8th of August, 1996. The 78th edition of the PGA Championship kicks off in Valhalla, at that time the fourth and final major of the season. That edition would end up being won by Mark Brooks, winning the only Major of his career after an agonizing playoff with Kenny Perry. That major would be the last. Since then, everything changed. The history of golf changed.
We didn’t know it, but the world of golf was about to change. That same month a young man of just 20 years old turned professional. Eldrick Tont Woods, nicknamed Tiger, burst onto the scene to revolutionize everything forever. That 8th of August, the son of Earl and Tilda did not play in Valhalla. The one from Cypress, despite his youth, had already played six Majors, all as an amateur, but had not managed to qualify on his own merits for that PGA Championship. It was the last time that happened. It has not happened again since then.
Just a few weeks after that PGA, Tiger would win his first two tournaments on the American circuit. These victories boosted him in the ranking and allowed him to qualify for the Masters of 1997, which ended up being the first in his record of fifteen Majors. The suspicions that that wonder boy was going to be a genius began to be confirmed with his first Major. Well, since that victory at the Augusta National on April 13, 1997 until today, Tiger Woods has qualified on his own merits for each and every one of the 107 Majors that have been played since then. There has been no Major since April 1997 in which good old Tiger did not have an exemption to play it.
Beware of the clarification. We are talking about Majors that Woods could have played, another thing is that he could do it. In fact, his numerous injuries have prevented him from playing 22 majors in the last 15 years, but what we highlight here is that if Tiger had been in conditions he could have played them due to merits acquired on the golf course. For 27 years Tiger has done his homework to be able to play them. Now, that streak is in danger. We explain.
Parenthesis. There are many ways to qualify for a Major and the fastest is undoubtedly to win some edition. In fact, there are three Majors that grant exemption practically for life to their winners: Masters, PGA Championship and the Open Championship (in principle until the age of 60). However, the US Open does not follow the same criteria and gives a ticket to its winners for the next ten editions, not for life. On the other hand, do not forget that when you win a Major you have an exemption in the other three majors for the next five years. With this fresh in memory, let’s go back to Tiger’s case.
As of today, Tiger has qualified for 107 consecutive Majors (27 consecutive years excluding the 2020 Open which was not held due to Covid). Therefore, for the Masters and for the 2024 PGA, the one from Cypress is already classified. The 108th and 109th, in the bag. The fear is that the 110th is now in danger. As of today, Tiger is not qualified for the US Open of 2024, since the five-year exemption obtained after his epic victory at Augusta National in 2019 expired last year and, for the moment, he does not meet the rest of the exemptions to be able to qualify (we will go into this later). Precisely, at this time in 2018, Tiger had no chance of playing the US Open by way of victories in Majors, since his previous triumph in that tournament dated back to 2008 and the ten years of exemption had already passed. In addition, he had been more than five years without winning a major (precisely the last one was the epic US Open of 2008 at Torrey Pines). However, at that time he was ranked 14th in the world ranking and could have entered through that route, although as we have said he won Augusta in 2019 and restarted the five-year counter. Counter that was set to zero at the end of last year’s US Open. Right now, Tiger is 898th in the world. That is, he does not meet any of the established requirements to play the US Open.
However, do not worry too much. The fact that Mr. Woods is not qualified by sporting merits does not mean that he is not going to play. The USGA keeps some invitations and have no doubt that, if by then the American had not qualified and wanted to play the tournament, one would go to him. However, the streak of exempt majors would stop at 109.
Do not forget a nuance, the most important of all, Tiger is a lot of Tiger, he should never be written off and he will surely try to qualify on his own merit. This is one of the challenges he has now. How could he do it? The first way is clear: win the Masters or the PGA. It would give him a reel for the one that comes and four more US Opens. Another way to Pinehurst would be as winner of The Players 2024. Therefore, if Woods managed to win at the TPC Sawgrass he would have direct access to the third Major of the year. Another way to access is to win two regular PGA Tour tournaments or be among the top 60 in the world ranking, although to do so he would have to play so well that he would probably already be qualified by other criteria. Finally, there is the access route through the US Open preview. It would be interesting to see if Tiger plays it. It should not be ruled out, however unlikely it may seem right now. As the situation stands, the streak would stop at 109 and it seems difficult to reach 110, but if you are going to bet against Tiger, go ahead. He knows what it is to leave us with our mouths open time and time again.
Now, Tiger’s impressive streak is not the longest of all time. For example, Phil Mickelson is currently qualifying for 120 consecutive Majors and the streak will extend at least until the 2026 PGA thanks to his victory at Kiawah Island two years ago. A real madness that not even Jack Nicklaus achieved. The Golden Bear played the whopping 146 consecutive majors!! (36 and a half years without catching a cold), from the 1962 Masters to the 1998 US Open. An absolute nonsense, but, to put a but to an unrepeatable fact and related to the core of this report, he had to receive invitations to be able to play the US Open up to seven times between 1991 and the year 2000. His streak of sporting exemptions, therefore, stopped in 1991, with a total of 117 non-stop majors. Mickelson surpassed him, precisely, at last year’s PGA Championship.
Among the Spaniards, the figure of Sergio García stands out, who qualified for 94 consecutive majors from 1999 to this year’s PGA Championship, missing only the 2021 Masters appointment after testing positive for Covid. At this moment, Adam Scott, qualified for 89 consecutive majors, has the longest active streak of a player participating in Majors.
