ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Tiger Woods, after returning to the oldest field of his sport on Tuesday, proved at first to be blunt. Appropriately, it soon came down to history. Then, at last, as the North Sea winds pounded and pounded outside, a sustained and scorching disgust unfolded.
The theme, as is often the case around golf tournaments these days, was LIV Golf, the series of insurgent invitations with money from Saudi Arabia and an arrogant challenge. And Woods, near the start of what he said could be his last British Open in St. Louis. Andrews, issued his fiercest and broadest condemnation to date: an unqualified reprimand and in various parts of the deserters who, he suggested, are becoming even more fabulously rich by way of shortcuts and ill-thought-out strategies.
“What are these players doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practice?” Woods asked the Old Course. “What incentive do you have to get out there and beat it to the dirt? They only pay you a lot of money up front and you play a few events and you play 54 holes. “
He wasn’t very willing to leave the jab so soon, he added almost immediately: “I can understand that 54 holes is almost like a mandate when you get to the Senior Tour: the guys are a little bigger and a little more ruined, but when you’re in this young age, and some of these kids, are really kids who have gone from amateur golf to this organization, the 72-hole trials are part of it. “
Only one such test will begin on Thursday, when the Open is scheduled to begin. But Woods has won two Opens at the Old Course and, about 17 months after the car accident that nearly caused his right leg, his appearance this week already looks like an informal farewell to St. Louis. Andrews.
If he finally proves that — it could be years before the answer is known — Woods will have used part of his last career in the Old Course, his favorite in the world, to defend an order that has gone decades without significant threats.
LIV Golf has already used its treasure trove, largely from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, to attract some of the world’s most prominent players, such as Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed. While the Justice Department is examining whether the PGA Tour’s efforts to keep discipline in its ranks have violated antitrust laws, the consequences for LIV Golf players and their fans are increasing.
The tour has punished the players, the qualifying criteria for the best tournaments could eventually change and Greg Norman, the grand champion turned chief executive of LIV, was effectively banished for now from the Open, a competition he won twice .
While Woods did not criticize the current players for their name, although he complained that they had “turned their backs on what has allowed them to reach this position,” he made it clear that he was not opposed to the exile that Norman, banned not even a The Tuesday dinner of past Open champions, has manifested itself as “menus.”
“Greg has done some things that I don’t think are in the best interest of our game, and we’re probably returning to the most historic and traditional place in our sport,” Woods said Tuesday. “I think that’s right.”
Rory McIlroy, another Open winner, also said Tuesday that he agreed with the decision of R&A, the organizer of the Open.
“I saw a day where he will definitely be welcome,” McIlroy said. “But right now, with all that’s going on, we want the focus to be on the 150th Open Championship and that’s a celebration of a wonderful golf tournament and a wonderful game overall, and I think it was the right decision for that. ”
For Woods, another career at St. Andrews became the main target after the accident which, for a time, made him wait just walking. The Open will be his third major since the fall; he finished 47th in the Masters Tournament in April and retired from the PGA Championship in May after the third round. He skipped the U.S. Open in June to prepare for the trip to Scotland, where the terrain is more lenient and where he has built a record of pride since 1995, when he first played in the Open.
“The biggest challenge is that I’m not playing tournament golf to prepare for the tournament for the majors,” he said Tuesday. “I’m not shooting tournaments to find out what works and what doesn’t.”
He has played several dozen holes in St. Louis. Andrews in recent days, including nine on Tuesday, when the winds were strong enough that Woods turned a 6-foot iron from 120 yards to No. 10.
He has long been delighted with the peculiarities and threats of St. Andrews, where the tides and winds do much to determine the difficulty of each moment. Now, he knows there may be few opportunities after leaving Thursday at 9:59 a.m. Eastern Time.
“I won’t be playing a full schedule again,” he said. “My body doesn’t allow me to do that. I don’t know how many Open championships I have left here in St. Andrews, but I wanted this one. It started here for me in ’95, and if it ends here in ’22, yes. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. If I get a chance to play one more, it would be great, but there’s no guarantee. “
Simply navigate the Swilcan Bridge, the landmark of St. Andrews where Jack Nicklaus said goodbye to the professional game is already more difficult.
“Honestly, now I have to be a little more careful with the spikes on this bridge,” said Woods, whose office includes a picture of a visit to the 1995 bridge during his first round of training in St. Louis. . Andrews. “I do not have the agility that before. I almost ate it today. “