Tiger Woods has revealed playing at The 150th Open Championship at St Andrews has been his focus ever since he discovered he would be able to play golf again following a serious car accident.
The 15-time Major Champion has previously disclosed how he almost lost a leg in the February 2021 crash but has since returned to play at this season's Masters Tournament and US PGA Championship.
He was forced to withdraw from the US PGA and did not tee it up in the U.S. Open Championship but after first playing at the Home of Golf as an amateur in 1995 and completing the career Grand Slam here in 2000, Woods was intent on making it to St Andrews in 2022.
"Once I realised that I could possibly play at a high level, my focus was to get back here at St Andrews to play in this championship... being the most historic one we've ever had," he said. "I just didn't want to miss this Open here at the Home of Golf.
"This has meant so much to me. This is where I completed the career Grand Slam. At the time I had the record in scoring in all four Major Championships. So it meant a lot to me. This venue has meant a lot.
"I remember coming around here, my very first practice round, I couldn't believe how stupidly hard this place is because I played every hole into the wind. I happened to have the tide change and I played every hole into the wind.
"Where do you drive some of these par-fours? This is not what people say it is. All of a sudden it changes and I see, no, these bunkers are now in play.
"It's amazing the ingenuity that they had then that this golf course has stood the test of time to the best players. And as long as we've gotten collectively as a field, this golf course is still a challenge."
At 46 and admitting that he will never be able to play a full schedule again, Woods has accepted that this may be his final Open at St Andrews.
But he is grateful that the nature of links golf means, even with age and injury, he can still compete this week.
"My body certainly can get better but, realistically, not a whole lot," he said. "It's been through a lot and at 46 you don't quite heal as well as you do at 26.
"So it is what it is. We're just lucky enough in our sport to be able to play as long as we are able to play late into the 40s, especially on links golf courses like this, you can continue into your 50s. We saw Tom (Watson) have it on his putter to win late in his 50s.
"So it can be done. It just takes a lot of knowledge and understanding of how to play this type of golf. And with the fairways being fast and firm, it allows players who are older to run the ball out there and have a chance."
