Tiger Woods at The Open—these words no longer cause the commotion in the golf world as they once might have. Instead, they have sprouted seeds of doubt that have grown in recent years. As his recent outings at golf tournaments have been marked by injuries, surgeries, limited appearances, and multiple withdrawals, all of which started after the horrific rollover crash in 2021.
The oldest golf tournament will be returning to the Scottish Highlands after eight years. However, it will mark Tiger Woods’s first appearance at Royal Troon, though not his first in the Open Championship, where he has already tasted victory not once but three times.
Ahead of the last major of the season, NUCLR Golf shared a tweet of Tiger Woods striking a ball with power while wearing his iconic red T-shirt and posed a question to the audience in the caption: “Tiger Woods won The Open Championship in 2000, 2005, and 2006. Do you think he’ll win another Claret Jug before his career is over?@TWlegion”
The first time Woods lifted the Claret Jug was a stepping stone on the path to achieving the ‘Tiger Slam’ the following year. An honor bestowed on Woods for achieving the historic feat of winning all four majors consecutively across the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
But now, he is not even able to play one event a month, as he promised at the 2023 Hero World Challenge. In his own words, ‘Once a month seems reasonable.’ He further added, ‘It gives me a couple of weeks to recover and a week to tune up. Maybe I can get into the rhythm.’ This time around, netizens don’t seem to have high hopes for Tiger Woods’s appearance at Royal Troon. And they did not hold back in expressing their thoughts and emotions.
Tiger Woods’s woes fuel fan doubts about his appearance at the 2024 Open Championship
Shedding light on how his 2024 season has gone so far, the 15-time major winner has only played in four events. In the last two, which were also major tournaments—the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open—he missed the cut. Keeping that in mind, one user said, “Making the cut should be the goal.”
Moreover, Tiger Woods withdrew from the very first event of 2024 that he played, the Genesis Invitational, due to influenza. Manifesting their frustration with the former world number one’s constant poor performance and withdrawals, one user said, “He’s done winning golf tournaments & especially Major Championships.” Even though Woods made history at Augusta National by making the cut at the Masters for the 24th consecutive time, he also recorded the worst performance of his career with a T60 finish.
Tiger Woods is no stranger to winning and setting records, boasting a remarkable 82 PGA Tour wins, including 15 majors. He is one of only five golfers, alongside Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus, to have won all four majors. Woods always battled through pain, but the 2021 crash left him with serious injuries that have changed everything for him, both on and off the course. Alluding to the same one fan commented, “The man lives on. The golfer seen here died in a car accident. Sad, but true.”
Some, on the other hand, were pretty empathetic and positive towards Woods. Tiger Woods hasn’t won a major since his historic comeback victory at the 2019 Masters Tournament. That win snapped an 11-year major drought, with his previous major title being the 2008 U.S. Open. Taking the same as an example and holding on to hope for his upcoming appearance, one fan said, “Nah. But I sure as hell hope so.”
Thus, there are varying opinions from the fans regarding Tiger Woods’ appearance in the last major of the year, although most of them show certainty that the chances of Woods winning are pretty narrow. Will Tiger Woods be able to turn the tables and clinch another major win?
