Tiger Woods Shares How The Donald Trump Assassination Attempt Interfered With His Open Championship Prep
Tiger Woods was 30,000 feet in the air en route to Scotland for The Open when former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Like most Americans, Woods found himself glued to the coverage and watched things unfold throughout his lengthy flight from Florida, which certainly wasn't a part of his game plan heading into golf's final major championship of the year.
Woods arrived in Scotland on an overnight flight, which was strategically planned as he hoped to get some sleep while in the air to avoid jet lag, but any chance at rest flew out the window after news of Trump's assassination attempt made its way to Woods.
Just a few hours after landing, Woods was on the first tee at Royal Troon to begin preparation for this week's Open Championship. While he reportedly looked the part during his first loop around the historic track, Woods admitted to the BBC that his mind was elsewhere.
"I didn’t accomplish a lot because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind," Woods explained. "It was a long night, and that’s all we watched the entire time on the way over here. I didn’t sleep at all on the flight, and then we just got on the golf course."
![Tiger Woods Explains Why He Turned Down U.S. Ryder Cup Captaincy In 2025](http://images.outkick.com/static.outkick.com/www.outkick.com/content/uploads/2024/07/668/376/GettyImages-2162226109.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Tiger Woods admitted that the assassination attempt of Donald Trump derailed his Open Championship prep. (Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images)
A lack of sleep and thoughts being far away from work is something that plenty of Americans can relate to this week after the scene that unfolded over this past weekend involving the former President.
While Woods may have been a bit groggy shortly after arriving to Troon, he was upbeat during his formal press conference and even managed to call out Scottish golf legend Collin Montgomerie after he called on the 15-time major winner to retire yet again.
This week's Open will mark Woods' fifth start of 2024. His lone made cut this season came at the Masters back in April where he finished 60th.