Tiger Woods may claim that a 16th major tournament victory is within the realm of possibility, but his opening round of the Open Championship with an eight-over lead suggests otherwise.
The 15-time major winner shut down his British Open on Thursday night alongside fellow countrymen Patrick Cantlay and PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele as he bid to tame Royal Troon at the 152nd Open Championship.
But the assignment quickly turned into Mission: Impossible as the 48-year-old struggled through another round of a major championship.
The Big Cat, a three-time winner of The Open, had to overcome a number of obstacles and brave the bad weather in Ayrshire on Thursday.
It all started out optimistically, but lately the rest of the slog around the 18 holes has turned into one big, painful grimace.
Tiger Woods played a disastrous eight-over opening round at The Open Championship
Woods hit his first drive from the first tee 225 yards, hitting the first patch of rough on the right side of the fairway.
He came close to birdie on the opening shot but fired his attempt within two feet for a tap-in par before ending up in the red on the third hole.
But the battle, once a shock but now a regular sight, began at the fourth.
Royal Troon immediately took the ball back from Tiger on the fourth hole, but he missed the chance at a par-five before landing in the black with a double-bogey five on the par-three fifth hole.
His two birdies were no match for a total of six bogeys, including two consecutive ones on 17 and 18 to end his round, and two doubles, including a trip to the train tracks on 11 when an opening score of 79 dashed his hopes.
Still, Woods might find some comfort in his company at the bottom of the standings, with fellow former champions Cameron Smith (+9), Rory McIlroy (+7) and Louis Oosthuizen (+7).
The 48-year-old struggled through yet another round at a major championship
Woods reiterated his goal earlier this week to tame Troon for his 16th major victory, a goal he is confident his war-torn body can still achieve.
Yet the stats tell a different story. The golf icon missed the cut at both the PGA Championship and the US Open, and despite battling through to the weekend at the Masters, he finished in 60th and last place.
Woods’ message, however, remained the same as he had preached for the past two years: He wouldn’t show up unless he believed he had a chance to win.
And ahead of this week’s tournament, he turned his angry gaze on those who asked why we should expect anything different on a course he admitted would “eat you up” if conditions changed.
Woods rolled his first putt to within two feet of the pin before tapping in the first putt for par.
The 15-time major winner moved into the red with a birdie on the par-four third hole
“I will keep playing as long as I can play and I feel like I can still win the event,” he said bluntly as he took the stage in front of a packed media center on Tuesday.
When asked if his faith was wavering, he was even more sparing with his words. “No,” was the blunt answer.
Woods has played just nine competitive rounds through 2024 but will still be the biggest attraction in Ayrshire this week.
“I wish I had a little more experience, but I have some physical problems,” he said.
“I want to save it for the majors. I don’t want to burn myself out for the majors and not be able to play.”
However, Woods’ preparation for the last major tournament of 2024 was disrupted by a sleepless night due to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump last weekend.
He was en route from Florida to Scotland for the Open Championship on Saturday night when the former president was shot.
The battle, once a shock but now a common sight, began in the fourth
Despite his recent poor showing in the majors, the legend has remained a top attraction in Ayrshire
He admitted he was not as fresh as he would have liked for his first training lap on Sunday, as he was more focused on reporting on the incident than catching up on his rest during the flight across the Atlantic.
“I didn’t achieve much because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind,” Woods told BBC Sport on Tuesday.
It was a long night [because of the assassination attempt] and that was all we looked at the whole time on the way here.
“I didn’t sleep at all on the flight, and then we just went out on the golf course.”