As Tiger Woods watches the third major of the golf season from afar, the rest of his 2023 schedule is coming into clearer shape.
In short: It’s not very good.
Woods will not compete in this year’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, an R&A spokesman told Sports Illustrated, marking the third major championship Woods will miss as he recovers from ankle surgery performed in April.
“We have been advised that he won’t be playing at Hoylake,” the spokesman told SI. “We wish Tiger all the best with his recovery.”
Woods was always a long shot to make it into the field at Royal Liverpool. While he hadn’t publicly announced his absence from the Open, the subtalar fusion surgery he underwent in April is expected to keep him out of professional golf for the better part of a year. The Open, which marked just three months following his surgery, was always heavily in doubt.
Still, mum has been the word on most of Woods’ development in the two months following his surgery. The 15-time major champ has remained largely out of the public spotlight after a painful WD at the Masters. His only significant post-surgery news has been swift WDs from both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open, and now the Open. There remainsa possibility he could appear later this season at two of his frequent winter spots — the Hero World Challenge and PNC Championship — but even those events may prove too soon while his ankle heals.
The truth is that there’s not much that anybody knows about Tiger’s long-term health right now, Tiger included. The complexity of Woods’ latest surgery — and severity of the injuries that forced it — leave open any range of long-term outcomes involving both his day-to-day health and his golf game.
It remains to be seen when we’ll see Woods again on the golf course, but it’s clear his absence is felt at this week’s U.S. Open in Los Angeles, not far from where Woods himself grew up and even closer to the tournament he now hosts, the Genesis Invitational.
The 151st Open Championship will be held at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England from July 20-23, 2023.
