TROON, Scotland — Tiger Woods is in a bind.
At heart, Woods remains the same fierce competitor with an unwavering belief that he will win every time he hits a tee shot.
And then there’s the reality: Woods is transitioning from competitor to ceremonial golfer, a former great gracing these events and pleasing fans so they can see and love Woods one last time or two.
Woods just doesn’t know it yet.
Or they refuse to acknowledge it.
Woods, 48, who suffers from spinal fusion and a disability that includes a brace that immobilizes his right leg and foot, missed the cut in a major tournament Friday for the third straight time this year.
He quietly left Royal Troon at 14-over par, well off the cut line for the 152nd British Open, and tied for 142nd among the 154 players still in competition as of about 2:30 p.m. ET on Friday.
“Well, it wasn’t very good,” Woods said of his second-round 6-over 77 on Thursday, following an opening 79. The score gave him a two-round total of 156, tying his career best in a major championship.
“I just struggled all day. I just couldn’t get close enough to the ball to get a birdie and I ended up making a lot of bogeys.”
This is repetitive.
Woods has played 39 rounds of golf since the 2021-22 season and has recorded just five rounds in the 60s. His last tournament round in the 60s came in February 2023.
Woods has shot over par in nine of 10 rounds at the four majors this year for an average score of 76. The lone exception was even par at the Masters.
There is no shame in a once dominant and proud champion losing his fastball.
But there’s a troubling problem here: Woods speaks like a man who refuses to acknowledge what we can all see: that his skills are declining and he can no longer compete with today’s best players.
Even more infuriating, after each close round like Friday’s, Woods laments the lack of practice he needs to hone his game for tournaments, yet he stubbornly refuses to add additional events to improve his game.
Woods said after Friday’s round that he doesn’t plan to play again until December, when he plays in a father-son tournament in Florida and then his own Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, meaning he will approach next season taking the road less traveled, just like he has the past few years.
Isn’t it the definition of insanity to continue doing the same thing and expect a different result?
Woods’ world ranking has dropped to 874thNumber And then the fall — I was like a hamster on a wheel.
If he expects to improve in 2025, when he’ll be a year older (49) and a year removed from his last tournament run (2019), only one word applies: Delusional.
Woods is the most prolific champion in the history of the game, something of a golfing equivalent of Joe Namath, who limped around with an aching knee in his final years with the Jets, or Willie Mays, who hobbled around the outfield in a Mets uniform when he retired.
As it turns out, Colin Montgomerie, who was heavily criticized for his comments about Woods earlier this week, was right in some of the things he said.
“I want Tiger to be remembered as the Tiger he was, with his passion and his charisma,” Monty told The Times of London. “There’s none of that now. At Pinehurst (where Woods failed to qualify for the U.S. Open) he didn’t look like he was enjoying a single stroke. You think, ‘What on earth is he doing?’ He’ll come to Troon and he’s not going to have fun there either.”
Only Woods knows what’s going on in his head and heart (and he rarely reveals it publicly), but it seems those two rounds at Troon were not very enjoyable for him.
“Obviously, he still feels he can win,” Montgomery said. “We’re more realistic.”
Montgomery’s words ring true, too.
Woods, with 82 career wins and 15 major championships, not only does he not have the ability to win again, he doesn’t even seem capable of competing.
There was a time when Woods’ competitors, during his dominant years, suspected he was playing on a different golf course than they were. Now they suspect he’s playing on the same course as his top competitors.
He’s a newcomer to the game, but a cherished one at that, and that’s no insult intended.
There was nothing wrong with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus showing up to tournaments after they retired: People want to see Palmer and Nicklaus just as much as they want to see Woods.
“I’m just happy he’s playing,” Xander Schauffele said.
“I’m always rooting for him and I think the rest of the golf world is too,” Patrick Cantlay said Friday after playing alongside Woods and Schauffele the past two rounds. “I’ve seen a lot of tape of him dominating, so I know what he’s got.”
However, Cantlay had.
