The weather at Royal Portrush looks challenging for this year’s Open Championship.

Heavy rain, thunderstorms, low temperatures, and gusty winds are expected throughout the week. For many, a nightmare. For Tiger Woods, just another hurdle to overcome.

Before the tournament kicks off on July 17, the three-time Open champion made it clear he’s not interested in complaints. In a recent post from his brand Sun Day Red, he dropped four words that are already making headlines: “Just deal with it.” Short, direct, and excuse-free.

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Woods acknowledged it’s going to be tough: “It’s going to be cold. It’s going to be windy, yes,” he said, but also emphasized that this is part of the game. “There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s an outdoor sport. You just keep going and adjust.”

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That mindset is shared by Xander Schauffele, the reigning Open champion. The American noted that on links courses, it all starts with mentality: “You’ve got to visualize more than just hitting the ball. The weather is part of the challenge.”

Weather will be a key factor at Royal Portrush

Thursday is expected to be the toughest day, with thunderstorms in the forecast. Rain chances decrease on Friday, but the weekend brings fresh uncertainty. Players with early tee times on Thursday and late starts on Friday may gain a slight edge.

Given these conditions, players will adapt their strategies. Expect more low punches, bump-and-run techniques to keep the ball close to the ground, and putts from off the green-all efforts to prevent the wind from dictating the tournament’s outcome.

Robert MacIntyre ready for the chaos

One player unfazed by the bad weather is Robert MacIntyre. The Scotsman grew up playing on links courses and feels right at home at Royal Portrush. “This is my favorite course in the world,” he said. He’s no stranger to the venue: back in 2019, he made his major debut here and finished in the top 10.

MacIntyre knows how to read the greens, adjust to the wind, and stay composed when everything around him shifts. “If the wind is howling, you’ve got to adjust your stance, your tempo, everything. But it’s in my blood now,” he said with confidence.

The 2025 Open will be a true test

One thing’s for sure: this edition of The Open Championship will be as much a mental battle as a technical one. Royal Portrush will demand not only shot-making precision but also patience and resilience. The weather will be a true opponent on the course.

But if Tiger Woods has shown anything throughout his career, it’s that he knows how to win under any circumstances. And if his message was clear, it’s because he truly believes it: “Just deal with it.” Because complaining doesn’t win majors. Adapting does.

Tiger Woods is one of the greatest golfers in history. During his career, he has won 82 times on the PGA Tour, collecting 15 majors.

This includes five Masters, four PGA Championships, three US Opens and three Open Championships. His injury issues and personal problems looked like ending his career in the mid-2010’s, but Woods came back and completed one of the greatest comebacks in sport, winning his fifth Masters title in 2019 at the age of 43.

Woods announced himself to the world of professional golf in 1997, winning the Masters by a record-breaking 12 strokes at the age of 21. From 1999 to 2010, he was a dominant force in the sport, winning 13 major championships during this time. Woods’ 82 PGA Tour wins have only been matched by Sam Snead. If he can somehow return to action and win another event, he will top the all-time list for wins on the PGA Tour. Time is running out for the ‘Big Cat’, but he will be determined to defy the odds once again.

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The American revolutionsed the game, combining his long-game prowess with extreme mental fortitude and clutch putting in key moments. In an interview with GolfTV in May 2020, Woods was asked who the best player he competed against during his career was. The 15-time Grand Slam champion replied with two household names, who both had huge impacts on the sport.

Woods has had many rivalries during his time as a professional. David Duval was one of the best players on the PGA Tour in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The American won 13 times on the tour between 1997 and 2001, including the Open Championship in 2001, which saw him win by three shots at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club.

The 49-year-old is also one of six male players who have achieved the Career Grand Slam. Rory McIlroy is the only member of the Career Grand Slam club that Woods has competed regularly against. The pair played with each other in the final round of the 2018 Tour Championship, with Woods finishing ahead of the Northern Irishman to win his first tournament in five years. Despite facing off against the likes of McIlroy, Woods admitted that there were two other stars who caused him the biggest trouble.

Recently, Tiger Woods has been making more frequent public appearances, mostly to support his son Charlie’s rising junior golf career.

But while the 15-time major winner looked relatively recovered from his latest Achilles surgery, another rumor has resurfaced over the internet. This time, it is about his hair.

Last week, Dr. Gary Linkov, a certified hair and skin surgeon with over one million YouTube subscribers, disclosed that Woods may have undergone two failed hair transplant surgeries.

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He predicted one to be around 2012, while another in 2017, totaling roughly 3,000 grafts to the frontal and mid-scalp.

To do this, Linkov used over 60 photos of Woods from the past three decades and traced the hair loss timeline. Per his observations, in 1994, Tiger had a full head of curly hair, but by the time the Big Cat won his first Masters (1997), there was “some frontotemporal recession.”

Frontotemporal recession is when there is hair loss or thinning at the front and top sides of the head. Usually, it is above the temples.

