ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND | At some point this week, perhaps Friday afternoon if things don’t go well or later on Sunday, Tiger Woods will cross the Swilcan Bridge and we will be left to wonder whether it might be the last time he does so as a competitor.
Arnold Palmer stood atop the bridge and waved goodbye to the Old Course in 1995 and Jack Nicklaus did it in 2000, their poses captured by cameras and watery-eyed memories as generations of fans shared their own farewells, a cheering hug of gratitude going both ways.
This is Woods’ sixth Open Championship at the Old Course, and given that he will be into his 50s and with a reconstructed body older than its years the next time the Claret Jug is up for grabs here, it’s hard not to wonder whether he will pass this way again with a scorecard in his pocket.
It’s a melancholy thought in a celebratory week.
Almost from the moment Woods learned his wreck-ravaged right leg could recover enough to allow him to play tournament golf again, this week has shimmered in the distance like the Emerald City as a target, a goal, an aspiration.
Woods limped around Augusta National for four days in April, made it through three painful rounds at the PGA Championship in Oklahoma and passed on the U.S. Open to be sure he could be here this week because this is his favorite golf course in the world and the 150th Open Championship gets played only once.
“It’s the most historic one we’ve ever had,” Woods said in a crowded media center Tuesday morning. “I just didn’t want to miss this Open here at the home of golf.”
To enlarge photos above of Arnold Palmer (left) and Jack Nicklaus saying goodbye from the Swilcan Bridge, please click on images.
There is no more sentimental place in the game than this rumpled patch of windswept linksland, and Woods has embraced the emotion that comes with being here. Years ago, Woods walled off the world, fueled by his own self-contained fire, but now he feels the warmth like the glow off a fireplace in December.
Even now, at 46 years old and careful to watch his steps over the famous stone bridge on the 18th hole, Woods sparks imaginations because of the Old Course’s unique demands. He doesn’t have to be the longest nor the strongest because the fiery fairways will minimize the oversized value of power.
Playing the Old Course in the expected breezy conditions is like playing chess, “and no one’s been better at playing that sort of chess game on a golf course than Tiger over the last 20 years,” said Rory McIlroy, who made a buddies trip to Ballybunion with Woods last week.
Woods is leaving little to chance. He showed up Saturday afternoon and spent a few hours chipping and putting on the Old Course with Justin Thomas. He played 18 holes Sunday and nine holes on both Monday and Tuesday, giving himself Wednesday to recover.
Were it anyone else, there would be an element of absurdity to the notion of winning here, but even now, with all of the medical hardware in his leg, Woods will tee it up with Matthew Fitzpatrick and Max Homa on Thursday at 2:59 p.m. local time believing he can win a third Claret Jug at the Old Course.
He remembers Tom Watson being one swing away from the Claret Jug as a 59-year old, relying on his wiles to have that opportunity.
“So it can be done,” Woods said.
Woods is leaving little to chance. He showed up Saturday afternoon and spent a few hours chipping and putting on the Old Course with Justin Thomas. He played 18 holes Sunday and nine holes on both Monday and Tuesday, giving himself Wednesday to recover.
He played four holes in the Celebration of Champions with Lee Trevino, Georgia Hall and McIlroy, and he was anticipating the champions’ dinner Tuesday night, which happens only when the Open returns to the Old Course.
Woods has made this an immersive experience.
He remembers watching the Open Championship at 5 a.m. when he was growing up in California. He remembers seeing Palmer hit his opening tee shot in his final Open Championship round here 27 years ago, and he can still hear the cheers for Nicklaus, who was a few holes ahead of Woods, when he closed out his competitive days here in 2000.
In his Florida office, Woods keeps a photo of himself on the Swilcan Bridge from the day he played his first practice round for the Open Championship in 1995. He is a student of the game’s history, something he’s passing down to his 13-year-old son, Charlie, and he has kept the memory of that first day close.
Whether it’s this year or several years down the line, Woods knows the bookend moment is coming.
“I don’t know how many Open Championships I have left here at St. Andrews, but I wanted this one,” Woods said. “It started here for me in ’95, and if it ends here in ’22, it does. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. If I get the chance to play one more, it would be great, but there’s no guarantee.”
For opening-round tee times, click HERE.