The best thing about winning a major is that it can literally impact your entire career. Winning one major guarantees that you’ll continue to play in that major for years, or even decades, no matter what happens later in your career. But the opposite is also true: not winning a major can haunt you for the rest of your life.
Tiger Woods hasn’t won the British Open since 2006, but he’s still won it three times, which is three times more than you, me and Colin Montgomerie. Monty is a highly accomplished professional player and Ryder Cup champion, but he has never won the British Open, only coming a close second in 2005. He has only played in one British Open in the past 14 years, finishing 78th in 2016.
Last weekend, Montgomerie called on Woods to retire once and for all. “I thought he was retired already,” Montgomerie said. “Every athlete has a time when they have to say goodbye, but it’s been very difficult telling Tiger it’s time to retire.”
Woods hasn’t finished better than tied for 37th in any major tournament in the 2020s and has withdrawn or missed the cut in five of his last six majors. But even as his game has waned, his competitive spirit hasn’t. Asked about Montgomerie’s calls for him to retire ahead of this week’s British Open, Woods grinned.
“I’m a former champion, so I’m exempt until I’m 60,” Woods said. “Colin’s not. He’s not exempt because he’s not a former champion, so he doesn’t have the opportunity to make that decision. I do.”
As Woods continues to recover from a series of injuries and surgeries, if there’s one positive to take from playing at Troon this week it’s the fact that he will tee off in all four majors for the first time since 2019.
“My training’s been a lot better. I’ve been working pretty hard in the gym, which has been good. I’m feeling better physically and I’m able to do those things and I’m hitting the ball better,” he said. “It’s good to be able to do those things that I haven’t been able to do all year.”
Woods touched on a number of topics during his press conference, including why he wasn’t named Ryder Cup captain in 2025, a role that was ultimately taken over by Keegan Bradley. “I just didn’t feel like I could do it properly. I just couldn’t put in the time,” Woods said. “There just wasn’t enough time to do what I’m doing now. And then you add in the Trophy Grand Prix next year, the Ryder Cup, all of that on top of negotiations with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, so it’s all happening at the exact same time, so there’s only so many hours in the day.”
Regarding negotiations with PIF, the financial backer of LIV Golf and driving force behind golf’s current rift, Woods repeated what he has said many times before: “We are moving forward. I can’t say any more than that because we’re not going to be negotiating outside,” Woods said. “Everything has to be kept confidential at a high level, but things are moving, things are changing. It’s evolving every day. There are emails, correspondence, texts, ideas going back and forth between both sides. We’re now working on a for-profit model as well as a charity, so we have to make a (financial) return.”
Regarding his own play, Woods reiterated that he is not a ceremonial golfer who plays in the British Open. “I’m going to play as long as I can and I still feel like I can win,” Woods said. When asked directly if his belief that he could win had wavered, Woods simply replied, “No.”
If Woods can hit a few more shots this week at Royal Troon like he did at Montgomerie, he might have a chance.
