Tiger Woods was in the surprising position of being denied entry into The Open Championship by a security guard who was seemingly unaware of who the golf great was
Tiger Woods won’t be competing at The Open this week(Image: TGL via Getty Images)
Tiger Woods had the ultimate response in store for one unfortunate security guard who denied the golf icon entry to The Open Championship during the peak of his fame.
The American harbours enjoyable memories of the major, having won it three times in his illustrious career with his latest win of the Claret Jug coming in 2006. Woods, 49, won’t be competing at The Open this week at Portrush as he continues recovering from the Achilles rupture he suffered in March earlier this year.
It’s been an injury-hit few years for the 15-time major champion who’s had to contend with multiple surgeries on his back and lower limbs which has left forced to compete on the PGA Tour on a part-time schedule.
His last appearance at a sanctioned Tour event came at The Open last year and despite the fanfare of his participation, Woods missed the cut in what was his third straight cut at a major last year.
Despite his recent struggles at the final major of the season, he remains one of the most successful golfers at the tournament. However, even his excellence on the course didn’t stop him from an awkward interaction with a security guard at Royal Troon.
It was days before The Open began last year when PGA golfer Michael Kim recalled an incident involving Woods during the height of his fame that occurred in Scotland.
Tiger Woods last won The Open in 2006(Image: JOHN D MCHUGH/AFP via Getty Images)
“At the Open Championship, players get a clip as credentials to get you into the locker room and everywhere else,” Kim explained on X.
“Mid 2000s, Tiger forgot his clip one day, and he was walking into the locker room when the security person stopped him asking for his credentials.
“Tiger looks around, sees a massive billboard with his name and face on it, points to it, says, ‘That’s my credentials,’ and walked into the locker room.”
After missing the cut last year, Woods admitted his performance wasn’t up to par as he said: “It wasn’t very good. I made a double there at two and I was just fighting it all day. I never really hit it close enough to hit birdies and I made a lot of bogeys.
The 49-year-old hasn’t competed in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event since The Open in 2024(Image: Tony Ding/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“I would have liked to have played more but I just wanted to make sure I was able to play the major championships. I’ve got a lot of time off to get better physically, which has been the case all year.
“I’ve gotten better even though my results haven’t shown it, but physically I’ve gotten better, which is great.
“I need to keep progressing like that and eventually start playing more competitively and start getting into the competitive flow again.”
