Could Tiger Woods really lose his U.S. Open eligibility in 2 years?

Tiger Woods has made it official, announcing on Tuesday that he will skip next week’s U.S. Open, which raises a potentially thorny issue for the three-time winner of the national championship.

Woods, despite his continuing stint on the DL and sitting 499 spots out of the top 60 at No. 559 in the world rankings, could have played at Oakmont via his U.S. Open exemption. Indeed, though he has plummeted from the top of the world to his current lowly position, Woods remains eligible to play in the tournament thanks to the 10-year exemption he picked up along with the trophy when he hobbled his way to the 2008 U.S. Open title at Torrey Pines.

But his playing privileges at the second of four major championships on the men’s annual calendar -- barring some of that old Eldrick magic if/when he does return (and Tiger continues to offer no timetable for that) -- will run out in two years.

Of course, the USGA does make exceptions and if Woods is fit enough to play (a huge “if” at this point), it’s difficult to imagine him not receiving a special exemption to start at Pebble Beach, site of the 2019 U.S. Open. You may recall that Tiger torched the links track to the tune of 12-under 272 (65-69-71-67) in his 2000 U.S. Open triumph.

Unlike the PGA of America, which hands out many exemptions at its own discretion to fill out its field, the USGA’s qualifying rules are fairly rigid. They rarely use the so-called “special exemption” but did go to it this year and invite two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen. They also used the special exemption with Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, so expect Woods, even if he’s no longer qualified in one of the usual ways, to get the same treatment.

At the other three majors, Tiger’s past wins will keep him exempt either for life (The Masters and PGA Championship) or well into his senior years (until at least 60 years old at The Open Championship). The U.S. Open offers a much smaller 10-year window for its past champions.

Meanwhile, as the golf world moves on to Pittsburgh without him, at least we know that Woods is keeping busy off the course by writing a book. Tiger’s second text (his first, How I Play Golf, was published in 2001) will focus on his historic 1997 Masters win.

Woods, the first golfer of African and Asian heritage to win the Masters at the historically exclusionary Augusta National, has called his 12-shot romp the defining tournament of his career. In the as-yet-untitled tome, co-written with golf writer Lorne Rubenstein, Tiger promises to “open up about his relationship with father Earl Woods, dispel previous misconceptions and … candidly reveal many more stories that have never been told before,” according to a press release issued Monday by the book’s publisher.