Stephen A. Smith: ‘Tiger Woods Should Retire’

On Friday’s broadcast of ESPN2’s “First Take,” co-hosts Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless reacted to the poor U.S. Open first-day performance by Tiger Woods.

Woods shot a score of 80, which tied him at 152 overall and ahead of only two other participants.

Smith adamantly stated that it was so hard for him to continue watching Woods, who was once considered the best golfer in the world, and that, at this point, he should retire.

“I have to admit it was hard watching him yesterday,” Smith confessed. “When I saw on the 8th hole he would lose the club all together. Literally lose the iron and it goes flying behind him in the opposite direction of the ball and he is looking at his club as he retrieved it as if it was a foreign object. I just looked at him, I turned off the TV. I couldn’t watch anymore.

“I feel like Tiger Woods should retire,” he continued. “I feel like he needs to go away. I’m not saying retire permanently, like, ‘OK, I’m done forever.’ But I think he needs to retire and literally contemplate whether or not he is equipped to play this game anymore.”