Tiger Woods teases Colin Montgomery in war of words over retirement talk

TROON, Scotland — Tiger Woods hasn’t shown his former brilliance this season, but his stare still strikes fear into golfers’ hearts.

He was asked Tuesday at the 2024 British Open whether it’s time to think about retirement. Colin Montgomerie, 61, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, mentioned the “R-word” in an interview last week and suggested it was time for Woods to hang up on it.

“Isn’t that where you’re at?” You would have thought that point had passed,” Montgomery told The Times of London. “Every athlete has a time to say goodbye, but telling Tiger it’s time to say goodbye is very difficult. Obviously, he still feels like he can win. We’re more realistic.”

Woods, 48, has played just nine competitive rounds on the PGA Tour this season, bowing out of the Genesis Invitational in February in the second round, finishing last among players who qualified for the Masters, and failing to qualify for the PGA Championship and U.S. Open. But Woods insisted better days could be ahead.

“I’ll play as long as I can play and I feel like I can still win the tournament,” he said. Asked if his belief that he could still do it had wavered, Woods simply said, “No.”

Then he stared blankly at his interlocutor. There was nothing else he needed to say. It has become a common practice at Tiger’s press conferences over the past few years as he has made several comebacks from various injuries, the most serious of which was the result of a car accident in February 2021.

The next speaker got straight to the point and asked Woods, a three-time British Open champion, what Montgomerie, who grew up a stone’s throw from Royal Troon but has never won the Claret Jug, had said and he didn’t hesitate. “Being a former champion, I’m exempt until I’m 60. Colin – No. He’s not exempt because he’s not a past champion, so he doesn’t have the opportunity to make that decision. I think so.”

The person who asked the question asked: “Do you think you deserve this? Do you deserve this?”

Tiger Woods of the United States sinks a putt on the 18th hole before the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon on July 15, 2024 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

Woods ignores the question and just keeps going after Montgomerie. “I mean, when I get to his age, I can still make that decision, and he can’t.”

Woods smiles with glee. Woods roasted Monty this round, but can he make up for another seemingly lost year as he seeks his 16th major title and 83rd overall on TOUR? Woods said he was able to train well and suggested that he could change his performance.

“We were eager to defeat this in the gymnasium, but that was good. “When you can do those things, your body feels better, which translates to better ball-hitting,” he said. “You can’t train as long as you want, but it’s nice to be able to do some things that you haven’t been able to do all year.”

One observer who defended Woods was Hank Haney, one of Tiger’s former coaches. “A lot of people thought Augusta was Tiger’s best chance to win again, it wasn’t, it was still the Open Championship for multiple reasons,” Haney wrote on X, in response to a social media post about Woods’ swing. “He can hit shots like this, slower greens mean fewer 3-putts and no one has more knowledge about links golf.” With what he’s done so far this year, it feels like it’s now or never. His swing looks really good in practice. »

Woods also said he has made or is considering making the following changes to his bag heading into the test in Troon: “I’m experimenting with bounce on the 60. I’ve got a couple of 60s going at the moment, and one of them has a little less bounce in the chipped area,” he said. “Yesterday I bent my 3-iron one more degree, hit it on the deck, dropped it, let it fly and run. The greens are so slow I put lead tape on my putter. Woods returns to Troon for the first time in 20 years. He finished 24th here in 1997 and ninth in 2004 but was sidelined by injury in 2016. He has not been named Golf Champion of the Year since 2006 but said he always enjoyed the challenges of Troon. “It’s one of those courses out of nine that you can do well on,” he said. “You’re either downwind when you leave or into the wind when you come home or vice versa. Half the holes will be very difficult, but the rest will definitely be achievable.”