The 150th Open: Tiger Woods denied rumours that he would end his career in golf at The 150th Open, although he did acknowledge that it might be the last time he competes at St. Andrews.
The 15-time major champion has struggled with injuries in recent years and has only taken part in two official competitions since his potentially career-ending automobile accident in California last February.
While the former world No. 1 skipped last month’s US Open to prepare physically for the final men’s major of the year, Woods has previously said a return to full-time PGA Tour golf would no longer be viable.
The 46-year-old is a two-time Old Course champion and will be in his fifties the next time The Open visits St. Andrews, sparking speculation that he could end his Open career there, like fellow greats Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.
“Who? Me, retire? No, no, no, no. I’m not retiring,” Woods told Sky Sports. “But not playing a full schedule, that’s just my reality. I don’t like it, but I just have to accept it.
“As far as retiring, no. But this may be my last chance I’ll be playing at St Andrews with a chance to compete at the highest level.
“If it comes around in five, six, seven or eight years’ time, whatever the time frame is, who knows if I’ll be playing the game of golf at this level? I appreciate every single moment, especially coming back here.”
In Woods’ lone outings this year, he fought to make the cut at Southern Hills and struggled to a 47th-place finish at The Masters after two rounds of 78 over the weekend at Augusta National. He subsequently withdrew before the final round of the PGA Championship.
The world No. 994 participated in the JP McManus Pro-Am last week and played a practise round with Rory McIlroy in Ireland before playing another round with reigning PGA champion Justin Thomas at St. Andrews the following day.
Before participating with McIlroy, Lee Trevino, and Georgia Hall in the R&A’s Celebration of Champions later that day, Woods played nine holes on Monday. He then played nine more holes on Tuesday, certain that he can overcome his physical difficulties to compete this week in Scotland.
“It [his body] is okay, it’s never going to be great, but it is a lot better than what it was earlier in the year,” Woods added. “I’ve got a lot stronger so the whole idea was to, yes it may seem like to people that I have played a lot, but I really haven’t played that much.
“Saturday I just chipped and put and walked, Sunday I touched the ball but I didn’t do as much work on the green because I did a lot of that Saturday. Yesterday [Monday] and today [Tuesday] I just played nine and then tomorrow [Wednesday] I’m going to take a day off and practice and be ready for Thursday.
“I need to get myself into that position, making sure I’m doing all my homework, making sure I do all the things I need to do, making sure I put myself in there with a shout going into that back nine on Sunday. That’s my responsibility and hopefully, I can do it.”
