Tiger Woods started off strong but then completely fizzled out in the first round of the British Open.
He started with two easy pars and then rolled a 36-foot birdie from the third green to secure the win at 1-under, but then he had a three-putt bogey on the par-5 fourth and then an ugly double bogey on the par-3 fifth.
Unfortunately, those two consecutive holes were a sign of things to come.
He signed with an 8-over 79, but the day was marred by a number of missed putts, poor tee shots and poor wedge play. It was his 13th consecutive round over par in a major championship, a career-best. The last time he had a round under par at Southern Hills was in 2022, when he ultimately withdrew after a 1-under 69 in the second round of the PGA Championship.
Woods looked out of sorts after the first three holes on Thursday, which is understandable considering he has only played in major championships this year.
He missed the cut at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open but made a weekend appearance at Augusta National.
But qualifying at Royal Troon this week will be a tough task.
“A lot of things didn’t go well today,” Woods said.
“That putt went in on the third hole, but I think I had three three-putts today. I didn’t get very close with my iron shots and didn’t create many chances today. I need to get a score in the mid-60s tomorrow to start doing something for the weekend.”
Woods had a terrible day with his putter, losing 2.28 strokes to the field, but his approach play also worked against him, hitting just 8 of 18 on the green and scoring just two birdies. With his irons, he lost 2.6 strokes to the field, a remarkable figure considering Woods is one of the best ball-strikers of all time.
But at 48 and with a myriad of ailments, age is catching up with him, and earlier this week he rejected Colin Montgomerie’s suggestions he was retiring, saying he still believes he can beat the best players in the world – but he needs to play more in 2025 to do so.
“I think I’ve gotten better as the year has gone on,” Woods said.
“I wish I could have played a little bit more, but I saved it for the majors in case I did something big and it took me out of the majors. Hopefully next year will be a little better than this year.”
Woods added that he needs to spend more time in the gym to improve his strength and tone his body. He appears to be in better shape than when the golf world last saw him on the second hole at Pinehurst. But his game hasn’t improved since then.
Maybe Woods can motivate everyone and shoot a mid-60 score on Friday to get through the weekend, but that probably won’t happen. Woods will likely be heading home early for his third straight major, which may be a blessing in disguise, since he has to fly straight to Michigan to watch his son, Charlie, compete in the U.S. Junior Amateur.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
