As Tiger Woods readies to play in the Open Championship at Royal Troon next week, he — along with golf fans everywhere — is grappling with the reality that his major days are numbered.
Woods has spoken about his golf “mortality”, but he’s been coy about when the end may actually come.
Colin Montgomerie, for one, thinks the end of the 48-year-old’s playing career should come sooner rather than later.
In an interview with the Times of London, Montgomerie said the Woods who played in the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst looked nothing like the player who beat Montgomerie by five strokes at the 2005 Open Championship at St. Andrews.
“I hope people remember Tiger as Tiger was, the passion and the charismatic aura around him,” the 31-time DP World Tour winner said. “There is none of that now. At Pinehurst, he did not seem to enjoy a single shot and you think, ‘What the hell is he doing?’ He’s coming to Troon and he won’t enjoy it there, either.”
After a missed cut at Pinehurst last month, Woods was asked if he thought that it may have been his last U.S. Open. The 15-time major winner offered a somber admission.
“It may or may not be,” he said.
Woods had a tearful send off at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews as the crowd acknowledged what may have been Woods’ last appearance at the Old Course, but Woods was similarly non-committal about his future then.
Since Woods, 48, returned at the 2022 Masters from a brutal single-car crash in February 2021, which nearly cost him his lower right leg, he’s played in just nine official PGA Tour events — seven of them majors — completing 72 holes only three times with three missed cuts and three withdrawals.
Woods said late last year that his goal was to play about one tournament each month of 2024, but he hasn’t quite lived up to that expectation. He played in the Genesis Invitation in February, which benefits his foundation, skipped March and has played in a major each of the last three months. His start at Troon next week will mark his fifth appearance of the year, the most times he has played in year since his comeback began.
But Montgomerie said it was long past time for Woods to say goodbye to competitive golf.
“Aren’t we there? I’d have thought we were past there. There is a time for all sportsmen to say goodbye, but it’s very difficult to tell Tiger it’s time to go,” he said. “Obviously, he still feels he can win. We are more realistic.”
Montgomerie, 61 and still active on the PGA Tour Champions, added that Woods continuing to play at a diminished level may end up tarnishing his legacy. Woods wouldn’t be the first star athlete to continue playing past his prime. Brett Farve and Michael Jordan, in the twilight of their respective careers in the NFL and NBA, both put up lackluster numbers in the final seasons with different teams.
