Despite His Absence at the 2023 Open Championship, Tiger Woods Becomes a Hot Issue as a Hardcore Fan Shows Disappointment

The Open Championship is finally starting this week with a long list of impressive golfers with their eyes set on adding a major win to their names. But the absence of golf legend Tiger Woods, from the event is surely a source of disappointment for fans.

Though Woods registered a majestic win at Royal Liverpool at the 2006 Open Championship, he couldn’t participate this year owing to his injuries and surgery. And this news has not only saddened his fans, but also a certain DP World Tour pro who is participating in the tournament.

DP World Tour pro recalls the startling experience of seeing Woods at Open Championship

European Tour pro Matthew Jordan, has been a member of Hoylake since he was 7 years old. With the Open Championship being hosted at the Royal Liverpool, Jordan returns to his childhood club this week. On Thursday morning, Jordan will be doing the honor of hitting the tee shot and starting the game officially. And besides the big tournament, there is one more enthralling experience Jordan was looking forward to but unfortunately, he won’t be able to enjoy it.

Since his childhood golfing days, he has been a huge fan of Woods, who has been his lifelong idol. And Matthew was hoping to meet the golf GOAT at the game more than anything in the world, but Woods’ absence left this dreams hanging in the abyss. Speaking at the conference before the big tournament, Thomas gave some insights on his experiences where despite Woods being within walking distance of him, he couldn’t meet his idol owing to cold feet.

When the media asked him about his previous experience of the Open at Royal Liverpool, Jordan answered “Yeah, in ’06 I think I was more bothered about getting signatures than anything else and kind of star-struck. I remember seeing Tiger in ’06 on the putting green, and I just could not approach him.”

Before 2023, The Open has been held at the Hoylake twice in 2006 and 2014, which Jordan has attended since his father was playing.

And both times Jordan’s attempt of meeting Woods has resulted in failure, because despite being a diehard fan, he couldn’t summon up the courage to approach Woods. “I think I saw him actually when it was in ’14, as well, and I still couldn’t approach him then. I have those memories.” Matthew has grown up watching Woods and has driven inspiration for his game from the legend.