Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

17 iconic images of Tiger Woods at The Open in St Andrews through the years

Tiger Woods has been a familiar face at Open championships at St Andrews in past times.
Tiger Woods has been a familiar face at Open championships at St Andrews in past times.

Tiger Woods will be hoping to write another chapter in his amazing career by teeing it up at the Home of Golf in July.

Woods returned to competition at The Masters in April having not played competitively since sustaining serious leg injuries in a car crash in February 2021.

The return from the brink was worthy of its own Hollywood script!

Woods has made it clear he is firmly focused on competing at this year’s milestone 150th Open at his “favourite golf course in the world”.

He was triumphant by eight shots in 2000 and by five in 2005 and will be a tough guy to bet against on a course that is entirely suited to his strength.

To celebrate his return to St Andrews, we opened our archives to look back at his previous visits to the Old Course back in 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015.

Join us as we take a trip down memory lane with the greatest golfer of his generation and chart his rise from young gun to multiple major winner!


1995

Tiger Woods on the practice green at St Andrews with Tom Kite.

Woods competed in his first Open at St Andrews in 1995 after three successive US Junior Amateur titles and his graduation to a first US Amateur win.

Our first image shows him on the practice green with Tom Kite and he learned links golf quickly despite often struggling initially when the wind picked up!

Tiger Woods makes the The Open walk at St Andrews with Ernie Els.

He didn’t fare too badly for his maiden appearance!

Woods played alongside Ernie Els and Peter Jacobsen in his opening rounds with Jacobsen describing Els and Woods as “the future of golf” afterwards.

Tiger Woods loved his first experience of The Open at St Andrews.

Woods completed all four rounds on the Old Course and loved it immediately, only really struggling in strong winds on the final day when he shot 78.

He now has 25 years’ varied experience of Opens stowed away, as much as anyone at the elite end of the game, but will never forget where it all started.


2000

Woods with his trademark tiger cover during record-breaking round at the Old Course.

Woods was at his brilliant best during 2000 which was typified by the record-breaking manner in which he secured his first Claret Jug at the Old Course.

Our first image from 2000 shows how relaxed he was during his final practice day as he removes his driver from his famous tiger cover before teeing off!

Tiger Woods enjoys a sandwich on his way to his first Claret Jug.

Woods was the overwhelming favourite to win The Open and went round in 67 on the first day without dropping any strokes.

He managed to grab a sandwich to keep him ticking over!

Tiger Woods chills out in the sunshine at St Andrews.

Woods shot a six-under 66 on day two in the St Andrews sunshine.

Our picture shows him relaxing before teeing off on the fifth and he led his nearest rival David Toms by three strokes by the time he finished his day’s work.

Tiger Woods sealed his record-breaking week with a kiss for the Claret Jug.

Was victory ever in doubt once Woods got his tail in front?

He finished the four days with a record-breaking total of 19 under par and took the Claret Jug ahead of his nearest rivals Thomas Bjorn and Ernie Els.


2005

Tiger Woods chats with Jack Nicklaus during the golf icon’s farewell to The Open.

You won’t get to 18 Tiger!

The legendary Jack Nicklaus is greeted with a smile back from Woods in 2005 which was also the Golden Bear’s farewell to The Open.

Tiger Woods tees off from the sixth during a practice round with St Andrews in the background.
Tiger Woods tees off from the sixth during a practice round with St Andrews in the background.

Woods tees off from the sixth hole during his practice round with St Andrews behind him and found himself no longer the world’s top golfer in the rankings.

He hadn’t won any major in 2003 or 2004.

Tiger Woods brought his best to the Home of Golf in 2005.

Woods managed to bring his A-game to St Andrews when it mattered most although he was up against a tough course and a partisan gallery on the final weekend.

Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie was going for his first major triumph but the home hero’s challenge was fatally wounded by too many dropped shots.

Tiger Woods holding the Claret Jug in St Andrews
Tiger Woods held off home favourite Colin Montgomerie to capture another Claret Jug.

Woods put his foot on the gas and won by five strokes.

He celebrated with the Claret Jug and dedicated victory to his beloved father, Earl, who was seriously ill and died the following year.


2010

Rough start to the tournament in 2010 for Tiger Woods.

Woods struggled during practice at the 2010 Open including finding himself in the rough in our first image from the 15th hole.

He was the tournament favourite but there was a new, fresh-faced, appealing young star on the rise from Northern Ireland by the name of Rory McIlroy!

Tiger Woods at St Andrews
Tiger Woods didn’t enjoy chasing young gun Rory McIlroy in 2010 at St Andrews.

Woods made 67 on the first day but bemoaned that he was struggling with the green speeds and found himself four shots back from McIlroy.

Play was suspended for an hour with balls wavering in the 40mph wind on exposed greens where Woods three-putted four times for a 73 second round.

Tiger Woods salutes the crowd after a disappointing week in 2010.

Woods had 10 three putts through three rounds and although that improved on the final day he still finished tied for 23rd at the end of a disappointing week.

Louis Oosthuizen would eventually win the Claret Jug with McIlroy in third place and 2010 was the year the weather gods took their revenge on Woods!

Kids in St Andrews watching Tiger Woods play golf.
Kids marvel watching the great man play golf.

He was still followed by the biggest galleries all week.

But was his era of domination in golf finally coming to an end?


2015

Tiger Woods in the rough at the 2015 Open in St Andrews.
Bad start for Tiger Woods at The Open in 2015.

Woods’ was no longer the force he once was come 2015 and things went badly!

Our first image shows the anguish on the legend’s face and things didn’t get much better as he missed the cut for the first time at the Old Course.

Tiger Woods missed the cut for the first time at the Old Course in St Andrews.
Tiger Woods missed the cut for the first time at the St Andrews Old Course.

Woods will be back this summer but will it be triumph or tragedy?

Those are two themes which have been to the fore for Woods’ in recent years but would you really bet against him making it a St Andrews 1-2-3 in July?

More like this:

Meet the Carnoustie caddie who carried the bag for Tiger Woods

Conversation