Tiger Woods might have made the cut at the Masters but, after disappointing displays at the PGA Championship and the US Open, will he compete in golf’s oldest major in 2024?
Tiger Woods contemplated if he might have played in his last US Open after missing the cut at Pinehurst in June.
It was only the second US Open he’d played in five years and he hasn’t made a cut at America’s national championship since 2019.
Whether it has been by way of withdrawal or just not finding the scores to progress into the weekend, watching Tiger complete 72 holes at one of golf’s major championships is now a rare occurrence.
Since he gloriously won the Masters and his 15th major title five years ago, he’s made 13 major appearances, missed the cut in five of them and withdrawn from two to protect the injuries he suffered in a car accident at the start of 2021.
“I can’t win the tournament from where I’m at, so it certainly is frustrating. I thought I played well enough to be up there in contention. It just didn’t work out,” he said at the US Open.
“As far as my last Open Championship or US Open Championship, I don’t know what that is. It may or may not be.”
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Is Tiger Woods playing in The Open Championship?
These weren’t the words golf fans and Tiger lovers wanted to hear but, in the same breath, the 48-year-old said he had one more event in his 2024 calendar, which we can safely assume will be the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon.
“I’ve only got one more tournament this season, so I’m not going to – I don’t think even if I win the British Open I don’t think I’ll be in the (FedEx Cup) Playoffs,” he added. “Just one more event and then I’ll come back whenever I come back.”
Woods is on the current list of exemptions for The Open as a past winner. The three Claret Jugs in his trophy cabinet mean he can play in golf’s oldest major until he’s 60.
One of the most memorable moments of his career, when he wasn’t winning something, came at the 2022 Open when he took the applause of the crowd at St Andrews as he tearfully waved and finished his second round. It was a goodbye of sorts as because Woods continues to battle his own body, there’s no guarantee he’ll compete in The Open on the Old Course again.
Woods was recently given his own exemption category on the PGA Tour which allows him a spot in the circuit’s Signature Events, such as the Memorial Tournament and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Perhaps this move suggests the 82-time PGA Tour winner intends to play in more non-major events, which could mean he not only plays in this year’s Open Championship but more in the future.
