Tiger Woods shows what LIV Golf can’t buy as St Andrews hosts one of sport’s great poetic moments with Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas watching on

As Tiger Woods crossed over the famous Swilcan Bridge, St Andrews suddenly became lost in a moment.

The Old Course is a special place, but even by the Home of Golf's standards, this was a poem Robert Burns could not write.

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Woods walked over the burn where his predeccessor Jack Nicklaus famously said goodbye to the game, while his prodigee Rory Mcllroy passed by on the first hole, off to go and contend at The 150th Open.

Inside the grandstand overlooking both adjoining fairways, despite the presence of McIlroy, nobody was interested in anything other than Woods.

It suddenly stopped to matter that Woods was nine-over and heading for an early flight home.

Everyone rose to their feet to salute a once-in-a-lifetime competitor - who many feared they would never see again after a near-fatal car accident in February 2021.

This was history: arguably the greatest golfer to play the game, bidding farewell to its spiritual home at the same place as the man who came before him, with the guys he inspired watching on.

Of course, we do not know if this was Woods' last appearance at St Andrews. It will not be his last Major.

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The damaged 46-year-old did not stop on the bridge, he walked on purposefully like a miracle in motion.

But with the next Open here at least five years away, perhaps more if rules change, those in attendance took the chance to make their feelings known.

It overwhelmed even the most cold-blooded competitor there ever was - and Woods rubbed his teary eyes like a man who knew this was his last time.

"It's very emotional for me," he admitted afterwards. "I've been coming here since 1995, and I don't know when - I think the next one comes around in what, 2030 - and I don't know if I will be physically able to play by then.

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"So to me it felt like this might have been my last British Open here at St Andrews.

"And the fans, the ovation and the warmth, it was an unbelievable feeling.

"I understand what Jack and Arnold [Palmer] had gone through in the past. I was kind of feeling that way there at the end.

"And just the collective warmth and understanding. They understand what golf's all about and what it takes to be an Open champion.

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"I've been lucky enough and fortunate enough to have won this twice here. And it felt very emotional, just because I just don't know what my health is going to be like.

"I feel like I will be able to play future British Opens, but I don't know if I'll be able to play that long enough that when it comes back
around here, will I still be playing?"

As Matt Fitzpatrick and Max Homa allowed their inspiration to stride on ahead, with McIlroy looking back, even the seagulls overhead sounded like they were cheering.

He arrived at a perfect drive which found the front-left edge of the green - and delivered a classic moment of short-game magic to give himself a birdie putt.

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Woods then stopped to watch his 'little brother' Justin Thomas tee-off on the first hole - and they both pointed to each other as if to say: 'Don't worry, I know'.

It was a passing of the torch: as Woods finished, McIlroy and Thomas walked out into golf's future with a nod to its past, just like he did with Nicklaus.

Woods added: "I looked over there, and Rory gave me a tip of the cap. J.T. did the same.

"It's just there's something to it that's just different."

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Thousands of video curators waited for the moment that would be replayed for the rest of time, assuming Woods would roll in a simple birdie putt.

But as the bagpipes played in the distance, the sun on the green slowly disappeared, and unlike Jack in 2005, he missed.

Afterall, the story of Woods is not a fairytale. It is one of a 15-time Major winner who should have 25.

Injuries have robbed him of his place above Nicklaus, and in many ways, it was only fitting that he missed the putt that Jack famously made and departed on Friday, far too soon for someone so great.

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St Andrews somehow found a way to feel all of those things at once and convey them to the world. There was no need to explain, everyone just knew.

With LIV Golf rebel Dustin Johnson sitting in the clubhouse top of the leaderboard at the time, and Ian Poulter booed on Thursday, the Home of Golf stood up to show why history and greatness cannot be bought.