Tiger Woods looked a little tired on his arrival at the Scottish tournament last week and now we know the reason, thanks to the explanations he has given to the British media. Apparently, Woods was told, just before the departure of the flight to Europe, the news of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania.
Tiger Woods, results
The golfer, 48, left Florida on Saturday and did not perform to the desired level in the first day at Royal Troon on Sunday, having been up all night, following how events unfolded in his country around the former president and, again, candidate for the White House. after closely following the events at the former president's rally in Pennsylvania.
"I didn't do well 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's all we saw the whole time on the way here. I didn't sleep at all on the flight, and we went straight from the airport to the golf course."
The fifteen-time tournament champion was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019, shortly after his comeback victory at the Augusta Masters, and it was Donald Trump himself who hung the medal on him. Since then, the sympathies and friendship between politician and athlete are mutual. From then on they began to play together and even pair up in the occasional charity tournament. Asked about that friendship in 2018, he said: "Well, he's the president of the United States."
The 82-time PGA Tour winner has endured a difficult major season, having finished 60th at the Masters before missing the cut at both the PGA Championship and the US Open.
However, Woods remains adamant that he will play as long as he feels he can win, fending off suggestions from former world No. 2 Colin Montgomerie who has already reiterated that he should retire for good, to which Tiger replied: "Well, as a former champion, I'm exempt until I'm 60. Colin is not. So he doesn't have the power to make that decision. I do," Woods told reporters, referring to the fact that he has earned automatic qualification for the event thanks to his past victories.