Tiger Woods has no intention of walking away from golf and plans to continue playing as long as he believes he can win.
Colin Montgomerie, a winner of 31 European Tour events, recently suggested in an interview with The Times that the 48-year-old Woods did not seem to enjoy a single shot during last month’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst, where Woods missed the cut by two strokes.
Despite this, Woods, who has won 15 majors, maintains his belief in his ability to win.
“I’ll play as long as I can play and I feel like I can still win the event,” Woods told reporters ahead of The Open.
“Well, as a past champion, I’m exempt until I’m 60. Colin’s not. He’s not a past champion, so he’s not exempt. So he doesn’t get the opportunity to make that decision. I do,” Woods said, responding to Montgomerie’s comments.
Montgomerie later responded to Woods’ remarks on social media platform X.
“If golf writers want my thoughts on Tiger, please ask me directly, rather than taking a quote from an interview out of context. Wishing Tiger an enjoyable and successful week,” Montgomerie posted.
Woods, who has been playing on a limited schedule for years due to multiple injuries, will be returning to Royal Troon after a 20-year absence. He won The Open in 2000, 2005, and 2006.
“I’ve always loved playing here. I’ve only played here twice. I played in ’97 and in ’04. I loved them both. I got a chance to play with Tom Weiskopf in his last practice round,” Woods said.
“That was neat for him to take me back to some of his holes and how he played them, and I obviously gave him some stick, and he’s giving me stick, like we always do. We had a wonderful time playing just a wonderful practice round.”