Tiger Woods will be going home early for the third straight major in 2024. At The Open at Royal Troon, he posted an ugly  79-71 for a 14-over total that was miles off the cut line. Following Colin Montgomerie’s comments that he should retire, or at least give up on looking like this, Brendan Porath ponders the best balance for the way forward in the Fried Egg newsletter.

1. No one can tell Tiger Woods to retire. They don’t have that right, and even if they did, it would be misguided advice. Woods has earned his way into these majors, as he pointed out earlier this week. Sure, there is probably a golfer out there who could have been more competitive than him or Todd Hamilton for 48 hours this week. But they didn’t earn it. There are rules, and building a field would be impossible without them, sliding instead into some incoherent mix of guessing game and popularity contest.

2. It would also be misguided because there is still tremendous value in seeing the greatest of all time play, present and in the flesh, plying his trade even in a diminished state. These majors get him on the public stage, talking to the media, adding context to our collective understanding of history and giving us his assessment of the present. There will be a day when kids and adults alike won’t get to chase him around from outside the ropes. When that day comes, we’ll surely pine for more of these major starts, any of them, even the ugly ones.

3. There is a separate debate though, of how we cover and present Tiger at these majors. He’s not ceremonial, but he’s not relevant as a competitor. This was his highest 36-hole score since he was a high schooler at Bay Hill. This happens, and he can play it out from here however he wants. But I chatted with someone in TV on Friday who had some analysis on how his round was being covered, shot-by-shot on the main feed as if he had a chance. Should that be reserved for a featured groups stream with Tiger still prevalent on the main show? Each missed putt, imprecise iron, or wild drive becomes a slog. It is painful to watch, especially so if you’re a fan, I’d imagine. Most importantly, for a broadcast telling the story of a championship, he is not material to the actual competition right now. Going forward, there should probably be a new balance and framing. Tiger is of course still the top draw for eyeballs and clicks, and there are business realities to keeping him front and center. But I think we’re at the point of changing how we address that real interest by adjusting how he’s covered, promoted, and presented on TV. It’s probably easier for some to offer shouts suggesting he should hang it up than it is to find that balance, but here we are.

This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. For more coverage of the Open Championship, visit our Open hub.