Getty Image
Is it time for Tiger Woods to put the clubs away and call it a career?
Ex-Ryder Cup rival Colin Montgomerie sure seems to think so.
Montgomerie, speaking ahead of next week’s Montgomerie British Open at Royal Troon, told the Times of London that the three-time winner of the Claret Jug should call it a career based on what he saw last month during the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
“I hope people remember Tiger as Tiger was, the passion and the charismatic aura around him,” Montgomerie told the Times. “There is none of that now. At Pinehurst he did not seem to enjoy a single shot and you think, ‘What the hell is he doing?’ He’s coming to Troon and he won’t enjoy it there either.”
Woods has played in four tournaments this season. He withdrew from the Genesis Invitational in the second round. He finished 60th at the Masters, then missed the cut at both the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open.
So maybe Montgomerie has a point?
But it’s not the first time he’s shared this belief.
In 2022, Montgomerie said that Woods should have called it quits after the Open Championship at St. Andrews.
“That was the time,” he said. “Stand on that bridge, start waving, and everyone goes, ‘So, is that it?’ Yeah, it is. It would have been a glorious way to go. The stands were full, the world’s TV cameras – from all continents – were on him, he’s walking up there on his own, tears were in his eyes, obviously, you can’t beat that walk. I’ve done it myself. When the stands are full, you cannot beat that walk. … I tell you what, that is a special, special arena. It’s a theatre. That was the time for Tiger to say, ‘OK, I bow out.’”
“Why go on? Go out at the top. It’s something that very few can do.”
Fans won’t like it. Some have offered different solutions. But Montgomerie’s got evidence on his side. It may well be time for Woods to call it quits.