Tiger Woods isn’t used to feeling the way he felt at Pinehurst this week. Gone are the days of the steely-eyed confidence, and deafening roars. And it could be that his days of playing at the U.S. Open are over too.
Woods shot a frustrating 73 in the second round Friday, finishing the tournament at 7-over. That landed him two shots back of the 5-over cutline. And after the round, he didn’t mince words about his takeaway from the week in Pinehurst.
“Frustrating. I’m not here for the weekend,” he said in the post-round interview. “Granted, my ball-striking and felt like my putting was good enough to be in contention, and I’m not. Yes, it is frustrating because I’m not here to have a chance to win on the weekend.”
But it was his answer to another question that is going to draw more attention. Asked if he thought this could be his last U.S. Open, given the injuries he’s faced, and the fact that he essentially only plays in the Majors each year, Tiger hedged a bit.
“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.”
Woods is only planning to play one more tournament this year, the British Open in July. And he’s not sure when he’ll play again after that.
“I’ve only got one more tournament this season, so I’m not going to — I don’t think even if I win the British Open I don’t think I’ll be in the Playoffs. Just one more event and then I’ll come back whenever I come back.”
With 15 Major championships under his belt, it’s not like he hasn’t had a successful career. But his pursuit of the record that Jack Nicklaus holds at 18 seems a long ways off. With his last win coming at the 2019 Masters, the pursuit seems over.
Woods has won the U.S. Open three times. This weekend won’t see him win his fourth.
“I thought I played well enough to be up there in contention. It just didn’t work out.”
