Tiger Woods to miss Open cut but he had a special word for the Portrush fans

He may be suffering the disappointment of missing the cut at The Open, but Tiger Woods was full of praise for the local crowd at Royal Portrush.
Tiger WoodsTiger Woods
Tiger Woods

The 15-time major winner finished his second round with a one-under par 70, but it was not enough to prevent his exit after 36-holes.

Despite his frustrations Woods took time to praise the fans on the north coast.

"They were incredible," he said. "They were so nice and so respectful.

"The kids were respectful. But that's not always the case when we travel around the world. We hear some rude comments from the kids.

"I think the adults kind of teach them that. But here they were so respectful.

"We couldn't have played in front of a better fan base than here at Portrush."

The Masters aside the 40-year-old has had a difficult time at the majors this year.

"It's more frustrating than anything else because this is a major championship and I love playing in these events," he said.

"I love the atmosphere. I love just the stress of playing in a major.

"And unfortunately, I've only had a chance to win one of them and was able to do it. But the other three I didn't do very well.

"I kind of grinded my way around the golf course today. I had a chance to get it back to even par for the tournament. I didn't handle the par-fives well.

"I was in perfect condition all three of them, if I handled those par-fives well I would be right there."

Woods though does not feel he needs to change too much to be back in contention again.

"I just have to continue doing what I'm doing," he said.

"I've gotten so much stronger over the past year working with my physios and trying to get my body organised so that I can play at a high level.

"It panned out; I won a major chip this year.

"It's just a matter of being consistent. That's one of the hardest things to accept as an older athlete is that you're not going to be as consistent as you were at 23.

"Things are different. And I'm going to have my hot weeks. I'm going to be there in contention with a chance to win, and I will win tournaments.

"But there are times when I'm just not going to be there. And that wasn't the case 20-someodd years ago.

"I had a different body and I was able to be a little bit more consistent."