Tortured Tiger Woods leaves burning question unanswered after more major misery at Troon

We thought it might have been after an emotional couple of days as he missed the cut in the 150th edition at St Andrews in 2022, but that may only have been a farewell appearance in the Home of Golf. The 15-time major winner then sat out last year’s tournament at Royal Liverpool as he recovered from ankle surgery before vowing to be at Royal Troon for this week’s staging as part of his plan to tee up in all four majors this season.

He managed that, but, taken purely at face value, it’s been a pretty grim campaign for Woods in the events he once dominated. Last of those to make it to the weekend in The Masters, he then missed the cut in the PGA Championship, US Open and now The Open.

It was an early exit in the latter following rounds of 79-77, which tied the highest 36-hole total of his major career after a similar disappointing display in the 2015 US Open. Leaving him on 14 over par, he comfortably fell short of the magic number on this occasion.

“Well, it wasn't very good,” said Woods of his second-day effort on the Ayrshire coast, having managed just one birdie on a card that contained a double bogey and five bogeys. “I made a double there at 2 right out of the hopper when I needed to go the other way. Just was fighting it pretty much all day. I never really hit it close enough to make birdies and, consequently, made a lot of bogeys.”

In truth, that’s been the theme of his season and, based on those four starts - he withdrew from the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles during the second round due to illness in his only other competitive outing – there now seems little chance of the 48-year-old being golf’s ‘Superman’ again on the sport’s biggest stages.

“I'd like to have played more, but I just wanted to make sure that I was able to play the major championships this year,” he said, speaking in the mixed zone after declining to do any TV interviews before jumping straight into his car as the engines of his private jet were warming up at nearby Prestwick Airport. “I got a lot of time off to get better, to be better physically, which has been the case all year.

“I've gotten better, even though my results really haven't shown it, but physically I've gotten better, which is great. I just need to keep progressing like that and then eventually start playing more competitively and start getting into kind of the competitive flow again.”

The former world No 1 was asked if he’d consider playing before the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in December in a bid to try and maintain a bit of competitive momentum? “No, I'm not going to play until then,” he insisted. “I'm going to just keep getting physically better and keep working on it. Hopefully just come back for what is it, our fifth major, the Father/Son, so looking forward to it.”

Woods, who received another terrific ovation from the fans as he headed down the 18th hole in the company of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, has said on more than one occasion that he’ll never become a so-called ceremonial golfer and his answer to being asked how his disappointing displays this year had affected his appetite to play in more majors left no one in any doubt about his desire to keep going.

“No, I loved it,” he said in reply to it being suggested that it might have been a sobering experience. “I've always loved playing major championships. I just wish I was more physically sharp coming into the majors. Obviously it tests you mentally, physically, emotionally, and I just wasn't as sharp as I needed to be. I was hoping that I would find it somehow, just never did. Consequently, my results and scores were pretty high.”

Will we see him in the Claret Jug event at Royal Portrush next year? “Where?” he asked before being reminded of the 2025 venue. “Yeah, definitely. Okay, sorry. That's a year away,” he added, smiling.

Though he may not have produced anywhere near his best on this occasion, Cantlay summed up what it still means to the game’s top players to be in the same group as Woods. “Yeah, anytime being out with Tiger is great,” said the world No 8. “He's a great competitor and fun to be with. I've seen enough videos of him dominating to know what he has. Anytime being around him on the golf course is a pleasure. I'm always pulling for him, as I think the rest of the world of golf is.”

To go back to the question at the start, the truth is that it remains to be seen when that last appearance in the world’s oldest major will be. Royal Birkdale is next up after Royal Portrush, with the venues thereafter still to be announced by The R&A.

There’s a strong possibility that Muirfield will welcome the tournament back in either 2027 or 2028 while it remains to be seen if the next one at St Andrews will be before 2030, which was the year hinted by Woods himself for that to happen.

It would certainly be fitting if that farewell was in Scotland and Woods said he plans to be back. “Yeah, I've won two Open Championships here in Scotland, so I've always enjoyed playing up here and enjoyed the different types of links that Scotland brings and the challenges are,” said.

“I've missed playing Troon. It's been a long time. I remember playing here way back in '97. I've had some good memories here. I just wish I'd done a little bit better and looking forward to it.”