Former world's no.1 and six-time Grand Slam winner Nick Faldo believes Tiger Woods is not in good mental condition right now following his epic collapse in the recently concluded 2013 US Open.
Faldo, who recently came out of retirement in a bid to win the Open Championship at age 55, said Woods was clearly out of sync but nevertheless still capable of pulling off an epic run in the upcoming British Open championship at Muirfield in Scotland.
'I think Tiger's woken up and realized this is a hard sport and he is a mere mortal after all,' Faldo told the Daily Mail Online.
Faldo, who hauled three Open Championships and Masters crowns throughout his career, believed struggles are finally catching up with Woods after a trailblazing start in his professional golfing career.
'For so many years he was so good, he was such an amazing athlete. When he went pro he went off like a rocket. But he's not in a good mental place. It was so easy for him before, he made it look so easy, when it is such a hard sport."
"But whatever he's been through, with all his personal problems, has made an impact on his mind - and so much of this sport is all in the mind. Nerve is the bottom line,' added Faldo, who will be playing alongside Woods for the start of the British Open.
Woods' 2013 US Open score of 13 over par was his worst ever in an Open since he was a 14-year old and an amateur in 1996. The world's top golfer is expected to sit out the next three weeks with an injured elbow, but he's surprisingly still a 7-to-1 favorite in the British Open.
The 2013 British Open, the third Grand Slam crown of the year, is scheduled from July 18 to July 21.