Tiger Woods blasts back at Colin Montgomerie

Tiger Woods has offered a ruthless response to Colin Montgomerie’s call for him to retire. 

Montgomerie first told The bunkered Podcast in late 2022 that Woods missed the “golden opportunity” to wave goodbye to the game at the 150th Open at St Andrews.

Since then, the injury-ravaged icon has entered seven tournaments and made only three cuts. Woods said late last year that he planned to play about one event each month in 2024, yet that hasn’t transpired.

But Montgomerie still caused quite the stir when he repeated his claim last week, telling the Times that Woods has lost the “passion and the charismatic aura” that once made him the game’s transformative force.

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“There is a time for all sportsmen to say goodbye, but it’s very difficult to tell Tiger it’s time to go,” Montgomerie opined before the Open arrived at his home course, Royal Troon. “Obviously, he still feels he can win. We are more realistic.”

Woods, however, has always been adamant that he will continue playing until he feels he can no longer compete. So on the eve of his 23rd Open, the three-time Claret Jug winner hit back at Montgomerie in no uncertain terms.

When asked if the Scot’s comments were hurtful, he replied: “Well, as a past champion, I’m exempt until I’m 60. 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.”

I think it’s the “I do” at the end that really brings it home. Exquisite stuff. pic.twitter.com/fmuxQNW3T8

— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) July 16, 2024

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Pushed on whether he has earned his own right when to call it quits, Woods added: “So when I get to his age, I get to still make that decision, where he doesn’t.”

Woods remains eligible for golf’s oldest major for another 12 years and while he has long been open about his “golf mortality”, he  has no interest in walking away just yet.

“I’ll play as long as I can play and I feel like I can still win the event,” he said, before bluntly replying “no” when asked if that confidence had wavered ever since returning from the career-threatening injuries sustained in his February 2021 car crash.

But Montgomerie, a 31-time European Tour winner, is convinced that Woods bares little resemblance to the man who beat him by five shots in the 2005 Open at St. Andrews.

“At Pinehurst, he did not seem to enjoy a single shot and you think, ‘What the hell is he doing?’” the 61-year-old said. “He’s coming to Troon and he won’t enjoy it there, either.”

UPDATE

Colin Montgomerie has since responded with this statement on X about Woods’ comments:

“If Golf Writers want my thoughts on Tiger please ask me direct, rather than taking a quote from an interview out of context. Wishing Tiger an enjoyable and successful week.”

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.