CARNOUSTIE, Scotland — Tiger Woods was in the rough alongside the 11th fairway, the outcome of his first poor shot in Sunday’s final round at the 2018 British Open. Improbably, he was atop the leader board. The tournament was his to lose.
Woods was sizing up his next shot, which would require a risky and mighty swing out of thick rough to a green 184 yards away. It was the kind of shot that a decade ago Woods would execute with an assassin’s aplomb. There would have been a confident, violent slash in the high grass and a near-perfect result that would crush the hopes of every other golfer in the field.