The trio waited for Woods, a three-time Open winner, to cross the famous Swilcan Bridge. As Woods slowly walked to the iconic stone marker in the “home of golf,” he tipped his hat to the thousands of cheering fans. Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, who were walking the fairway of the adjacent first hole, tipped their own hats to Woods. “That’s when I started to realize, hey, the next time he comes here, I might not be around,” Woods said. All the excitement of watching Tiger Woods walk onto No. 18 at St. Andrews 👏 (via @TheOpen) pic.twitter.com/F7f5leoamn — ESPN (@espn) July 15, 2022 Woods, a 15-time major champion, even wiped away a few tears before reaching the 18th green. “I’m not one to cry too often about anything,” Woods said. “But when it comes to the game and the transition, just the transition, I was lucky enough in ’95 to watch Arnold [Palmer] hit his first shot of the second round as I was going to the range. “And I could hear Jack [Nicklaus] plays his last [in 2005]. I was probably about four holes behind him. But only to hear the cheers grow louder and louder, I felt that as I entered [this year]. People knew I wouldn’t make the cut at the number I was. But the applause grew louder as I walked home. And that to me was — I felt, just the respect. I have always respected that fact. I have always respected the traditions of the game.” Woods, a three-time winner of The Open, including in 2000 and 2005 at St. Andrews, won’t be around for the 150th anniversary celebration this weekend. He carded a 3-over 75 in the second round, and his 36-hole 9-over total was well behind the leaders. Given the R&A’s turnaround, The Open will likely not return to St. Andrews until 2027, at the earliest, when Woods will be 51. After his round on Friday, he acknowledged that it might be his last Open at St. Andrews — but he said it wasn’t his last. “I’m not retiring from the game,” Woods said. “But I don’t know if I will naturally be able to play here again when I come back. I will be able to play in the future British Open, yes, but after eight years, I doubt I will be competitive at this level.” Tiger Woods says he plans to play in future Open Championships, but he’s not sure he’ll be physically up to it the next time St Andrews hosts the event. Stuart Franklin/R&A/R&A via Getty Images More than 16 months after he was seriously injured in a car wreck outside Los Angeles in February 2021, Woods said he did not know when he would play in a tournament again. It may not be until late November when he hosts the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, which benefits his foundation and other charities. “I have nothing, nothing planned. Nothing,” Woods said. “Maybe something next year. I don’t know. But nothing in the near future. That’s it. I was just hoping to play this event this year. And I was lucky enough, again, [to get] three events and they are all big. So I feel very lucky that things turned out this way [after] the struggles I’ve gone through to get to this point.” Woods’ competitors hoped it wasn’t the last time they’d see him in St. Louis. Andrews. “I don’t know if this will be Tiger’s last here,” Scottie Scheffler said Friday. “He may have talked about it a little bit, but he’s a pretty tough guy and he likes to compete. We’ll see what the next few years have in store for us. Anytime you can see that guy on the golf course, especially the Old Course, it’s really special.” . England’s Tyrrell Hatton also hoped Woods would return to St. Andrews playing again. “If it is [the end], it would be a very sad day,” Hatton said. “It will be a sad day for golf in general when that time comes. But like I said, I hope not. For us as players, it’s really nice to have him around. When he got into that car wreck, [we] I didn’t know if we would get him back. To have him out here playing golf is very special to all of us.” 2 Related Woods was asked if he could play more events in the future, which would allow him to better prepare to compete in majors. After his wreck, he said surgeons almost had to amputate his right leg. It took him several months to regain enough strength to walk again, let alone swing a driver and walk 18 holes. “I understand I’m tougher in the battle, but it’s tough just walking around and playing 18 holes,” Woods said. “People have no idea what I have to go through and the hours of work on the body, before and after[round], every day, to do what I just did. That’s what people don’t understand — they don’t see. And then you think about playing more events on top of that, it’s hard enough to do what I did.” Woods unexpectedly returned to action at the Masters in April. He shot a 1-under 71 in the first round and made the cut before fading over the weekend in cold weather. He finished tied for 47th after posting 6-over 78s in each of the final two rounds, his worst scores at Augusta National. In May, Woods also made the cut at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He rallied to make the cut with a 1-under 69 in the second round, but was forced to retire after 54 holes due to pain in his surgically repaired leg. He shot a 9-over 79 in the third round, his worst PGA Championship score. Woods seemed headed for another low in St. Andrews, but he played much better on Friday. He mostly avoided the big mistakes and three-putts that plagued him in the first round, in which he shot a woeful 6-over 78. “I’m a little stuck not playing on the weekend,” Woods said. “I definitely didn’t play well enough to be close. I wish I had played better. I wish I had a little better break on the first hole yesterday and maybe started a little better. But that’s how it all went from there. It just never really materialized . I fought hard and, unfortunately, I was never able to turn it around.”
