Tiger Woods says he arrived at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland for The Open Championship this week without the proper preparation after the attempted assassination against former President Trump caused him to lose sleep on his flight over.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Woods said he was not “in the right frame of mind” on his flight from Florida to Scotland following the assassination attempt on Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
“I didn’t accomplish a lot because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind,” Woods told the outlet.
“It was a long night [because of the assassination attempt] and that’s all we watched the entire time on the way over here.
“I didn’t sleep at all on the flight, and then we just got on the golf course.”
One person was killed, and two others were injured when Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was later identified as the shooter, opened fire less than 10 minutes after Trump began speaking. The former president was shot in the ear, and the shooter was then shot dead.
A practice round on Sunday with little to no rest came amid immense pressure for Woods.
Over the weekend, Hall of Fame golf pro Colin Montgomerie made a strong call for Woods to call it a career, but the PGA Tour legend fired back on Tuesday.
“As a past champion, I’m exempt until I’m 60. Colin’s not – he’s not a past champion, so he’s not exempt. So he doesn’t get that opportunity to make that decision. I do.”
Woods is a 15-time major winner, including three wins at the British Open, where his last win came in 2006. However, his recent performances over the last two years have raised concerns about his future in the sport.
This year marks the first time since 2019 that Woods will have competed in all four majors. While he set a Masters record by making his 24th consecutive cut at Augusta National, he was then gone by the weekend at the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open.
