Did Tiger Woods miss an epic chance to say goodbye to competitive golf?
Colin Montgomerie seems to think so.
After making the cut in the first two majors of 2022, Woods took the U.S. Open off to make sure he was ready for St. Andrews and the 150th playing of the Open Championship.
Woods won two of his 15 majors at the Old Course and provided golf fans with one of the major subplots in the final major of the year.
Montgomerie certainly wasn’t alone in his thoughts that perhaps there’d be no better place for Woods to say farewell. Speaking on the Bunkered podcast, Montgomerie said:
“That was the time. Stand on that bridge, start waving, and everyone goes, ‘So, is that it?’ Yeah, it is. It would have been a glorious way to go. The stands were full, the world’s TV cameras—from all continents—were on him, he’s walking up there on his own, tears were in his eyes obviously You can’t beat that walk. I’ve done it myself. When the stands are full, you cannot beat that walk.”
Montgomerie also said he doesn’t see Woods winning any more tournaments.
“I can’t see that happening. I’d love it to happen because it’s great for the game. I would love him to win. But I just can’t see it happening.”
Woods did return to semi-competition at The Match, playing alongside Rory McIlroy. He’ll team up with his son Charlie at the 2022 PNC Championship.
At the Hero World Challenge eight days ago, Woods indicated he will definitely have a limited playing schedule in 2023.
“The goal is to play just the major championships and maybe one or two more. That’s it,” he said. “Physically, that’s all I can do. I told you that, guys, you know, the beginning of this year, too. I mean, I don’t have much left in this leg, so gear up for the biggest ones and hopefully, you know, lightning catches in a bottle and I’m up there in contention with a chance to win and hopefully I remember how to do that.”