"I do not know" - Tiger Woods says he is not sure about qualifying for 2024 Open
Tiger Woods is back on the golf course, and has competed in two events since returning. Woods has said in the past that, health willing, he wants to become a semi-regular competitor again after his ankle surgery. That includes the Majors, but he doesn't know if he'll be able to get into one of them.
Majors have tons of ways to qualify, but a lot of them won't apply to Woods. For the Open Championship, Woods' status is unclear. He won it in 2019 and that qualified him automatically for the next five tournaments. Unfortunately for him though, that time period ended last year.
When asked about his status for the tournament that's still seven months away, Woods said, via The Daily Mail:
"That, I do not know. I don't know what's happened or what Jack [Nicklaus], what happened over his career, or Tom [Watson] or anybody else. But as of right now, no, I'm not in, and whether or not I have to formally ask them or they invite me, or you give me an exemption or I have to go qualify, you know, who knows."
Jack Nicklaus was given eight special exemptions to the Major, while Arnold Palmer got five. Phil Mickelson was also given one in 2021. This is likely what will have to happen for Woods too, which wouldn't be a shock.
Tiger Woods hopes to play the "biggest events" going forward, which presumably includes the Majors
Tiger Woods' return to golf has been the talk of the golfing world. Despite his health issues and his advancing age, Woods is still more than capable of putting together a good weekend.
For any Major championship, a good weekend from Tiger Woods is great for ratings. However, 2024 would be the first time he wouldn't have automatically qualified for a Major tournament since 1996, when he was still an amateur.
Woods has stated that he is targeting up to 12 tournaments in 2024. Those presumably do include the Majors, since he said that the "biggest" events happen monthly.
"I think the best scenario would be maybe a tournament a month," he said, via Daily Mail. "I think that's realistic. You would have to start maybe with the Genesis, then something in March, maybe The Players. But we have a setup right now where the biggest events are one per month, so it sets itself up for that. Now, I need to get myself ready for all of that, I think this week is a big step in that direction."
Each Major is in a different month, so it's very likely that Woods plans on playing them. The only question is whether or not he'll land a spot in them.
The good news is that he's healthy enough to play in them and on the PGA Tour, which was far from the case last time around.