Tiger Woods may have made his record 24th cut at the Masters this year but the legendary golfer did not seem to have his old touch. In the third round at Augusta National, he shot the worst round of 10 over 82 in the tournament’s history. His former rival, Colin Montgomerie spoke to talkSPORT and shared that he advised the 15-time major champion to step away from the game for his own good.
In the last 24 months, Woods had made only eight starts. It was because of the career-threatening injuries he sustained during the car accident in 2021. Even in the eight starts, the 15-time major champion was not physically fit.
Woods will be gearing up for the PGA Championship next month, but Montgomerie feels he should have walked away after the 2022 Open Championship. A couple of years back at St Andrews, the 82-time PGA Tour winner missed the cut and waved his hat off in a moment that looked like a farewell.
“I just wish Tiger had gone after he waved on that Swilken bridge at St Andrews a couple of years ago. He’s kept going, he thinks he can do it but it’s quite obvious now physically and mentally, that he can’t.”
Colin Montgomerie on Tiger Woods’ game after his return to golf
After withdrawing from the 2023 Masters, Woods underwent a subtalar fusion procedure leading his world to go into a hiatus. He returned to golf in November 2023 and has made four starts. While two of them were the unofficial PGA tour event, the Hero World Challenge, and the PNC Championship, the other two were the Genesis Invitational and the Masters.
While he withdrew from the Genesis Invitational due to flu, he was not that great at the Masters either. He finished 60th on the leaderboard shooting 82 and 77 in his final two rounds. Colin Montgomerie claimed Woods had not been close to his good golf days and competing once a month would be no better for him.
“You can’t play once a month and hope to contend with these guys now. He finished the tournament 82-77. It’s not close, obviously…” While talking about Woods’ reception at Augusta National, Montgomerie said, “He did have a bigger wave than normal. Could that be it? You never know with Tiger.”
Tiger Woods is a legend of the game and his contribution to the sport can not be ignored. But what Montgomerie advised him on retirement does make sense as he had been missing his vintage touch lately. However, Woods has pledged to play all four majors this year and who knows he comes back stronger in those three events!
