After initial hope that the 150th Open Championship would be something special for Tiger Woods, his week at St. Andrews will be cut short.
Woods needed a miracle on Friday if he was going to make the cut following an opening round 6-over-78 at the British Open. Unfortunately, he couldn’t deliver. After completing 36 holes at 9-over-par, Woods is set to fall well short of the cut, ending what was an epically disappointing performance at The Open Championship, an event he won three times in his career, and twice at St. Andrews.
As Woods completed his second round on Friday, fans at St. Andrews gave him a rousing round of applause, bringing the 15-time major champion to tears.
Tiger, we hope to see you at St Andrews again
Thank you#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/1rdD8tZKKE
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 15, 2022
Despite a frustrating showing here, it would be surprising to hear Woods announce his retirement from the PGA Tour any time soon. But it’s very possible that he just played competitively for the final time at St. Andrews, a course he has deemed his favorite in the world.
The Open Championship isn’t scheduled to return to St. Andrews for another five years, making it difficult to imagine Woods will still be competing in majors at that point in his career. Aware of the improbability that Woods will be back at St. Andrews, the applause that brought him to tears was a fitting sendoff from the crowd.
Woods made an improbable comeback to competitive golf this year at The Masters following a life-threatening car accident in February 2021. One-year after the horrific crash, Woods made the cut at Augusta. But he was forced to withdraw early from the PGA Championship and he bypassed the U.S. Open to prepare for St. Andrews. His 9-over-par won’t be good enough to make the cut, leaving golf fans to wonder when Woods will be back on the course.
Prior to the Open Championship, Woods laughed off the notion that a retirement could be near. But while no one wants to count him out, the days of Woods being on the Sunday leaderboard appear to be over.
[The Open on Twitter]
