Tiger Woods ready for British Open after hiatus, pro-am appearance in Ireland
Tiger Woods is gearing up for his return to golf next week at the British Open, something he has had his sights set on for months.
With the British Open back at St. Andrews, Woods wanted to make sure he was able to compete in the final major championship of the year — which is largely why he opted to skip the U.S. Open last month.
“The plan was to play the U.S. Open, but physically I was not able to do that,” Woods said Tuesday. “There’s no way physically I could have done that. I had some issues with my leg and it would have put this tournament in jeopardy, so there’s no reason to do that.”
Woods competed in the loaded JP McManus Pro-Am at Adare Manor Golf Club in Ireland on Monday and Tuesday as a sort of warm up for the British Open. While it’s hard to put much weight into anything that happened at the 36-hole event, Woods finished at 7-over on the two days and finished in a tie for 39th.
Still, he had some big moments and even chipped-in for eagle.
Tiger roar in Ireland 🙌@JPProAm | #JPProAm2022 pic.twitter.com/A1rqad8NoW
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 4, 2022
Tiger Woods appreciation tweet 🇮🇪
It's been fun @TigerWoods. @JPProAm | #JPProAm2022 pic.twitter.com/SzwjBXwyyy— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 5, 2022
Woods admitted after the tournament that there were some “difficult days” that made even moving off the couch a “hell of a task,” but he said his leg feels a lot stronger heading into the British Open.
“I’ve been able to put in a lot more reps which is great,” Woods said, via Golfweek. “I still prefer riding in a cart. I’m doing that here only because I don’t need to push it right now. I’ve got a long week ahead of me and all of next week to do that. Save the legs. We can still train as hard as we do each and every day. But as far as duration on my feet, let’s try and keep that to a minimum until we have to. And then when we have to, let’s go.”
Woods wants 'at least one more run' at St. Andrews
Woods has played just twice competitively since his terrifying single-car crash that nearly cost him his right leg more than a year ago. He returned to play The Masters in April, where he finished in 47th. He then tried to play at the PGA Championship about a month later, but he withdrew after three rounds.
He hasn’t played since, and instead turned his focus toward the British Open — which is returning to St. Andrews, where Woods won twice in 2000 and 2005, for the 150th playing.
“This is a pretty historic Open that we are going to be playing,” Woods said. “I’m lucky enough to be part of the past champions that have won there, and want to play there again, and I don’t know when they are ever going to go back while I’m still able to play at a high level. I want to be able to give it at least one more run at a high level.”
So how much longer will Woods be playing competitive golf? Even he still has no idea.
"I don't know. I really don't," he said. "If you asked me last year whether I would play golf again, all of my surgeons would have said no. But here I am playing two major championships this year. I will always be able to play golf, whether it's this leg or someone else's leg or false leg or different body pieces that have been placed or fused. I'll always be able to play. Now if you say play at a championship level, well, that window is definitely not as long as I would like it to be."
That, however, just isn’t the most important thing anymore.
“I have my own two legs, which ... I'm not going to take it for granted anymore, some people do,” Woods said. “But people who have come close or lost a limb understand what I'm saying, but you have difficult days and also you have great days and first are not what they used to be, that's for sure. But they are great days in which I can spend time with my kids and do things that they can do at a slightly slower pace, but I can still do it with them."
