Tiger Woods sent retirement message and told Masters proved his plan won’t work

Tiger Woods, the 15-time major champion, has been advised to retire from professional golf following a disappointing performance at the Masters. Woods was participating in only his second tournament of the season in Georgia and initially showed signs of his former prowess during the first two rounds, even making the 36-hole cut last Friday.

This marked a record-breaking 24th cut at Augusta for the American golfer. However, just a day later, Woods set another record, but this time for less favourable reasons. He recorded his worst-ever round at a flagship event, shooting a 10-over-par 82 in the third round. Despite rallying on Sunday, he finished the tournament in 60th place at 16-over-par after a final round five-over 77.

Woods’ recent struggles have been widely reported, particularly after sustaining career-threatening injuries in a car accident in 2021. Since then, he has had to adopt a part-time schedule, participating in only eight tournaments over the past 24 months.

One of these was the 2022 Open Championship at St Andrews, where the three-time Claret Jug winner received a warm farewell at the iconic 18th hole as he exited after the second round. Colin Montgomerie, a former rival of Woods, has suggested that the golfing legend should have retired after his emotional display at the Home of Golf.

And he warned Woods his plan of only playing once a month simply won’t work. Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: “I just wish Tiger had gone after he waved on that Swilken bridge at St Andrews a couple of years ago.

“He’s kept going, he thinks he can do it but it’s quite obvious now physically and mentally, that he can’t. He’s competing once a month and it’s not enough. “You can’t play once a month and hope to contend with these guys now. He finished the tournament 82-77. “It’s not close, obviously and I wish he’d waved goodbye to the golfing word a couple of years ago. He did wave goodbye at the end when he took his hat off.”

Like his finish at the Open two years ago, Woods received a warm reception at the 18th, and responded by waving his cap to the Augusta patrons, something Montgomerie believes may well could have been a final goodbye. “He did have a bigger wave than normal. Could that be it? You never know with Tiger. “He says he’s going to play the PGA next month. We wish him well of course we do. He’s been our sport really for the last 15-20 years and congratulations to him. But there is a time to go.

“There is a right time to go and there is a wrong time and I think he’s delaying it a little bit long now.” Despite Montgomerie’s advice, Woods has committed to continue playing, revealing after Sunday’s round his plans to participate in the remaining three majors of the year.