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.

Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: The Claret Juggle
The big names are at the Old Course, but their games are not. Finally, the The Open no longer has the adjective “British” in front of it because arrogant Americans concede that the game was invented somewhere else like Europe, where the 150th “Open” begins today at perhaps the most famous 18 holes on the […]
Chansky’s Notebook: Spieth's Good -- And Human
This is today’s Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook as heard on 97.9 WCHL. You can listen to previous Sports Notebooks here. Jordan Spieth’s bad shots showed how good he is. He may have missed winning the third leg of golf’s grand slam by one stroke on the old course at St. Andrews, but based on how […]
Chansky's Notebook: The Binge is On
Art Chansky breaks down the mega deal between ESPN and the NFL, in which the Worldwide Leader acquired much of the league's programming.
Chansky's Notebook: 'Never One Like It'
It's time for the U.S. Open — and it is also the 25th anniversary of Payne Stewart’s legendary win at Pinehurst.
Medicare and Social Security Go-Broke Dates Are Pushed Back in a ‘Measure of Good News’
The go-broke dates for Medicare and Social Security have been pushed back as an improving economy has changed projected depletion dates.
Chansky's Notebook: TV And Hoops
Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler. Bally Sports is out, and Bubba Cunningham is in. Hot news! Two interesting developments were announced this week that may mean a lot more […]
Chansky's Notebook: Redick A Keeper
Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler. J.J. Redick is the name that stands out in the ESPN purge. About 20 veterans at ESPN were laid off last week in what […]
College Gameday is Coming Back to Chapel Hill. Here's What To Know.
In what’s becoming an annual tradition, ESPN’s flagship college basketball pregame show, College Gameday, will visit Chapel Hill in advance of the Duke-Carolina game in the Smith Center on Saturday night. Host Rece Davis will be joined by analysts LaPhonso Ellis, Seth Greenberg and Jay Bilas to discuss the game and others around the college […]
Art’s Angle: Carolina 2.0
Here is a trivia question for you. When was the last time Carolina started a football season 5-1 before Saturday’s weird and wonderful win at Miami? It was Larry Fedora’s best season in 2015, after the Tar Heels lost the opener to South Carolina in Charlotte and then reeled off 11 straight Ws on the […]
Van Gogh Self-Portrait Found Hidden Behind Another Painting
Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A previously unknown self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh has been discovered behind another of the artist’s paintings, the National Galleries of Scotland said Thursday. The self-portrait was found on the back of Van Gogh’s “Head of a Peasant Woman” when experts at the Edinburgh gallery took an X-ray of the […]
›