11 years before he won his 15th Masters Tournament in 2019.
When the news broke, golf’s social media fans went wild.
Earlier Thursday, Taylor Gooch commented that he was not trying to qualify for the U.S. Open, despite his previous statements about Major Championship and LIV Golf players being excluded from the tournament. .
The USGA’s timing on this one is perfect, and its response is sure to elicit some laughs.
I just invited Tiger to the Open as an exemption this year, is that okay? This is why Talor Gooch stands his ground.
— RealNeil (@RealNeil1793093) May 2, 2024
Gooch has never won a major championship that automatically qualifies him, and he is not ranked high enough to earn a spot on the OWGR. Even though he’s won millions of dollars in the past few weeks, that doesn’t mean he’s eligible to play in the U.S. Open.
If he wanted to play in the National Open, he would sign up to qualify like many other LIV golfers. However, he decided not to do so.
Woods has won 82 times on the PGA Tour and also won the 2019 Masters, so it’s not hard to see why he received special exemption for this event.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.If you want to know more about golf, please follow us. @_PlayingThrough On all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirls and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
