The Open 2024: Tiger Woods leaves Royal Troon with only low-key sympathy

There was a question hanging in the air and not a lot of time to get to it. Or questions, to be more precise.

Why is he doing this to himself? What enjoyment is he deriving from it? How could the greatest golfer most of us have ever seen – and are ever likely to see – take any solace from being a bit-part player on the stage he owned for so long?

His body is in need of constant care, so there’s little prospect of him ever playing enough golf to sharpen his game in lesser tournaments to prepare for the majors.

He’s trapped in a cycle of mediocrity at best and it’s become difficult to watch.

“I’ve gotten better, even though my results really haven’t shown it,” he said, with the kind of defiance – you might argue, delusion – that he displayed when saying on Tuesday he felt he could compete here this week.

“I just need to keep progressing like that and then eventually start playing more competitively and start getting into kind of the competitive flow again.

“I’m going to just keep getting physically better and keep working on it.”

Had another missed cut – by a country mile – not proven a sobering experience? “No, I loved it,” he replied.

Woods never lets his guard down but there was a barrier made of reinforced steel in front of him at that point.

Out there, getting blown off course, and hitting shots that his imperious, fitter self would never have hit, he did not look like a man who was loving anything bar the thought of the journey home.

“I’ve always loved playing major championships. I just wish I was more physically sharp coming into the majors,” he said.

“Obviously it tests you mentally, physically, emotionally, and I just wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be. I was hoping that I would find it somehow, just never did.”

Will he be at Portrush next year? That was the Hail Mary question, the one dispatched in hope of a: ‘No, I think I’m done, this is my last Open.’

Only in his comments and the way he straight bats questions is Tiger performing at his old, stratospheric level.

“Yeah, definitely.”

Will he be back playing competitively in Scotland again? The chat is that The Open might well return to these shores in 2027 at Muirfield.

“Yeah, I’ve won two Open Championships here in Scotland, so I’ve always enjoyed playing up here and enjoyed the different types of links that Scotland brings.”