St Andrews plays host to The Open Championship, and Tiger Woods is relishing the prospect of bidding for a fourth Claret Jug. Two of his Open victories came on the hallowed turf of St Andrews, and the 15-time major champion is keen to give it another shot at the highest level, despite concerns over his leg. Woods is not competing at this week’s Scottish Open.
Tiger Woods is looking forward to his 21st Open Championship, but admitted the window on his career at the majors is closing.
The 15-time major winner defied medical opinion to make a return to playing following a car crash in which he came close to losing a leg.
Woods has not been competitive since returning to action, finishing 47th at the Masters and withdrawing from the US PGA Championship on account of soreness in his leg.
He elected to sidestep the US Open in a bid to be ready for The Open at St Andrews, a venue at which he has lifted two of his three Claret Jugs.
Woods has been widely dismissed by the bookmakers, which is of little surprise given his lack of form and the stacked field he is up against.
To be playing at all is a bonus for the 46-year-old.
Asked how much longer he will play professional golf, Woods said: “I don’t know. I really don’t. If you asked me last year whether I would play golf again, all of my surgeons would have said no. But here I am playing two major championships this year.
“I will always be able to play golf, whether it’s this leg or someone else’s leg or false leg or different body pieces that have been replaced or fused, I’ll always be able to play. Now if you say play at a championship level, well, that window is definitely not as long as I would like it to be.”
Reflecting on his decision to miss the US Open at the Country Club in Brookline, Woods said: “Physically, I was not able to do that.
“There’s no way physically I could have done that. I had some issues with my leg, and it would have put [The Open] in jeopardy and so there’s no reason to do that.”
While he may have no recent form and concerns about his leg, Woods has knowledge of St Andrews like no other player in the field and is relishing the prospect of competing in Fife next week.
“This is a pretty historic Open that we are going to be playing,” Woods told Golf Digest. “I’m lucky enough to be part of the past champions that have won there, and want to play there again.
“And I don’t know when they are ever going to go back while I’m still able to play at a high level, [so] I want to be able to give it at least one more run at a high level.”
Tiger Woods is not competing at this week’s Scottish Open.
