KEN WILLIS: It's Open Week, and all eyes aren't on Tiger this time . . . but plenty are

Plenty of drama in the golf world this coming week as we put pegs to turf for the 150th Open Championship in Scotland.

Given the celebratory nature of that number — 150 — it’s only natural to play this year’s tournament at golf’s Eden, The Old Course at St. Andrews.

There’s always a ramped-up vibe in the run-up to a major championship, but this week’s bluster has been goosed by the arrival of the new Saudi-backed golf tour — LIV Golf — and the presence of its biggest “gets” at St. Andrews.

More on that in the days ahead, for sure, but there’s another bit of drama — some mystery, actually — and unsurprisingly, it involves Tiger Woods.

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Unlike the Masters at Augusta National in April and the PGA in April at Southern Hills, where he withdrew after 54 holes, this week’s British Open should be a relatively easy and short walk, given St. Andrews flat terrain and cramped quarters.

The Scottish weather won’t do any favors for Tiger’s aging and ailing bones, but overall, this should be an easier week physically.

Tiger’s ability to compete and perhaps even put together some magic, especially on a course where his underrated golfing guile is such a plus, is an obvious bit of drama. But the little Tiger sidebar involves that ancient stone crossing golfers use to cross the Swilcan Burn between the first and 18th fairways.

Quite literally, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, but you gotta wonder in advance.

St. Andrews golfers cross the Swilcan Bridge after hitting their tee shots on 18. The modern greats, when knowing they were playing St. Andrews for the final time in competition, have posed there briefly for poignant if not bittersweet photos.

Arnold Palmer stopped. So did Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson and Nick Faldo. Sam Snead, harkening back to his Appalachian youth, smiled broadly and tapped out a little buck-n-wing dance step.

At the earliest, the Open will return to St. Andrews in 2026, but most likely it’ll return in 2027. Either way, what are the chances Tiger will be competing at the next St. Andrews-hosted Open? Therefore, if he’s stuck well below Friday's cut line, or makes the cut and gets to Sunday, would he be tempted to stop and doff his cap to the masses?

That we’re entertaining the possibility says a lot about the up-and-down nature of the past seven months on “Tiger Watch.”

A year ago, we all assumed he’d never sufficiently recover from gruesome leg injuries suffered in the early-2021 car crash. But in December he paired with son Charlie and finished second in the annual PNC father-son event. He drove a cart, but still, that was an up.

At a February press conference, he expressed disappointment at the slow pace of recovery and suggested he wasn’t really close to capable professional golf. That was a down.

Not long thereafter came the next up: Tiger’s plane lands in Augusta. He’s at Augusta National for a look-see and to test his leg a bit.

Another up: He not only plays the Masters, but makes the cut. Then a down: By Sunday, he’s looking worn out.

Up again: He enters the PGA Championship in May and looks so good in practice rounds, he’s getting better odds than over half the field. He makes the cut for another up. Then comes the 54-hole withdrawal: Down.

Down again as he takes a pass on June’s U.S. Open, citing ongoing leg issues and his desire to make sure he’s ready for St. Andrews.

The excitement was tempered but still built a bit this past week when he went to Ireland for a Monday-Tuesday pro-am, kicking off a slow but steady build-up to Open week. But his game was either rusty or plain unavailable. So, some up and down both in that one.

What’s next?

Even knowing what Ben Hogan did on one good leg 70 years ago, it’s hard to imagine a modern golfer competing successfully against modern competition when playing such a sparse schedule.

But once upon a time, it was damn near impossible to imagine a golfer winning a U.S. Open by 15 shots, a Masters by 12, a British Open by eight (at St. Andrews, by the way). Since it’s golf, not rugby, you just don’t count out a guy if he can get around a course and take full swings.

The guess here, this week will tell a lot about Tiger’s future. Remember, in 2009, Tom Watson was one swing from winning a British Open at age 59, a year after Greg Norman got off the recliner and almost won one at age 53.

The British Open rewards experience, patience and adaptation more than any other tournament, almost regardless of each year’s host course.

If Tiger’s competitive, he remains on everyone’s radar until further notice. If he’s not, add it to the list of recent downers.

If he stops to pose on the Swilcan Bridge, he’s telling us something else entirely.

— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Open Championship will have its LIV drama, and Tiger too! | KEN WILLIS