Tiger Woods says he needs a break from golf after missing the cut at the Open. 

The 15-time major winner finished on six-over-par after playing through back pain during his two rounds at Royal Portrush.

Woods underwent some intense physio work on Thursday night after struggling in his seven-over-par opening round.

The 43-year-old grimaced again multiple times during his second round and feels he now needs a few weeks to recover ahead of the end of season FedEx Cup playoffs.

"I'm going to take a couple of weeks off and get ready for the play-offs.

"It's been a lot of travel, a lot of time in the air, a lot of moving around and different hotels and everything, I just want to go home."

The Masters champion insists the pain is not as intense as that felt prior to his spinal fusion surgery in 2017.

"You can't compare the two, those were some of the lowest times of my life. This is not. This is just me not playing well and not scoring well, and adds up to high scores.

"It's more frustrating than anything else because this is a major championship and I love playing in these events.

"I love the atmosphere. I love just the stress of playing in a major. And unfortunately, I've only had a chance to win one of them and was able to do it. But the other three I didn't do very well."

"That's one of the hardest things to accept as an older athlete is that you're not going to be as consistent as you were at 23. Things are different.

"I'm going to have my hot weeks. I'm going to be there in contention with a chance to win, and I will win tournaments.

"But there are times when I'm just not going to be there. And that wasn't the case 20-some-odd years ago. I had a different body and I was able to be a little bit more consistent."