Tiger Woods Won't Play the British Open Next Month at Royal Liverpool
While it appeared unlikely due to his April surgery that he would be able to play, Tiger Woods will not be in the British Open field next month at Royal Liverpool.
The three-time Open champion who won one of his Claret Jugs at the Hoylake, England, course is no longer in the field, according to an R&A spokesman.
"We have been advised that he won’t be playing at Hoylake," said the spokesman via email. "We wish Tiger all the best with his recovery."
Woods, the 15-time major champion who won the U.S. Open three times, has missed each of the majors since he made the cut at the Masters and then withdrew during the third round.
In April, he had a subtalar fusion on his right ankle and foot to address arthritis that stemmed from a previous talus fracture, according to information supplied at the time via Woods’s Twitter account.
Various experts reported that recovery from such a procedure takes three months, which is the middle of July and would have made getting ready for the Open difficult. The procedure was done specifically for pain relief, and while it has been suggested Woods will sacrifice some mobility, he will also have more stability.
Woods suffered numerous injuries to his right leg, ankle and foot in a February 2021 car crash near Los Angeles. He came back to play the Masters, PGA Championship and the Open last year, making the cut at the first two events but played just a total of nine official rounds.
He played in February at the Genesis Invitational, where he made the cut again, and then made the cut at the Masters for a record-tying 23rd consecutive time.
But Woods was noticeably limping, especially in the third round, most of which was played in cold and rainy conditions. The round was suspended after he had completed just seven holes and he withdrew prior to the resumption of the third round on the Sunday morning. The surgery was performed a little more than a week later.
Woods had a dramatic victory at the 2006 Open played at Hoylake, winning a major championship for the first time since his father, Earl, passed away earlier that year. He famously played the entire tournament hitting just a single driver on a sun-baked dry course.
In 2014, Woods returned to Hoylake for his first major after March back surgery and finished 69th. Rory McIlroy won in what was the last Open played at the venue.