ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – An emotional Tiger Woods walked across the Swilcan Bridge and down the fairway saluting the massive galleries with his hat in his right hand and a huge smile on his face as he headed to the 18th green.
It was the 36th and final hole for Woods in the 150th Open Championship at the Home of Golf, his play coming to an end Friday with cut-missing rounds of 78-75.
His score didn’t matter at the moment.
There were tears in his eyes, weight in his heart. He knew this could be the last time he plays competitively in an Open Championship on The Old Course in this ancient town by the sea.
So he soaked in the explosion of sound from the appreciative gallery.
“So the warmth and the ovation at 18, it got to me,” Woods said. “It’s very emotional for me. 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. 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 (in 2000 and 2005). 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?”
Woods, 46, was especially moved when he sensed his caddie, Joey LaCava, and playing partners Max Homa and Matt Fitzpatrick and their caddies lag back to give Woods the stage. And then Rory McIlroy, walking down the first fairway after starting his round, tipped his cap to Woods. Justin Thomas did the same a hole earlier, as did other players.
“It was just incredible,” Woods said. “It’s just there’s something to it that’s just different. The nods I was getting from guys as they were going out and I was coming in, just the respect, that was pretty neat. And from a players’ fraternity level, it’s neat to see that and feel that.
“I had a few tears. I’m not one who gets very teary-eyed very often about anything.”
Woods said he was “ticked” about not being able to play the weekend, but he knows he didn’t play well enough to get past two rounds. He made far too many mistakes, putted poorly and never got anything going.
Woods said he has nothing planned as far as golf is concerned. His Hero World Challenge and the PNC Championship in December could be options.
Or he eyes 2023.
“Nothing in the near future. This is it,” said Woods, who will continue to rehab his surgically repaired right leg, ankle and foot that were severely damaged in a one-car accident in February 2021 that nearly cost him his life. “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.”
Woods finished 47th in the Masters, made the cut but withdrew after the third round due to injuries in the PGA Championship, and missed the cut here.
“It’s a struggle just playing just the three events I played this year. That in itself was something I’m very proud of,” he said. “Hopefully we do more hard work and give myself some more chances next year to play a few more events.
“Life moves on. And I think that’s what people understand. And they knew my circumstances this year, of just playing, period. I was very lucky to have had a great team around me to get me to where I was physically able to play three times this year and very thankful to all of them for getting me to this spot.”
