Will Tiger’s Missed Opportunity Inspire Him?

All eyes were on Tiger Woods at The Open at Carnoustie as the American put himself inline to win his first major since 2008 after being five-under-par at 66 on Saturday, which is his lowest round at a major tournament in the last 7 years. However, the former world number one couldn’t convert his one-shot lead into his 15^th major victory and now the question is will he see this as a setback or something to build on?

Woods, 42, had spent a lot of time away from the sport where he is deemed one of the greatest of all times due to personal problems and injury before making his comeback sooner than expected. Without a major for a decade, Woods has looked in good shape since making his return and his swing has looked great; but he’s yet to find that finishing touch to his game and that’s ultimately what cost him at Carnoustie.

Woods got himself ahead of the pack on the final day following a couple of birdies and dropped shots from both Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele who had led overnight, and this sent excitement levels through the roof, both at the course and around the sporting world, with the American on course to announce himself on the world stage once again. But things went pear shaped on the 11^th and Woods therefore slipped out of contention.

It was however Woods’ lowest 72-hole total at a major since the Open in 2012 and while the double bogey on the 11^th cost him, he still managed to finish 5 under and that has got to be seen as a positive going forward and yet another stepping stone on the route to success. He may be without a major victory, but he is moving in the right direction and proved himself capable of mixing it with the best in the world at Carnousite.

It certainly seems that Woods is seeing his latest performance as something to build on as he said, “I know it’s going to sting for a little bit here – but given where I was to where I am now, I feel blessed.” He went on to say, “It felt great to be a part of the mix and build my way into the championship. It was a blast.” This shows that even though he came close to winning a major to end his drought, he’s still determined to carry on in his search for glory. In fact, similar sentiment has been seen from many in the game and even sports writers as well as commentators seeing the positives from his performance; with many on sports sites such as Betting.com seeing feedback that fans do expect Woods to carry on improving.

It’s all about the journey for Woods and appreciating how far he’s come since his serious back injury which threatened to end his career. Speaking about the progress made since his return he said, “I was saying earlier that I need to try and keep it in perspective because, at the beginning of the year, if they'd have said you're playing The Open Championship I would have said I'd be very lucky to do that." So, it’s onto the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

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