Tiger Woods to meet old nemesis at Royal Troon as he faces bad omen at The Open

Tiger Woods is set to return to Royal Troon for the 152nd Open, facing a challenging course that holds mixed memories for him. Despite his illustrious career and numerous major victories, Woods has never won The Open at Troon.

His first appearance at Royal Troon was in 1997, just three months after his first major win at the Masters. Despite an impressive start with rounds of 72, 74, and 64 that positioned him in the top ten, a final round of 74, including a costly triple bogey, dropped him to 24th place, 12 strokes behind winner Justin Leonard.

One hole in particular, the notorious ‘Postage Stamp’ par-three eighth, is known for causing trouble even for the best golfers. At just 123 yards, it is one of the shortest holes in golf but is surrounded by five challenging bunkers. Over the years, it has seen many golfers’ scores suffer, including Herman Tissies, who scored a 15 in 1950, and Greg Norman, who lost the 1989 Open due to a bogey on this hole.

Woods first won The Open at St Andrews in 2000 and repeated the victory there in 2005. His last win at the major came in 2006 at Royal Liverpool, leaving him with an 18-year drought at the tournament.

Recently, Woods hinted that his participation in this year’s US Open might have been his last. Despite his efforts, he missed the cut at Pinehurst No. 2 with scores of 74 and 73, expressing frustration over his performance. “It’s one of those things where in order to win a golf tournament, you have to make the cut. I can’t win the tournament from where I’m at, so it certainly is frustrating. I thought I played well enough to be up there in contention. It just didn’t work out,” Woods said.

He added that he’s uncertain about his future in the sport: “As far as my last Open Championship or U.S. Open Championship, I don’t know what that is. It may or may not be.” His last major victory was at the 2019 Masters, and as he returns to Troon, all eyes will be on him to see how he fares against the course and the infamous eighth hole once more.