On Thursday, May 2, Tiger Woods received a special dispensation to play in the U.S. Open. Open 2024. The USGA itself organizes the U.S. Open. Open released a statement about this news.

Even though Woods has countless achievements in the sport, he is not exempt from participating in the U.S. Open. Open. Unlike other tournaments like The Masters, the US Open does not award lifetime exemptions to any player, regardless of their performance.

Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open. Open three times but the last time was in 2008. This exemption category is only for a period of 10 years and there are no special benefits for repeat winners.

Below are the exemption categories for professional players (Tiger Woods does not meet the conditions of any category):

U.S. Winners Open in the last 10 years.
Winners of The Masters, Open Championship and PGA Championship in the past 5 years.
Winners of the last three The Players Championship.
Winner of the BMW PGA Championship that year.

Recent U.S. Senior Open winner.
Players who win multiple U.S. PGA Tour between U.S. tournaments Open with the condition that the winner of each tournament gets 500 ranking points.
Those in the top 10 or tied for the top 10 U.S. Opened last year.
Players qualified for the previous year’s Tour Championship.
Placed in the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking two weeks before the U.S. Open begins.
Ranked in the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking on U.S. Open begins if exemption has not been granted before.
The top player of the second division of the PGA Tour.

All players who do not qualify in the above categories need to compete in local qualifiers to qualify. Otherwise they need to receive special treatment like Tiger Woods.

This privilege is not something that is given lightly in the United States. Open. So far only 52 specials have been given to 34 players, mainly to golf legends. Jack Nicklaus received 8 times, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson 5 times, Hale Irwin 3 times and Gary player, Lee Trevino and Seve Ballesteros 2 times. The fact that Tiger Woods received this special status is clear evidence of the USGA’s recognition of the influence and achievements he has achieved and still has in golf.