Tiger Woods Says it's Not Time for Retirement Talk

Tiger Woods’ 2015 performances have led people to believe it may be time for him put the clubs away. Woods’ season has been up and down since his withdrawal from the Farmers Insurance Open in February: a tie for 17th at The Masters, a tie for 69th at The Players Championship, a 71st place finish at the Memorial Tournament, a missed cut at the U.S. Open, and a tie for 32nd at seven-under at the Greenbrier Classic, but Woods says it’s not time for retirement yet.

On Tuesday, the three-time Open Championship winner talked to reporters.

"“I don’t have my AARP card yet. I feel like my body is finally healed up from the surgery from last year. It would have been one thing if I would have gone through the procedure and then had the same golf swing, but I’ve changed the golf swing, too, on top of that, and so that was kind of a double dipper there where I had to fight both at the same time.”"

Woods was the last player on the course on Monday, proving that he is still dedicated to improving.

His last performance at the Greenbrier Classic was the best of his 2015 season. Woods showed improvement off the tee, where he has struggled all season, and his irons and putting were both solid.

"“I feel good. Sunday at Greenbrier is probably the best I hit it in two years. That was fun. It sounds crazy when I told everyone at Greenbrier that I felt close, after the scores I shot at the Memorial and the U.S. Open. I just didn’t quite have the feel yet. I shifted the baseline so much I just didn’t quite have the feel yet. “I put it together at Greenbrier and hit it really good. Chris [Como] told me it was the first time I led the field in proximity to the hole with my iron game. That was fun. Sunday, I missed one fairway, the 17th hole, which I have never hit in six tries. So that wasn’t really surprising.”"

We’ll see whether he can continue to improve this week on a course that is playing softer than it usually does, but it’s fair to remain skeptical considering his recent record.

"“I feel like everything’s coming around. I still need to get a feel for how this golf course is chasing. I wasn’t expecting it to be this soft. The shot selections I was working on last week and some of the trajectories I was envisioning on certain holes and certain winds and the ball chasing and what I need to do to make it move on the ground. It’s going to be different. It’s going to be more forced carries than I was expecting coming into the event.”"

A win for Woods this week would be huge for him, not only because it would be his 15th major, but because he would jump from 241st in the world golf rankings to 30th.

[ESPN]