Tiger Woods at 50 - magical memories but huge question mark over future

There have been so many highlights during his career, including an extraordinary ten-shot victory in the US Open at Pebble Beach in 2000, which he followed up by claiming an equally-impressive six-shot success in The Open at St Andrews a month or so later.

And what about him winning the US Open on one leg - he showed up at Torrey Pines with two stress fractures in his tibia and a knee which required surgical reconstruction a week later - in 2008 as he prevailed in an 18-hole play-off against Rocco Mediate?

Then there was the most recent of his 15 major wins as he pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in sport to claim a fifth Green Jacket in 2019 after fearing his career was over due to serious back trouble.

Of course, it’s not always been plain sailing or proud achievements to shout about for Woods. He crashed his car outside his home in 2009 after Elin, his wife at the time, discovered that he’d been cheating on her. He then came close to losing his right leg after being involved in a single-vehicle accident in Los Angeles in 2021.

In truth, very little has been seen of Woods in a competitive sense since then. His last outing with a card in his hand was in The Open at Royal Troon in 2024, missing the cut after doing likewise in the PGA Championship and the US Open.

Earlier this year he ruptured his left Achilles tendon before announcing in October that he’d undergone lumbar disc replacement surgery. Having missed out on both the Hero World Challenge and the PNC Championship in recent weeks, Woods is celebrating his milestone birthday with a huge question mark hanging over his head in terms of what the future holds.

“It would be good for him to get better and it would be great for the Champions Tour if he could turn up and play,” observed Bernard Gallacher, a Ryder Cup-winning captain at Oak Hill in 1995. “He’ll probably have it in his mind a bit that he would want to emulate the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino and win majors at that level. But every week you read the papers, it’s bad news about his broken body. I don’t think he should play if he’s not fit. We all want to remember him as a great player.”

Colin Montgomerie finished a distant second to Woods as he claimed the second of his three Claret Jug wins at St Andrews in 2005. “It would be super for the PGA Tour Champions if Tiger is able physically to join us,” he declared. “We all hope that Tiger will play as much as Tiger is able to play, especially the majors. It'll make them bigger, better and no asterisk if you win a major now because Tiger was in the field.”

Stephen Gallacher, Bernard’s nephew, first came across Woods when they were on opposing teams in the 1995 Walker Cup at Royal Porthcawl in Wales. “He was just a wee skinny kid who hit 30 yards past you,” recalled Gallacher. “He was an outlier. It was like, ‘how’s he doing this?’

“Myself and Gordon Sherry played against him and John Harris in the first foursomes match on the opening morning and lost 4&3. He’d won the US Junior Championship three years in a row then the US Amateur three years in a row, so you knew he was some talent, though you didn’t know the enormity of what he was going to go on and achieve and so quickly as well. Two years after he’d played us in that Walker Cup, he was winning The Masters by nine shots!”

As the defending Dubai Desert Classic champion, Gallacher played with Woods in a Champions’ Challenge at Emirates Golf Club in the build up to the 2014 edition before finding himself in the same group as the world No 1 and Rory McIlroy as well for the opening two rounds. Unfazed, the Scot went on to create history as the first player to win the event back-to-back.

“I’ve got some great memories from playing with him and Fred Couples out in Dubai,” he admitted. “He’s a generational talent. Rory has done well and fair play to him, but there’s only been one guy in my time who stood out above the rest. These guys come around every 50 years and I was just lucky that he came around when he did.

“I think it’s been a shame that the last five years we’ve barely seen him. You only need to look at the boys he emulated - the likes of Nicklaus - who went on to win senior majors and there is no doubt in my mind that he will want to do that.

“It’s three rounds and you can play in a buggy, which means he can graft like mad and he’s not putting his body under any problems. I think that is part of why you didn’t see the Champions Tour Qualifying School this year. I think they are gearing up for Tiger coming on board. If he is playing in a Champions Tour event, it could be the biggest pull of the week up against other events. Imagine his first seniors’ event over there?”

Woods talked recently about how he’s immersed in his role as chairman of the PGA Tour’s Future Competition Committee, a new group set up in August to look at enacting “significant change” to the US circuit. He’s determined to make an impact in a “different way” than he did in the past.

Only time will tell what a playing schedule will look like in 2026 and beyond but, for now, Happy 50th Birthday Tiger and thanks for the memories.