Tiger Woods tied a private report within the British Open on Friday, one he may have completed with out however maybe ought to come to count on.
Woods matched his highest 36-hole rating as an expert — 156 — to overlook the lower for the third straight time in a significant.
He tapped in for a routine par on the 18th gap at Royal Troon and signed for a 6-over 77, a spherical that obtained away from him early with a double bogey and by no means improved through the day.
“It wasn’t superb,” Woods mentioned.
“I made a double proper out of the hopper after I wanted to go the opposite approach. Simply was combating it just about all day. I by no means actually hit it shut sufficient to make birdies and consequently made lots of bogeys.” That introduced a brief season to an abrupt finish.
Woods mentioned he gained’t play once more till December, probably his unofficial Hero World Problem with a 20-man subject within the Bahamas. He particularly referenced what he jokingly calls his fifth main, the PNC Championship, a 36-hole exhibition the place he performs alongside his 15-year-old son Charlie.
He performed all 4 majors for the primary time since 2019 — the 12 months he gained the Masters for his fifteenth profession main — however performed just one different match, withdrawing after 24 holes within the Genesis Invitational in February due to the flu.
He must play extra to get sharp. However taking part in extra dangers taking a toll on a physique that has been battered by again surgical procedures, knee surgical procedures and a February 2021 automotive crash that shattered his proper leg and ankle.
It’s the final word Catch-22 for a participant who turns 49 on the finish of the 12 months.
“I’d wish to have performed extra, however I simply wished to ensure that I used to be in a position to play the most important championships this 12 months,” he mentioned. “I obtained lots of day off to get higher, to be higher bodily, which has been the case all 12 months.
“Bodily I’ve gotten higher, which is nice. I simply have to preserve progressing like that after which finally begin taking part in extra competitively and begin stepping into form of the aggressive circulation once more.” He has by no means appreciated the thought of being a ceremonial golfer, however that’s what the scores counsel.
In his 10 rounds on the majors this 12 months, his common rating was 75.6. He shot over par in all however one spherical — an even-par 72 within the first spherical on the Masters — and has gone 15 consecutive rounds within the majors since he final broke par.
Woods additionally had a 156 when he missed the lower within the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, the place he was attempting to return from the primary of what could be 5 again surgical procedures. His solely 36-hole rating increased was a 157 at Bay Hill in 1994 when he was a highschool senior.
There was loads of ceremony at Royal Troon, and it wasn’t all dangerous. Shane Lowry, who took the early 36-hole lead, had the loudest gallery. Woods had the most important one.
They honour their champions on the British Open, and Woods lengthy has been handled like royalty. He hit his method onto the 18th inexperienced and commenced the sluggish stroll between two giant grandstands. Heat applause quickly gave solution to a roaring ovation as followers younger and previous rose to their ft the nearer he obtained to the inexperienced.
Woods eliminated his cap and saluted the group, and waved to them once more as he walked off the inexperienced. Each British Open he performs leaves followers questioning if that would be the final they see him.
However he wasn’t ruling out a return. The British Open returns to Royal Portrush in 2025.
“Yeah, undoubtedly,” Woods mentioned when requested if he could be there.
He can solely hope he brings a greater model of sport, that he could be a little extra sharp. That he missed the lower was inevitable the way in which he began with a 79, his highest begin in a significant since an 80 in that U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.
To make the lower, he would have wanted a rating he hasn’t produced since earlier than his automotive crash. And people hopes ended rapidly.
He went from the left tough to proper of the inexperienced on the par-4 second gap. He needed to pitch over the sting of a pot bunker, and the ball landed on a slope and shot ahead simply via the inexperienced. However he had one other slope in his line to the outlet, so he needed to chip that. It was a bit of robust, 4 ft by, and his bogey putt didn’t even contact the outlet.
That’s been probably the most obtrusive difficulty for Woods in his return from the automotive crash. A lot consideration is on his legs carrying him across the golf course. Little is made from his palms on a putter that was once probably the most dependable stroke in golf.
Woods hardly ever regarded like he was going to make something besides on the par-5 sixth gap, his greatest sequence of the day. Woods went for the fitting tough to a very good lie within the left tough, and he smoked a 3-wood onto the inexperienced to twenty ft and poured it within the center.
He had just a few good breaks. On the infamous “Postage Stamp” eighth inexperienced, his tee shot was headed for a deep bunker proper of the inexperienced when it was stopped by touchdown in a sprinkler head and he made a straightforward par.
He had some dangerous breaks, none worse than the par-5 sixteenth. He hit an extended iron with the wind at his again, an ideal shot besides that it landed on a the again facet of a hump, shot ahead and rolled some 75 yards till it tumbled into the burn.
By then, nevertheless, it was too late. He was at all times double digits over par from his double bogey on No. 2 and by no means threatened to make a run.
However he sounded as if he could be again for extra.
“I’ve at all times cherished taking part in main championships. I simply want I used to be extra bodily sharp coming into the majors,” he mentioned.
“It exams you mentally, bodily, emotionally, and I simply wasn’t as sharp as I wanted to be. I hoped that I might discover it one way or the other, simply by no means did.”