Tiger Woods: ‘I can’t hit shots the way I used to’

Tiger Woods won't be at the Ryder Cup.

Tiger heading for treatment after a 78 leaves him fighting to make the cut at The Open.

A downcast Tiger sparked fears for his health again after admitting he was “sore” and unable to swing the way he wanted as he stumbled to a seven-over 78 in the first round of The Open at Royal Portrush.

The 15-time major champion, who headed straight for treatment after his media duties, faces a battle to make the cut after carding eight bogeys during an erratic display. He sits 12 shots behind leader JB Holmes and was noticeably despondent as he revealed the extent of his struggles before and during his round.

“I’m sore, yes. I’m sore. My warmup wasn’t very good,” he explained. “I had a hard time moving. And just trying to piece together a swing that will get me around a golf course. Then all of a sudden I made probably one of the best pars you’ve ever seen on 1 today. That was a pretty good start. But it was kind of downhill from there.”

Tiger, who begins his second round at 10:09 on Friday morning, has only played three times since winning the Masters in April and revealed earlier this week that he didn’t pick up a club for two weeks after the US Open.

That rustiness was evident as he failed to make a birdie until the 15th hole, and he later admitted that he’s had to temper his expectations for tournaments as he bids to extend his career. 

“It’s going to be a lot more difficult,” said Tiger. “I’m not 24 anymore. Life changes, life moves on. And I can’t devote the hours to practice like I used to. Standing on the range, hitting balls for four or five hours, go play 36, come back, run four or five miles and then go to the gym. Those days are gone, okay?

“I have to be realistic about my expectations and hopefully peaking at the right time. I peaked at Augusta well. And hopefully I can peak a few more times this year.

“I’m going to have days like this, and got to fight through it. And I fought through it. Unfortunately I did not post a very good score.”

His dismal showing left him tied for 144th in the 156th man field, and he offered little by the way of encouragement for fans as he trudged over to the physio truck. “Just the way it is,” he said. “Just the way it’s going to be.”