Missed cut runs deep for Woods
In emotional goodbye, he says it’s likely his last British Open at beloved Old Course.
ST ANDREWS, Scotland — The cap came off as Tiger Woods crossed the Swilcan Bridge one last time, and again as he walked up the 18th fairway, the cheers swelling to a roar and people filling every window and balcony of the Harry Potterlooking buildings behind the green.
The Old Course was like a giant shoebox Friday, tilted to the side and tapped a few times. Everyone had crammed into the corner of golfers’ heaven to watch Woods play his final hole of an Open Championship taking place here, on his favorite course.
“I’m not retiring from the game,” said Woods, 46. “But I don’t know if I will be physically able to play back here again when it comes back around.”
A wet and windy morning gave way to a postcard afternoon, with Cameron Smith shooting a 64 to grab the top spot on the leaderboard at 13 under par. The Australian finished 10th at the Scottish Open last week, a good tuneup for the Old Course.
“Just a little bit I guess more pep in my step,” Smith said. “My last few tournaments before that one weren’t the greatest. I wasn’t really happy with how I was playing. It’s nice to put a good, solid weekend together ahead of this one.”
He heads into the weekend with a two-shot lead over Cameron Young, and three over Rory McIlroy, who
won four major championships early in his career but hasn’t won another since 2014.
Woods followed a disastrous opening round of 78 with a 75. He had figured he’d need to shoot 66 for a prayer of making the cut.
It was clear from the start — two bogeys in the first six holes — that wasn’t going to happen. Still, that wasn’t the reason he felt the tears well in his eyes on that last goodbye.
“It’s very emotional for me,” he said. “I’ve been coming here since 1995, and I don’t know when — I think the next one comes around in what, 2030 — and I don’t know if I will be physically able to play by then.
“So to me it felt like this might have been my last British Open here at St Andrews. And the fans, the ovation and the warmth, it was an unbelievable feeling.”
Woods isn’t just a 15-time major championship winner — including two at St Andrews — he’s a student of golf history. The magnitude of the moment wasn’t lost on him.
“I understand what Jack and Arnold had gone through in the past,” he said, referring to Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.
“I was kind of feeling that way there at the end. And just the collective warmth and understanding. They understand what golf’s all about and what it takes to be an Open champion.
“And I’ve been lucky enough and fortunate enough to have won this twice here. And it felt very emotional, just because I just don’t know what my health is going to be like. And I feel like I will be able to play future British Opens, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to play that long enough that when it comes back around here, will I still be playing?”
He felt the respect of his fellow competitors too. McIlroy gave him a tip of the cap when they crossed paths on the course, and Justin Thomas did the same.
By all indications, Woods is done for the year. He played in two tournaments before this, both majors. He finished 47th in the Masters and withdrew after the third round of the PGA Championship because of foot and leg pain. It was only last year that he was nearly killed in a rollover accident on a steep stretch of Hawthorne Boulevard on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
Asked what’s next on his calendar, he said: “I have nothing, nothing planned. Zero. Maybe something next year. I don’t know. But nothing in the near future. This is it. I was just hoping to play this one event this year.
“And I was lucky enough, again, got three events in. And they’re all majors. So I feel very fortunate to have had the things happen this way and the struggles I’ve been through to get to this point.”