ST. Andrews, Scotland — When Tiger Woods reached the ball, the roar finally diminished just because everyone knew that the turmoil could resume soon.
Woods was probably the last rival to the British Open to be 18th on the Old Course at St Andrews. He won two victories here, completed his Grand Slam career here, and he dreamed of being here for years.
And now, after taking a tee shot under the familiar granite Scottish sky, Woods knew it might end in minutes.
Just as Woods put his hat on the Swirkhan Bridge after 3 pm, cheers rang from the grandstand, not just along number 18. He rubbed his eyes on the walk and tilted his hat. Furthermore, and finally, the audience and even the seagulls were silenced.
It takes another three strokes to finish the hole in the par, as if you wanted another moment in St Andrews instead of another birdie. The roar began again, as if he had won the fourth open.
But he wasn’t.and Nine over par Two rounds later, 17 months after a car accident in California that almost robbed his right foot, he missed the cut. His ceremonial Sunday red outfit remained stuffed from St Andrews this time, and perhaps forever.
“I don’t know if I can physically play another British Open here in St Andrews,” Woods later said. “I certainly feel like I’ll be able to play more in the British Open, but I’m not sure if I’ll be there when I come back here, so the warmth and applause at the age of 18 It arrived at me. “
He was watching and listening to his open career at dusk in St Andrews. In 1995, when he was 19, he went to the practice field and saw Arnold Palmer hit a tee shot when he lacked any of the 15 majors to win. Ten years later, the noise that followed Jack Nicklaus stripped across a relatively flat area of the world’s oldest course.
It’s not certain that Friday was Woods’ last opening in St Andrews, but it will take years to return to the old course. Woods has been disassembled and rebuilt many times over the decades. At next year’s tournament, he reiterated that he was anxious to attend this particular open, 150th, and his favorite course at the latest St Andrews.
He was probably able to return to the old course round with his son. (“I can get tea time,” he said with a smile.) But throughout the week, Woods’ prospects for retirement looked better than Woods’ vows, or just a desire to hear. .. Andrews Field.
So, since he started on Friday morning, more spectators than usual have chased him, perhaps more than 20 depths.
“It counts as watching Tiger take a shot,” said one man as Woods only passed him on the 16th fairway.
“Tiger, you should make this,” said one woman before putting the putt in the hole.
“Oh, my god,” she piped again after he missed.
“Holy. Andrews loves you, Tiger!” Exclaimed someone else.
Even if Woods’ final score suggested something else, the audience did.
His outing on Friday was a 3 over par 75, better than when he finished the lead with 6 overs and 14 shots on Thursday. During the two-day competition, he wasn’t completely connected to the St Andrews Green. On Thursday he started by hitting a tee shot on Dibot.
So, by the time Woods first arrived in his group by the time he entered the 18th teabox, another Claret Jug’s desire had evaporated even in another cut. Still, he wasn’t thinking about something beyond the club’s choices: 3 or 5 woods, he says later.
He chose chipping with the former. He left the tee and felt that Matt Fitzpatrick and Max Homa, who later confessed goosebumps, had paused. He wondered where Joe LaCava, the caddy, was, but soon saw him chasing behind him.
“That’s when I started thinking, the next time it comes here, I may not be around,” Woods said. The tears didn’t come immediately, but Rory McIlroy was tilting his cap. The first tee players were probably St Andrews, destined to see Woods at his dusk.
Eventually, the men in Game No. 46, including the winners of the PGA Championship and the winners of the Open, walked because they had to.
But they kept looking back. Woods was staring forward, looking for the 18th cup, at least the last time.
