Tiger Woods has delivered a withering takedown of Colin Montgomerie, after the Scot suggested the 15-times major champion should retire. Woods has arrived at Royal Troon for the 152nd Open Championship with speculation this could be his last.
The 48-year-old, who has been beset by injury troubles, finished 60th at the Masters before missing the cut in the USPGA Championship and US Open. Montgomerie, who never won a major, used a weekend interview to imply Woods should call time on his decorated career. Yesterday, Woods fired back.
"Well, as a past [Open] champion, I'm exempt until I'm 60," Woods said. "Colin's not. He's not a past champion, so he's not exempt. So he doesn't get the opportunity to make that decision. I do." Pressed on whether he feels he deserves the right to dictate his own playing future, Woods again referenced Montgomerie. "When I get to his age, I get to still make that decision, where he doesn't," he said.
"I'll play as long as I can play and I feel like I can still win the event." There was a firm "no" to whether or not his belief has wavered during turbulent times.
News of the Woods broadside reached the 61-year-old Montgomerie quickly. "If golf writers want my thoughts on Tiger please ask me direct, rather than taking a quote from an interview out of context," he said on social media. "Wishing Tiger an enjoyable and successful week."
This story is from the July 17, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the July 17, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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