Despite feeling better physically than he has in a while, Tiger Woods endured the same disastrous results on the major stage. He carded a 6-over par in his second round of play at The Open Championship to tumble near the bottom of the leaderboard. With an overall score of 14-over, the legendary golfer is going to miss the cut by a wide margin.
Woods has now failed to reach the weekend in the last three majors he played, ending his PGA Tour season on a low note that will only expand the narrative that he should retire. That does not appear to be a consideration at this time, however, as the 48-year-old remains confident in his abilities. But he is not denying the obvious. This was a brutal two days.
“Well, it wasn't very good,” Woods said on Friday, per ESPN's Mark Schlabach. “I made a double there at 2 right out of the hopper when I needed to go the other way. Just was fighting it pretty much all day. I never really hit it close enough to make birdies and consequently made a lot of bogeys.”
Tiger Woods tallied just one birdie on the sixth hole and posted five bogeys in addition to the double he referenced. He is set to play in two non-PGA tournaments before the year closes, but fans will have to wait until next April to see him compete for his 16th major title.
Tiger Woods' shortened schedule was destined to fail him
Woods appears to be in a catch-22, at least for now. His chronic injury and pain issues have caused him to severely lighten his workload during the last couple of years. He dedicated his focus entirely to the four major tournaments in 2024, but the rust is showing when he hits the course.
If Woods is unable to increase his schedule in 2025, there is a high risk of him missing more cuts. Though, if he pushes himself too hard, teeing off at majors might not even be a possibility. It is this exact dilemma that has many wondering if it is time to put a bow on an all-time great career.
When former world-ranked No. 2 and European Tour legend Colin Montgomerie emphatically declared that Tiger Woods should retire, the former Stanford star savagely clapped back. A second fairy-tale resurgence, like the one he epically captured at the 2019 Masters, feels unfathomable at this point.
The tough conditions at Scotland's Royal Troon Golf Club only compounded his struggles. Misfortune is essentially equivalent to a withdrawal when considering how Woods is currently playing. Everything must break right if he is going to squeeze out at least one more triumph before officially surrendering to Father Time and his body.
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