Tiger Woods makes his 23rd Open appearance this week at Royal Troon, where he'll be hoping to make his first Major cut since The Masters in April.
Woods faced the media at Troon on Tuesday morning, where he was asked about comments made by Colin Montgomerie who hinted that he should think about retirement. He gave an emphatic response.
“I hope people remember Tiger as Tiger was, the passion and the charismatic aura around him,” Montgomerie told The Times. “There is none of that now. At Pinehurst, he did not seem to enjoy a single shot and you think, ‘What the hell is he doing?’ He’s coming to Troon and he won’t enjoy it there, either.
“Aren’t we there? [retirement] I’d have thought we were past there. There is a time for all sportsmen to say goodbye, but it’s very difficult to tell Tiger it’s time to go.
“Obviously, he still feels he can win. We are more realistic.”
Woods made it clear he has no intentions of hanging up his clubs just yet for at least another decade in The Open where he is exempt as a past champion.
"As a past champion, I'm exempt until I'm 60. Colin's not. He's not a past champion, so he's not exempt. So he doesn't get the opportunity to make that decision. I do," the 15-time Major winner said with a smile on his face in response to Montgomerie's comments.
"So when I get to his age, I get to still make that decision, where he doesn't.
"I'll play as long as I can play and feel like I can still win the event," he said before simply answering "no" to whether his belief in his ability to win the Claret Jug has wavered.
Montgomerie took to social media to express that the comments had been taken "out of context."
If Golf Writers want my thoughts on Tiger please ask me direct, rather than taking a quote from an interview out of context. Wishing Tiger an enjoyable and successful week.July 16, 2024
Montgomerie famously never won a Major in his career, where he came close many times - most notably at Winged Foot in the 2006 US Open where he double bogeyed the 72nd hole to miss out by one.
Another of his close calls came at St Andrews in 2005, where he played with Tiger Woods in the final group on Saturday and Sunday. Roared on by the home crowds, the Scot ended up 2nd, ultimately finishing five strokes shy of the American.
Woods has just one top-10 in The Open over the last decade, which was a T6 finish at Carnoustie in 2018. He has twice played at Royal Troon, in 1997 where he was T24th and in 2004 when he recorded a T9 finish.
