The 15-time major winner shot a 6-over 77 on Friday, one day after posting an 8-over 79 at Royal Troon. Only a handful of others—including Wyndham Clark—scored worse than his 14-over total.
Woods looked fit, leaner, and walked better than he did this week as opposed to earlier this year at Augusta National, where he made the cut and finished in solo 60th.
Yet his game was not sharp this time around. Woods missed plenty of iron shots, struggled around the greens, and could not find a consistent stroke with his putter.
That’s what happens when you only compete in major championships, the most difficult tournaments of them all. Players must be at their best for these four events each year, but every player takes a different approach to prepare. Some play in a tournament the week before, like Rory McIlroy, while others, such as Scottie Scheffler, take time away to practice their games. Others will visit the host venue well in advance to better understand the course, which is what Shane Lowry did this year. But what every player does—regardless of their tour affiliation—is play competitively in the months before majors.
Woods obviously knows how to prepare for majors. His methods and approaches have helped him win 15 of them. But his various ailments have not allowed him to compete as much as he would have wanted, which perhaps explains why he did not make the cut at Valhalla, Pinehurst No. 2, and now, Royal Troon. The fact that he turns 49 years old in December does not help, either.
At least Woods feels better this year, or so he says.
“I’d like to have played more, but I just wanted to make sure that I was able to play the major championships this year,” Woods said.
“I got a lot of time off to get better, to be better physically, which has been the case all year. I’ve gotten better, even though my results really haven’t shown it, but physically I’ve gotten better, which is great. I just need to keep progressing like that and then eventually start playing more competitively and start getting into kind of the competitive flow again.”
The key for Woods will be for him to play more before majors in 2025, perhaps at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera in February and The Players Championship in March. But only time will tell if he can do so.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.