Woods struggles again at The Open: ‘I didn’t do a lot right!’

Tiger Woods Struggles in Opening Round of The 152nd Open

Tiger Woods carded an eight-over 79 during the opening round of The 152nd Open at Royal Troon, leaving him 13 strokes behind clubhouse leader Shane Lowry and in serious danger of missing the cut for a third consecutive major.

Woods, who has struggled in majors this season, finished last among those who made the cut at The Masters and missed the cut at both the PGA Championship and the US Open. Despite his struggles, the 15-time major champion remains determined, stating he will “play as long as I can play and feel like I can still win.” However, his performance on Thursday did not show signs of contention.

Woods’ round included two birdies, six bogeys, and two double-bogeys, resulting in an eight-over 79. This leaves him with an uphill battle to make his first cut at The Open since 2018. Reflecting on his performance, Woods said, “I didn’t do a whole lot of things right today. I made that putt on the third hole and then I think I had three three-putts today. I didn’t hit my irons very close and I didn’t give myself a whole lot of looks today. I need to shoot something in the mid-60s tomorrow to get something going on the weekend.”

### Woods’ Challenging Round

Playing alongside Patrick Cantlay and reigning PGA champion Xander Schauffele, Woods started with two-putt pars on the first two holes and drained a 35-footer from off the third green to move into red figures. However, a three-putt bogey on the par-five fourth and a double-bogey on the par-three fifth set him back. Additional bogeys on the seventh and eighth holes saw Woods complete the front nine in 40 strokes.

Woods’ struggles continued on the back nine. A wayward drive into the bushes on the par-four 11th led to another double-bogey, and although he managed to birdie the par-four 13th, he bogeyed the par-three 17th and three-putted from the back fringe on the par-four 18th, ending his round with an eight-over 79.

Despite the disappointing performance, Woods noted he is feeling physically better than earlier in the year. “I’m physically feeling a lot better than I did at the beginning of the year,” he said. “I think that, as the year has gone on, I have gotten better. I just wish I could have played a little bit more, but I’ve been saving it for the majors just in case I do something pretty major and then take myself out of it.”

### Schauffele’s Perspective

Xander Schauffele, who shot an opening-round 69, acknowledged Woods’ ongoing efforts to adapt to his physical limitations. “He hit it pretty solid for the most part,” Schauffele said. “He had a couple of bad breaks and hit it in a couple of bad spots. Just happy he’s playing golf.”

Schauffele added that Woods is making it hard on himself by only playing major championships and is still learning what his body can and cannot do. “I’m sure he’d like to prep more at home if his body would allow it. I’m not sure he tells you guys this stuff or not. But as a tour pro now, I kind of know what goes into it and what needs to be done to play at a high level. If your body is not letting you do it, it’s just frustrating. I’m sure he’s trying to figure that out.”

With an uphill battle ahead, Woods will need a strong performance in the second round to avoid missing the cut and to continue competing at The 152nd Open.