Tiger Woods has played the Open Championship 23 times in his career. Of this, he played at Royal Birkdale only once, when it hosted the event in 1998. But besides that, he has played at many other venues, including St Andrews, Royal Troon, Carnoustie, Royal Lytham & St Annes, Royal Liverpool, and others — clinching three wins. However, despite playing the course just once, the 82-time PGA Tour winner declared it one of the hardest Open Championship venues.

“Watching it on TV and actually playing it [Royal Birkdale] back in ’98, it is one of the hardest Open Championship venues there is. It’s long, it’s hard, just demanding, and you just don’t get away with anything at Birkdale. That’s what’s amazing about it. It’s a hard golf course. Where everything’s in front of you, nothing is really hidden, nothing is over a mound or anything like that. Everything’s right in front of you. It’s like, here, here it is. Come beat me,” Tiger Woods said in an Instagram post uploaded by Sun Day Red.

Back then, the veteran golfer carded rounds of 65-73-77-66 to finish a solo third. It came during the peak of his career. So, if someone has 15 majors on his resume, including three Open Championships, and says it was hard to play Royal Birkdale even at the peak of his career, it holds a lot of credibility.

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Designed by George Lowe way back in 1897, the course has subsequently been expanded to 7,223 yards. It combines exposed links conditions and strategic fairway pressure. Complicating the challenges is demanding shot variety and a layout that leaves nowhere to hide.

Royal Birkdale is a true links test on the dunes. Thus, wind can change club selection and shot shape throughout the round. Moreover, it is narrow and missing fairways, which can be severely punished. Rough and gorse are waiting to catch offline tee shots. Besides that, it also mixes long holes, short holes, doglegs, and tricky par-3s. All of this forces constant adjustment. Therefore, winning at the venue is not about surviving a single hole but about staying disciplined for 18.

While Tiger Woods himself acknowledged the challenges, many PGA Tour professionals have struggled at the venue. Mark O’Meara, for example, opened with a quadruple bogey on the opening hole. He went out of bounds on the first hole, finished at 11-over in the opening round, and missed the cut.

Rory McIlroy himself had a miserable stretch in 2017. He made five bogeys in his first six holes. Thankfully, he was able to stabilize later, but he still ended up with an opening 73. Similarly, Tommy Fleetwood, who calls Royal Birkdale his home course, as he lives only a few miles away from it, also struggled with an opening 76 in 2016.

This year, too, many professionals are struggling, especially PGA Tour pros, because they don’t have much experience playing links courses. For instance, Gary Woodland, who won the Texas Children’s Houston Open 2026, started with an opening round of eight-over 78. Besides him, Wyndham Clark, the 2026 US Open winner, is struggling with a round of three-over 73.

As the veteran golfer revealed, Royal Birkdale is an open course, yet it remains a punishing test. However, that’s not the only course he labeled hard.

Tiger Woods’ verdict on the Honors Course

When playing the 1996 NCAA Championship at Honors Course, Woods fired the final round of 80. After that, he was invariably blunt in describing the course.

“[Tiger] looked me in the eye and said, ‘[expletive] that place! That’s the hardest golf course I’ve ever played in my life,” said Brent Henley, a caddie in Tiger’s group, years later, as reported by The Golfer’s Journal.

The American professional became what he is today by conquering venues he felt were challenging. Thus, despite the final round of 80, he won the NCAA Championship in 1996. In fact, he became the first Stanford athlete to win the championship since 1942.

A couple of days back, he also shared a video through Sun Day Red stating that all links courses require more from professionals. In one of the posts, he said that links courses demand golfers to hit some creative shots. In another Instagram post, he says that links golf is steeped in history.

His battle with the Honors Course shows that Tiger Woods has always respected layouts that demand precision and creativity. He sees a similar quality in Royal Birkdale, too.