Tiger Woods has revealed he feels jaded before Thursday’s first round of The Open Championship because he missed out on a night’s sleep on his private jet to Royal Troon as he watched the fallout of the attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump.
Trump, 78, was millimetres away from death after a bullet grazed his ear during a rally in Pennsylvania on the weekend.
Woods, who was on a flight from his Florida home at the time the news broke, was absorbed in the coverage of the incident.
“I didn’t accomplish a lot because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind,” Woods said. “It was a long night [because of the assassination attempt] and that’s all we watched the entire time on the way over here. I didn’t sleep at all on the flight, and then we just got on the golf course.”
Trump was wounded after multiple shots were fired from a sniper, later identified as Thomas Crooks. One other person was killed and two more injured before the 20-year-old Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service agents.
Woods has not engaged in political debate throughout his career but revealed in 2018 that he had known President Trump for numerous years before he took office. Woods has helped design courses for a Trump property in Dubai.
‘We’ve played golf together’
“I’ve known Donald for a number of years,” Woods told the New York Times. “We’ve played golf together. We’ve had dinner together. I’ve known him pre-presidency and obviously during his presidency.”
Trump presented Woods with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019. He has also played rounds with another former president Barack Obama, whom Woods regarded as “incredible” for becoming the first African-American president in 2008.
This year will mark the first time since 2019 that Woods has competed in all four majors. He set the record for making his 24th consecutive cut at Augusta earlier this year before missing the cut at the US PGA Championship and the US Open.
Due to a catalogue of injuries – including the car crash three years ago that almost cost the 48-year-old his right leg – Woods takes hours to prepare for each round and so the draw has left him at a huge disadvantage.
It will be 8pm before he finishes his first round on Thursday and his Friday tee-time is 9.25am. His energy levels will be crucial to his hopes.
