Tiger Woods may claim a 16th major victory is within the realm of possibility, but his eight-over opening round at The Open Championship suggested otherwise.
The 15-time major winner began his British Open campaign alongside fellow Americans Patrick Cantlay and PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele in their quest to tame Royal Troon at the 152nd Open Championship on Thursday.
But the task quickly turned into Mission Impossible as the 48-year-old struggled to get through another round at a major championship.
Three-time Open winner Big Cat limped rather than prowled the links on Thursday as he weathered a storm of bogeys coupled with the Ayrshire weather.
Things started out optimistically, but then again, they have lately, and it’s the rest of the grueling 18-hole course that becomes one big painful grimace.
Tiger Woods had a disastrous first round of eight over par at the Open Championship
Woods hit his first drive 201 yards from the first tee, finding the first cut of rough on the right side of the fairway.
He came close to an opening birdie, rolling his attempt to two feet for a touch-in par before finally coming into the red at the third.
But the fights, once a surprise but now a regular sight, began on the fourth day.
Royal Troon immediately snatched the shot from Tiger’s grasp at the fourth, where he failed to capitalise on the par-five opportunity before sinking into the black with a double-bogey five at the par-three fifth.
His only two birdies were no match for a total of six bogeys, including two consecutive ones at 17 and 18 to close his round, and two doubles, including a trip onto the train tracks at 11, while an opening 79 plundered his hopes.
However, Woods could perhaps find some solace in being joined at the bottom of the leaderboard by fellow former champions Cameron Smith (+9), Rory McIlroy (+7) and Louis Oosthuizen (+7).
The 48-year-old struggled to get through another round at a major championship.
Woods reiterated his goal of taming Troon in his 16th major victory earlier this week, something he is convinced his war-ravaged body can still achieve.
The statistics, however, tell a different story. The golf icon missed the cut at either the PGA Championship or the US Open and, although he fought through to the Masters weekend, he finished 60th and last.
However, Woods’ message remains the same as it has been 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 set his sights on those who asked why we could expect anything different on a course that he acknowledged “will eat you up” if conditions change.
Woods rolled his first putt to within two feet of the pin before tapping in for par on the first hole.
The 15-time major winner entered in the red with a birdie on the par-four third hole.
“I’ll play until I can and feel like I can still win the event,” he said bluntly as he took center stage in front of a packed media center on Tuesday.
Asked if his faith had wavered, he was even more sparing with words: “No,” was his blunt response.
Woods has played just nine competitive rounds through 2024 but will remain the main attraction in Ayrshire this week.
“I’d like to have a little more experience, but I’ve been struggling with some things physically,” he said.
“I want to save it for the bigger tournaments. I don’t want to get exhausted before the bigger tournaments and not be able to play.”
However, Woods’ preparation for the final major of 2024 was disrupted by a sleepless night brought on by the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at the weekend.
He had been flying from Florida to Scotland on Saturday night for the Open Championship when the former president was shot.
The fights, which were once a surprise but now a regular spectacle, began in the fourth
Despite his poor recent record in major tournaments, the legend remains one of the main attractions in Ayrshire.
He admitted he was not as fresh as he would have liked for his first practice round on Sunday as he was absorbed in coverage of the incident rather than catching up on his rest on 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 saw the whole way here.
“I didn’t sleep at all during the flight and then we headed to the golf course.”