“It’s very mild, but it’s clearly there compared to just a few years before,” Linkov stated. Following years, there was still thinning of the hairline, but the major difference was spotted in 2006, the year Woods lost his father, Earl Woods.

The 40-year-old surgeon pointed towards Woods’ picture from his video game launch in 2006 and described it as “progressive frontal scalp thinning.”

Tiger Woods Undergoes First Transplant

Then came 2012, the year of his first suspected transplant.

“Tiger’s hairline is looking a bit stronger,” Linkov said in his video, adding he saw signs of FUT (Follicular Unit Transplant) scarring on the occipital scalp.

FUT scarring, in simple words, means the mark left on the back of the head after a hair transplant surgery.

The second surgery, according to Linkov, likely occurred in 2017, the same year Woods underwent spinal fusion surgery.

“The primary population of hair in the frontal area is actually the transplanted grafts,” Linkov explained. But the results didn’t hold.

According to the American doctor, by 2023, Woods’ crown thinning had worsened, and Tiger likely didn’t pursue much medical therapy after hair transplant (finasteride or minoxidil), which could have helped preserve density.

Reports confirm that 25% of men experience hair loss by age 21, and by age 50, that number jumps to 70%.

Woods, now 49, fits squarely into that curve. And if you skim through his photos from the 1990s to now, the transformation is pretty undeniable.

As of now, the 3-time Open Championship winner is unlikely to return to competitive golf until 2026, as stated by his doctor, Dr. Charlton.

Colin Montgomerie was the European Tour’s answer to Tiger Woods even before Mr. T turned pro.

The Scottish legend dominated the continent and won 31 titles along the way. His incredible record in Europe made everyone think he would destroy the American League. To everyone’s surprise, in the 142 appearances he made, Montgomerie won 0 titles. That doesn’t mean he didn’t come close.

The Scottish legend had 6 runner-ups to his name, 5 of which were in majors. Yet he failed to win any of them. Like any other champion golfer, he was frustrated with Woods. And when the latter was not performing well, Montgomerie didn’t shy throwing shade at him. However, he seems to have had a change of tune since then.

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Just a few hours ago, he sat down with the crew of Cookie Jar Golf, discussing the impact of Woods during his prime. Commending his incredible dedication and fitness to keep competing, Montgomerie said, “Tiger changed the way golfers thought about themselves as athletes. You can never say that (Jack) Nicholas or (Arnold) Palmer were the best athletes in the world, but you could with Tiger Woods.” Woods was famously known for pushing his physical limits to reach the next level of golf. His fitness routines were so harsh that Michelle Wie West paid the price for them with injuries and early retirement by following them. The 82-time PGA Tour champion has struggled with injuries of his own that forced him off the course.

“They are fitter, stronger, bigger. The athletes, the Brooks Koepkas, the Bryson DeChambeaus, real athletes that can do a lot more than just play golf. Tiger changed that. He changed the way we had to think about what we did,” Montgomerie said, further amplifying the impact of Woods on the current generation of golfers. Nearly all the active players he mentioned idolize Tiger and have grown up watching him write golf history. Some of the fittest players on the course today, like DeChambeau, Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, and Ludvig Aberg, were inspired by Woods, and they have openly confessed that. However, each of them has found their own path of fitness to compete at the same level as the 15-time major winner.

It was not just fitness that Tiger Woods made popular. As Colin expressed, “Youngsters were wearing the Nike hats, the whole Nike thing blew from there as well. Golf became cool. People were playing golf all over the world, wanting to be the next Tiger Woods. And it was great for golf. It has sustained, to be honest. We’re talking ’97, we’re talking 30 years ago now, almost, and it has sustained to this day.” As the Scottish legend admitted, Woods made golf cool. So much so that his impact has lasted long after his prime. In fact, Woods still moves the needle enough to be one of the most impactful individuals in golf.

From wanting him to retire due to bad form to confessing that he made the sport what it is today, Montgomerie has certainly come a long way. Well, the 62-year-old may have a moment of clarity after the harsh comments he made about his rival not so long ago. But it may also be because of the furious reaction Tiger Woods had to Colin Montgomerie’s jab last year. Let’s see how Mr. T reacted.

Tiger Woods left fuming with Colin Montgomerie’s comments

Colin Montgomerie saw the opportunity to bash Tiger Woods about his bad form after the latter missed the cuts in the PGA Championship and U.S. Open in 2024. He suggested that the 15-time major winner should consider retiring from golf, a statement he later retracted from saying that it was taken out of context. Nevertheless, the damage had already been done, and Woods was furious about it.

In the press conference for the 2024 Open Championship, he said, “I’ll play as long as I can play, and I feel like I can still win the event. As a past champion, I’m exempt until I’m 60. Colin’s 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. When I get to his age, I get to still make that decision, whereas he doesn’t.” Montgomerie’s comment clearly triggered Woods. However, his response made it clear that he was not looking to retire anytime soon. Hopefully, this still stands true past 2025 as Tiger Woods turns 50 on December 30 and is eligible for the Champions Tour.