Tiger Woods won’t play in next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, despite having a lifetime exemption to play in the PGA Tour’s Signature Events, with Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth missing
Tiger Woods has opted not to enter next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational (API) at Bay Hill, despite holding a lifetime exemption into all of the PGA Tour’s Signature Events.
Woods is one of a number of notable names not teeing it up in Orlando in the third Signature Event of the season. Despite his lack of action in recent years, PGA Tour bosses offered the 82-time winner a lifetime exemption to compete in the circuit’s $20 million, limited-field tournaments, including the API.
Fans will have to wait once again to see the 15-time major champion return. He was expected to compete in February’s Signature Event at the Genesis Invitation as tournament host but withdrew following the death of his mother, Kultida.
Woods has been operating a part-time schedule on Tour for some time now due to a whole host of injury problems. His absence at Torrey Pines had opened the door for a return at Bay Hill on March sixth, but Woods has chosen not to take advantage of his exemption.
Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth are notably absent from the entry list Both Fowler and and Spieth have failed to find their best form over the past year, causing them to lose their right to play in the PGA Tour’s Signature Events, a blow for two of the game’s biggest names.
Sam Saunders, the grandson of Palmer who is involved in handed out the invites, had his say on the decision to leave out Fowler and Spieth. “What our team did was try to pick players that, you know, it’s about protecting and growing the game of golf as a whole. And doing what’s the most balanced and fair process,” he told Golfweek.
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“Honestly, I think there was a lot of thought put into each and every player that was selected. At the end of the day, it’s who’s getting the ball in the hole the fastest that are the ones who get the opportunities. You can’t make everybody happy with exemptions. So you try to just do it as fair and balanced as possible.”
It genuinely kills us,” Saunders added. “But you know what kills us more? Only having 70 players to pick from. So, if you want to write something, it should be on the fact that there’s only 70 players. And when you have these limited fields that the Tour has created, it really limits who can be in it.
“We didn’t make those rules. So we’re dealing with the hand we’ve been dealt and trying to do the best thing for the game of golf in its current state.” The tournament will instead see invites extended to Min Woo Lee, Justin Rose, Mackenzie Hughes, and Rafa Campos.
