Tiger Woods has boldy declared he is not ready to retire from golf after missing the cut at the British Open.
The three-time champion of the British Open was moved to tears as he was greeted by a stunning round of applause from the crowd, which his playing partner for the day decribed as ‘incredible’.
Woods fought back tears as he recieved as standing ovation from fans, eventually completing a round of 75 which unfortunately saw him drop out of the famous tournament at St Andrews.
Speaking afterwards, Woods dropped a bombshell on the golfing world.
“I had a few tears. I’m not one who gets very teary-eyed very often about anything,” he said.
“To me it felt like this might have been my last British Open here at St Andrews. The fans, the ovation and the warmth, it was an unbelievable feeling.”
Despite saying this would likely be his final appearance at the the famous course, Woods has remained determined to continue playing majors to the extent his body allows it.
Emergency surgery after his horror car accident in 2021 has seriously compromised his ability to walk long distances, with the 46-year-old dealing with a great deal of pain.
Woods memorably made the cut at both the Masters and PGA Championship, but eventually withdrew from the latter after it simply became too arduous to back up on the course over multiple days.
“It’s hard just to walk and play 18 holes. People have no idea what I have to go through and the hours of work on the body, pre and post, each and every single day to do what I just did,” he said.
“I certainly feel like I’ll be able to play more British Opens, but I don’t know if I’ll be around when it comes back around here.”
British Open ovation moves Tiger Woods to tears
Woods skipped the US Open so he could physically recover in time to play the 150th Open at the course he said is his favourite in the world.
But he was able to make his only birdie of the day at the par-four third hole by draining a 28-foot putt.
Woods had a chance to go out with a fist pump with a short birdie try at the 18th green, but he watched as yet another putt lipped out and shook his head as he tapped in the par before waving to the crowd.
Rory McIlroy was heading up the first hole, parallel to the 18th, as Woods walked up the last fairway, and the Northern Ireland star was seen giving his friend a tip of his cap.
“The warmth and the ovation at 18, it got to me,” Woods said.
“Just the walk. I felt the guys there stop there off the tee at 18. It was just incredible, the amount of understanding and respect that are involved in this event.”
