Emotional Woods struggles in possible farewell to St Andrews

TSN Senior Reporter

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In the end, what his heart wanted, his body could not deliver.

Tiger Woods wasn’t able to do what he had hoped to do at the Open Championship: to compete. His battered body – with a leg held together by metal, a back with the scars of multiple operations and his game covered in rust from only a handful of competitive rounds over the last year – made this task a near impossibility.

His scorecard will show two rounds totalling nine over par, better than only a handful of players in the field. Coming on the Old Course, his favourite place in the game, that will no doubt frustrate him. He still has high expectations for himself and was still grinding over every shot through two rounds.

But this day was not about the numbers on the scorecard. It was about who he is, where he has played and what he’s meant to the game. It was about the realization that this is likely the last time he will play an Open at the Old Course, at least in any meaningful way.

It all came to a head as he walked across the Swilcan Bridge on 18. He doffed his cap and accepted the swell of applause, but he did not stop, as have so many legends in the past to wave goodbye. It was an indication that his journey is not done yet.

His playing partners, Matt Fitzpatrick and Max Homa, slowed to give Woods the solo walk. On the first hole with the adjoining fairway, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas both tipped their caps in respect as he went past.

It was just a bit too much for Woods, who dipped his head and brushed away the tears. A few moments later, however, he was back grinding over a chip onto the green and a birdie putt. He missed that but no one cared, except perhaps Woods.

“It's very emotional for me,” said the 15-time