Tiger Woods' brutal response to Colin Montgomerie after Scot suggests 15-time major winner should RETIRE ahead of The Open

Tiger Woods delivered a savage put-down to Colin Montgomerie after the Scot told him it was time to retire.

Montgomerie, who reached world No 2 but never won a major, bemoaned Woods' insistence on playing on beyond his 48th birthday.

Woods, a three-time winner of The Open Championship, is among the field at Royal Troon this week. He missed the cut at last month's US Open and admitted afterwards that it 'may or may not be' his final appearance.

'At Pinehurst, he did not seem to enjoy a single shot and you think: "What the hell is he doing?" He’s coming to Troon and he won’t enjoy it there, either,' Montgomerie told The Times.

'I hope people remember Tiger as Tiger was, the passion and the charismatic aura around him,' the 61-year-old added. 'There is none of that now.' 

But Woods hit back with a brutal reminder of Montgomerie's failure to ever lift the Claret Jug. 

When asked about the Scot's comments, he said: 'As a past champion I’m exempt until I’m 60. Colin is not.

'He's not a past champion so he's not exempt. So he doesn't get the opportunity to make that decision. I do.

'So when I get to his age, I get to to make that decision, when he doesn't.'

Montgomerie finished second at five major championships without winning a single one, including at the 2005 Open when Woods beat him by five shots.  

The American has long maintained that he will retire when he no longer feels he can compete with the best players. 

'Aren’t we there? I’d have thought we were past there,' Montgomerie added about the American, who has completed four rounds in only one major since 2022. 

'There is a time for all sportsmen to say goodbye, but it’s very difficult to tell Tiger it’s time to go. Obviously, he still feels he can win. We are more realistic.'

On the current generation, Montgomerie continued: 'These guys only know Tiger Woods missing the cut and he’s better than that, the best we’ve ever seen.'

Montgomerie won 31 times on the DP World Tour and finished second at the 1995 PGA Championship and at the US Open in 1994, 1997 and 2006. 

His best result at The Masters came in 1998, when he finished in a tie for eighth.