Tiger Woods names Aaron Beverly as recipient of Charlie Sifford exemption to play PGA Tour event

By Ben Morse, CNN

Tiger Woods has named Aaron Beverly as the recipient of the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption which will grant him entry to the 2022 Genesis Invitational.

The Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption is awarded annually and represents “the advancement of diversity in the game of golf.”

Woods is the host of the Genesis Invitational, where Beverly will be entered into the 120-player field for his PGA Tour debut.

“Receiving the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption and having the opportunity to play in The Genesis Invitational is a true honor and the opportunity of a lifetime,” Beverly said.

“This is the moment all my hard work and dedication has been preparing me for and I look forward to competing at Riviera.”

Beverly has most recently competed on the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour and in November, won the APGA Tour’s Fall Series finale at Wilshire Country Club. He was one of only three players to break par during the two-round fall series.

In what was his first year on the APGA Tour, it was a stop-start season, after a bout with Covid-19 caused him to lose approximately 17 pounds.

Beverly’s appearance at the Riviera Country Club in California between February 17-20 will be his first at a PGA Tour event.

“I am beyond excited to announce that I will be playing in my first PGA Tour event,” said Beverly in an Instagram post.

“This is something my dad and I would talk about every single day,” added the 27-year-old Beverly in his post. “I know he’ll be watching over me with the biggest smile on his face.”

‘Hey I won a tournament’

Beverly graduated from Sacramento State University in 2017, according to the university’s athletics website.

Just before his Sophomore season was about to start, Beverly discovered both his parents had cancer, according to the State Hornet.

“It was difficult for him,” Beverly’s mother Kim told the State Hornet. “He was supportive of both of us and he stepped back and took a break.

“I think it helped him to realize that life is precious and that you have to follow your dreams because you don’t know what is going to happen.”

Beverly’s father Ron died in September 2019.

“I think, for me, the bigger kind of emotional response was not being able to call my dad and just tell him that, ‘Hey I won a tournament,'” Beverly told the Haggin Oaks website after his success at the APGA Tour’s Fall Series finale.

“I’m looking forward to welcoming Aaron Beverly to The Genesis Invitational as the 2022 Sifford Exemption,” Woods said.

“Like me, Aaron learned the game from his dad. I know Charlie Sifford would be proud of Aaron as he makes his PGA Tour debut at Riviera next month.”

The exemption has been handed out yearly to a “golfer representing a minority background” to grant them access to the Genesis Invitational.

It was renamed to honor Charlie Sifford, the first Black professional golfer, in 2017.

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