Tiger Woods looked a little tired on his arrival at the Scottish tournament last week and now we know the reason, thanks to the explanation he gave to the British media: the news of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania.
The 48-year-old golfer left Florida and did not perform at the desired level at Royal Troon, having stayed up all night without sleep, following how events unfolded in his country around the former-President and, again, candidate for the White House.
“It didn’t go well for me because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind,” Woods told BBC Sport on Tuesday, July 30. “It was a long night (because of the assassination attempt) and that’s all we saw all the time on the way here.
“I didn’t sleep at all on the flight, and we went straight from the airport to the golf course.”
The 15-time tournament champion was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019, shortly after his comeback victory at the Augusta Masters, and it was Donald Trump himself who pinned the medal on him.
Since then, the sympathies and friendship between politician and sportsman is mutual. From then on, they began to play together and even played together in some charity tournaments. Asked about that friendship relationship in 2018 he said, “Well, he’s the president of the United States.”
“It doesn’t matter who’s in office,” Woods added, according to Yahoo Sports. “You may like, dislike the personality or the politics, but we all have to respect whoever is in office.”
The 82-time PGA Tour winner has endured a difficult major season, having finished at No. 60 at The Masters before missing the cut at both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open
However, Woods remains adamant showing a single-minded determination and thinking that he will play as long as he feels he can win, fending off suggestions from former world No. 2 Colin Montgomerie who has already reiterated that he should retire for good.
“Well, as a former champion,” Woods responded, pointing to his automatic qualification. “I’m exempt until I’m 60. Colin is not. So, he doesn’t have the power to make that decision. I do.
