Tiger Woods arrived at Royal Troon on Sunday to begin preparations for the British Open after missing the championship that he’s won three times in two of the past three years. He missed the cut in 2022 at the Old Course in St. Andrews.
The British winner in 2000, 2005 and 2006, Woods hasn’t played an Open at Royal Troon since 2004, when he shot 70-71-68-72 to tie for ninth place, seven shots out of a playoff between Ernie Els and eventual winner Todd Hamilton. Woods tied for 24th place at the Open at Troon in 1997. He was injured in 2016 and did not play at Troon when Henrik Stenson outdueled Phil Mickelson during the final round.
On Sunday, Woods and caddie Lance Bennett went all 18 holes, with hundreds of fans following along after getting word he was in town. Jason Day and Tony Finau played in a group in front of Woods, who is scheduled to play again by himself on Monday and then will join Max Homa and Justin Thomas on Tuesday. He’s scheduled to speak with the media at 4 pm ET on Tuesday.
This would mark the first time that Woods plays all four major championships in a year since 2019, the year he won the Masters for his fifth green jacket and 15th major. He played three majors in 2020, but the British Open was cancelled that year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Woods finished 60th at the Masters back in April, setting a record by making his 24th straight cut at Augusta National. He missed the cut in both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open. He has only played nine competitive rounds in 2024.