Tiger Woods wiped away tears amid emotional scenes as he was cheered the full length of the 18th hole on the Old Course at the 150th Open Championship on Friday.
No matter that the former world number one was about to miss the halfway cut, this was recognition of his standing in the game.
Woods has won two of his three Claret Jugs at the revered St Andrews venue and skipped last month’s US Open to ensure he would be fit to play his favourite course at this week’s landmark championship.
The 46-year-old did not say it would be his final Open Championship but added: “This felt to me like it will be the last time to play at St Andrews.
“I came to understand what Jack [Nicklaus] and Arnold [Palmer] felt in the past and I felt that way. They understand what golf is all about and what it takes to be an Open champion.
“I have been lucky enough to win here twice – it felt emotional because I don’t know whether I will be able to play when it comes back here.”
The Open usually returns to St Andrews every five years, which would make the next one in 2027, although an official announcement is yet to be made.
An opening six-over-par 78 in round one left Woods saying he would “need a 66” to make the weekend. That would have been a tall order were the 15-time major winner in good health, but nigh-on impossible given he is still feeling the after-effects of the car crash in February 2021 that almost cost him his right leg.
A smile flashed across his face after a birdie on the third. But all thoughts of that 66 were extinguished by bogeys on the fourth and sixth holes.
A run of nine pars followed before he tried a flop shot over a greenside bunker on the 16th and only succeeded in sticking his ball in the sand, walking off with a double-bogey six.
Regardless of his performance, Woods was cheered round the links by thousands of fans eager for a glimpse of the man who has had such a huge impact on the game over the past quarter of a century.
