Will Tiger be retiring after today, finally?
The first round of the Open Championship at St. Andrews in Scotland may have been, all things considered, the worst day of Tiger Woods’ golfing life. He bogeyed the first two holes and went on to shoot a four-over par 76 for 139th place, while the leaders were firing rounds in the mid to high 60s. And Tiger was playing in the morning before the famous Scottish winds kicked up.
After his round, the worst score he has ever posted the first day of the British Open, he was asked by a reporter about retiring, since he has had one top 25 finish, missed two cuts going on three and withdrew from seven other tournaments this season. He joked that he doesn’t have his AARP card yet, so guess he will keep playing. Then the proper AARP fired out a tweet to Woods, that being over 50 is better than over par. Ouch.
Whatever is ailing woods – his back, his swing, his broken love life – he looks plain awful on the course, chunking wedges and missing half of the wide fairways at St. Andrews. Fortunately, his round began at about 4 a.m. Eastern time and was over before most people turned on the TV or checked the leaderboard for the first time. And to ESPN’s credit, it treated Wood’s play as deserved with an occasional mention and no non-stop coverage of a golf game gone awry.
The chances of Woods making the cut for the weekend are slim and none. He will have to shoot 65 and hope the rest of the field falters en masse. And Tiger will be playing in the worst part of the day, when rain is expected and the wind will be howling in through the afternoon pairings. He is so bad right now that even the most ardent Tiger hater, and there are millions, might be feeling somewhat sorry for him. After all, he looks like a guy who should retire.
Not only does Woods fail to scare any other golfer, he is even worse than that: an after-thought that is expected to play poorly in the majors because his game has become mediocre. Tiger merely playing used to be worth three or four shots on the rest of the field, because he was so intimidating. Now his play is intolerable.
He’s still more than a year from the senior tour, as well as his AARP card, so what shall he do after turning 40 in December? Maybe stump for his buddy Trump.
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