Tiger Woods has admitted he could be playing his final Open at St Andrews this week at the age of 46.
The American superstar will tee up in only his third event since a life-threatening car accident in California in February last year.
And the 15-time Major winner still walks with a limp and pulled out of his last event at the US PGA in May after a third round 79 because of the pain in his right leg.
Woods again stated that the Old Course, where he made his Open debut as an amateur in 1995 and won in 2000 and 2005, is his “favourite” venue.
But he is now playing a limited schedule because of his injuries - and it is possible the oldest Major will not return to St Andrews before 2030 with the venues for the next three editions already announced.
Asked if he will feel any different on Sunday knowing it could be that long before the Open returns to this corner of Fife, Woods said: “Who knows? I don't know, if it is that long, whether I will be able to physically compete at this level by then. It's also one of the reasons why I wanted to play in this championship. I don't know what my career is going to be like.
"As I told you, I'm not going to play a full schedule ever again. My body just won't allow me to do that. I don't know how many Open Championships I have left here at St Andrews, but I wanted this one. It started here for me in '95, and if it ends here in '22, it does. If it doesn't, it doesn't. If I get the chance to play one more, it would be great, but there's no guarantee.”
Woods has posed for photos on the Swilken Bridge near the 18th tee and spoke about the history of other greats teeing up for their final rounds here.
“Everyone has seemed to have made their farewell there,” said the world No.944. “I watched Arnold hit his first tee shot on the second day in '95, and that was quite special. He gets up there and gives it the big ol' waggle and hits it up the middle of the fairway and his head is bobbing all over the place.
"And seeing that, and I played probably about four or five holes behind Jack and Tom when Jack retired in '05. And hearing the roars get louder and louder and louder as we came towards the finish. You could hear the fans and the ovations that Jack got coming up 18 for the last time. So it's great to be a part of this Open Championship.
“It's hard to believe, it's been 150 years we've played this tournament. And it's incredible, the history behind it, the champions that have won here. As I said, it's hard to believe it's more historic, but it really is. It does feel like that. This does feel like it's the biggest Open Championship we've ever had.”
Woods did manage 72 holes in Augusta but skipped the US Open last month. The Old Course is one of golf’s flattest tracks but the world No.994 said: “It's still not easy. Granted the inclines are not steep in any way. They're not -- the declines are not steep. But it's the unevenness that is still difficult on me. I have a lot of hardware in my leg. So it is what it is. It's going to be difficult.
"Yes, the walk is certainly a lot easier than those two championships that I played in before this year. I'm able to walk a lot more holes. Also, then again, I've gotten a lot stronger since then. I spend more time now that I've gotten a chance to work in the weight room and get stronger and get the endurance better in my leg.
"Playing Augusta, I didn't know. My leg was not in any condition to play 72 holes. It just ran out of gas. But it's different now. It's gotten a lot stronger, a lot better. Hopefully it will continue to get that way. But again, as I said, having a lot of hardware in there makes it a little bit of a challenge.”
