While it was not his last Open Championship appearance, it was no surprise that Tiger Woods got emotional as he walked up the 18th fairway on Friday at St Andrews in 2022, with the 15-time major champion heading for a missed cut.
Writing Tiger Woods off is obviously incredibly dangerous. He had absolutely no right to win the 2019 Masters given what his body had already dealt with. And yet, he was able to get across the line once again at Augusta National.
But in many ways, that win showed that fans need to appreciate Woods while he is still playing. And unfortunately, the injuries have continued to plague the 49-year-old.
With that, it appeared that everyone surrounding the most famous 18th fairway in golf three years ago was aware that they may be watching Woods playing his final shots in The Open Championship at the Old Course.
What Tiger Woods dreams of still doing at St Andrews
It remains to be seen if that is the case. But one of the reasons the moment was so poignant was the fact that Woods has named St Andrews as his favourite course.
He won The Open on the iconic course on two occasions, with his performance in 2000 arguably one of the most impressive displays of all-time.
You would think therefore, that Woods would have the opportunity to do almost anything he would like in the town. However, it seems that there may be one dream Woods is yet to realise.
In a video posted by CBS Sports, Woods responded to being asked to name his favourite course by suggesting that he would love to have the opportunity to play St Andrews in reverse.
“Favourite course that I’ve been on is St Andrews, that’s my favourite course of all-time. The neat thing about it that people don’t realise, the golf course was designed to be played backwards. There’s seven double greens, so you can play it from one to 17, two to 16, three to 15. They do that one time a year and I’ve never got a chance to do that, so that’s one of my goals,” he said.
A brief history of the Old Course at St Andrews being played in reverse
St Andrews is the yardstick in so many ways, with the Old Course the reason that most golf courses are 18 holes. And yet, it is also so unique.
For many years, they would rotate which direction the course was played in each week. Over time, the amount of time golfers had to play the course in reverse was reduced.
Nowadays, it seems that St Andrews will set a short space of time aside each year to allow golfers to play the course in reverse, with that period in 2025 coming at the start of April.
It would appear that Woods is still awaiting the chance to play the course in reverse. But he will surely put that right at some stage in the near future.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
