Xander Schauffele says he hopes Tiger Woods continues to play for “as long as possible” ahead of teeing up alongside the 15-time Major winner at this week’s Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club.
Speaking to the media this week, Woods had a defiant response to recent comments made by Colin Montgomerie suggesting that he should think about retiring.
“I’d have thought we were past there [retirement],” Montogomerie told The Times. “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.”
In response, Woods hit back at Montgomerie and said he has no intentions of hanging up his clubs any time soon.
"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," Woods said with a smile on his face.
Montgomerie later said on social media that he was taken "out of context", and wished Woods "an enjoyable and successful week".
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
Asked about Montgomerie’s comments, Schauffele – who is in the same group with Woods and Patrick Cantlay in the first two rounds of The Open this week – defended Woods and said golf still “desperately” needs him.
“He's still El Tigre to me,” Schauffele said. “He's still wearing that red on Sunday. Yeah, I just heard some of those comments that were said by Colin. Whether it's his honest opinion or not, the game of golf needs him, needs him desperately.
“Selfishly, I want him to play as long as possible. It just helps all of the guys out here, just with the amount of eyeballs that someone like Tiger Woods brings to golf.
“He's still got a lot of fight in him. I think he's pretty honest with his own assessment. He'll hang them up when he feels he's ready, and he's still got a lot of bite and a lot of fight in him. I'm not too worried about him, and I look forward to playing with him the first two days.”
Asked if he still believes Woods is the biggest draw in golf, Schauffele replied: “I mean, if you just want to come out and try to watch a single shot on Thursday and Friday, you can be my guest.”
After coming close several times, Schauffele finally broke his Major duck at the PGA Championship this year.
He said coming to Royal Troon for the first time as a Major winner has given him more confidence.
“Probably a little more [confidence] than before,” Schauffele said. “I've never been on property here. Just trying to learn the course as quickly as I can.
“I really enjoy playing links golf and all the challenges that come with it. It's always fun for me to come here and play golf.”
He said he is relishing the challenge at Troon, with the weather set to be a major factor this week.
“I think links golf, there's a certain attitude that you need to have to play at a high level. That comes with playing links golf. That's sort of the first thing I learned when I was here.
“Back home in the States when it starts raining, people always feel like, oh, one wave gets the rain, and out here it can rain the entire day, and it's just part of it. It's something we're not used to playing in the States. With that rain comes a lot of wind, as well.
“I really enjoy the challenge of it. This is my seventh start now, and I don't feel like quite a veteran on links golf yet, but again, I really do enjoy it, and I think it helps me learn quicker.”
