TROON, Scotland—Colin Montgomerie, Europe’s Ryder Cup legend, has called for Tiger Woods to retire as he is set to play his 23rd British Open this week.
Montgomerie, who grew up at Royal Troon, site of the 152nd Open, told the Times of London that the three-time winner of the Claret Jug should bow out based on what he saw last month during the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
“I hope people remember Tiger as Tiger was, the passion and the charismatic aura around him,” Montgomerie told the Times. “There is none of that now. At Pinehurst he did not seem to enjoy a single shot and you think, ‘What the hell is he doing?’ He’s coming to Troon and he won’t enjoy it there either.”
Woods has played just five events since ankle surgery following last year’s Masters. This year, he withdrew during the second round of the Genesis Invitational, made the cut for a record 24th straight time at the Masters before finishing 60th, then missed the cut at both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open.
Back issues which preceded his 2019 Masters victory are still something Woods battles as well as the injuries to his right leg suffered in a 2021 car crash.
Montgomerie, 61, is playing the PGA Tour Champions full time and has made just $130,000 in 11 events prior to this week’s Senior Players Championship. In 1997, he got a third-round view of a 21-year old Woods at Augusta National when he shot a Saturday 65 to build a nine-shot lead on the way to his first of 15 major titles.
The Scot never won a major and finished second to Woods at the Old Course at St. Andrews in 2005. He also lost playoffs to Ernie Els at the 1994 U.S. Open and to Steve Elkington at the ’95 PGA Championship.
After Woods played the Open at St. Andrews in 2022, Montgomerie felt then he should have walked away.
“That was the time,” Montgomerie told the Times after Woods missed the cut. “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.”
Now 48, Woods has won 15 majors and Opens at St. Andrews twice (2002 and ’05) and Royal Liverpool (’06).
Woods maintains he only plays if he believes he can win. He has hinted at playing Champions Tour golf when he turns 50 in less than two years. As a past winner, he is exempt for the Open until age 60 as well as the Masters and PGA Championship for life. He was given a special exemption to play in the U.S. Open this year.
“Aren’t we there? I’d have thought we were past there,” Montgomerie said of Woods’s ability to win. “There is a time for all sportsmen to say goodbye but it’s very difficult to tell Tiger it’s time to go. Obviously, he still feels he can win. We are more realistic.”