So, Tiger Woods will be at Pinehurst No. 2 in June. The special exemption was inevitable. The 15-time Major winner found himself in a rather precarious situation. For the first time in his professional career, the 48-year-old wasn’t exempt in four majors. A nine-time USGA champion not receiving a special invite would’ve been questionable.

Surprisingly, or perhaps not surprisingly, considering the strange times in golf, the USGA’s decision was met with a flurry of baffling comments. Open X (formerly Twitter) and you’ll be greeted with “Exempt to WD,”  “Exemption should have gone to a deserving young tour player,” etc. etc. etc. The argument clearly misses the point, however.

It’s an honorary gesture, not an undue privilege for Tiger Woods

What other options were there for Tiger Woods? He had to go through the US Open qualification. From what we have seen at Augusta and from what Woods said in the press conference, it would have been an unnecessary ordeal for the 15-time Major champion. The 48-year-old is still trying to adapt his game to his post-surgery body movements.

Let’s also not forget that Tiger Woods would’ve traveled to Pinehurst No. 2 regardless. He is the recipient of the 2024 Bob Jones Award. Woods going to Pinehurst to receive the highest USGA honor without being in the field would have been nothing short of a travesty. It would have caused a different furor that the USGA very much wanted to avoid after already facing setbacks from the golf ball rollback policy. 

The USGA’s exemption is only a recognition of Woods’s history of nine USGA titles. The former world no. 1 remains the only golfer to three-peat the US Junior Amateurs and the US Amateurs. Three US Open victories included a 15-shot triumph in 2000. And an unlikely 19-hole playoff victory in Torrey Pines in 2008, when a broken leg all but ruled him out of the competition. 

So, what explains the Tiger Woods censure?

Well, times have changed. And times are strange. Two things seem to dictate the narrative. Firstly, Woods has played only eight tournaments since his car accident and pulled out of three of those. The last one was at the Genesis Invitational. Also, the 48-year-old failed to keep his ‘promise’ of playing one tournament a month in December.

Secondly, the Masters offered early hopes. However, a marathon Friday resulted in a 10-over third round. A similar performance is expected, as many point out. Moreover, it’s not Woods’s usual stomping ground in Georgia. Previously, at Pinehurst, the 48-year-old finished runner-up in 2005 and was third in 1999. Woods missed the 2014 edition due to back surgery. 

Hence the outrage against Tiger Woods for apparently taking up a spot that could’ve gone to a youngster or an amateur, perhaps. But it’s totally misplaced because it ignores a key point. The USGA exemption doesn’t follow the same sponsor exemption rule at the PGA Tour. More importantly, Woods rejected a similar exemption in THE PLAYERS because he believed he could earn it.

How USGA Exemption Works

So far in the USGA’s history, only once has the special exemption gone to an amateur. That was in 1980, when Jay Sigel, probably the most celebrated amateur after Bobby Jones, having represented the USA seven times in the Walker Cup, teed off at the Baltusrol Golf Club. The USGA grants invitations at their discretion. Not every year, golfers get a special invite. In the last decade, only six players received a special exemption, and all for reasons the organizers deemed valid.

Here is who else has earned an exemption previously. Jack Nicklaus received the US Open invitation eight times. Arnold Palmer five times. Most recently, Phil Mickelson received an exemption after his qualification ran out in 2021. None of that was undeserving. Lefty has never won a US Open but has been a runner-up or a T2 six times in his career.

As for the concern around the exemption getting wasted, because Woods might miss the cut or even withdraw if another injury crops up, it won’t be the first time. In fact, rarely have players who received an exemption finished on top of the leaderboard. Hale Erwin remains the only golfer to win on a special exemption. Nick Price had a T9 in 1984. Nick Faldo knocked off a T5 in 2002. That was the last time anyone playing on exemption came inside the top ten. Jack Nicklaus missed the cut in 1999 at the US Open at Pinehurst. The 18-time Major winner’s best finish was a T27 in 1996.

If Tiger Woods ever needed an exemption, perhaps this is now. And none deserves it more than the man who still holds the record margin of victory at any major… no matter what the self-appointed gatekeepers would want you to believe!