Tiger Woods made his first professional debut on Aug. 29, 1996, at the Greater Milwaukee Open. Well, ever since that, there was no turning back for him until he started facing health issues. Even in September, Woods underwent his sixth lower back surgery in 10 years with the hope of relaxing the spasms that have been haunting him throughout the 2024 season.

That has kept him from confirming his presence even at the PNC Championship this December with his son Charlie Woods. Nonetheless, he is still one of the greatest stars in the golf world. Golf has been a part of Mr. T ever since he could remember. His father and grandfather were both professional golfers, and that already gave him a lot of exposure to the sport. However, sometimes that might have had a deep impact on him.

The 82X PGA Tour pro made his first national television debut when he was just 2 years old. On October 6, 1978, a young Tiger Woods, just two and a half months shy of his third birthday, made an appearance on “The Mike Douglas Show” alongside his father, Earl, as well as celebrities, Bob Hope and Jimmy Stewart. According to a documentary made locally, his father Earl Woods had already introduced him as a professional golfer, without even thinking about what he would want to be. “His father Earl was there and brought him up on center stage and introduced him as going to be a professional golfer,” it stated.

While the 48-year-old did manage to make a big name for himself in the sport, some of them are not as lucky. According to a report cited by them, Dr. Robert Litchfield of Western University’s Fowler Kennedy Sports Medicine Clinic, reports that he’s performing ‘Tommy John’ surgery on 13- and 14-year-old baseball players. It is done to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament inside the elbow by replacing it with a tendon from elsewhere in the body.  According to them, “It’s one thing if you’re a major league player and you’re 30 years old and you want to get another year or two out of your career — you don’t have the Tommy John surgery as a teenager.”

Well, turns out Tiger Woods is in the footsteps of his father, as he is the guiding light to his son, Charlie Woods’s golfing career.

Charlie Woods’s struggle with being a celebrity kid

Both Charlie Woods and his sister Sam Woods have often been spotted playing golf with their father.  The former also started taking up an interest in the sport as early as 2 years old after watching his father play in tournaments. He started competing in professional events as early as 7. While it might seem very lucky to be under such a limelight, it truly is the opposite. In an interview, Charlie Woods’s golf coach and English Teacher from School stated how the 15-year-old’s life is difficult because of it. He shared a story from the 8th hole, a straight-away par-5 lined by condos down the right side in high school golf.

“And I’m watching all these doors to the condos opening up and all these people come out because they knew he was there,” he said. The round had to be suspended due to terrible weather, and while everyone else ended up taking shelter, Charlie Woods was stuck giving autographs and taking pictures. Even during his other matches, he is followed by a huge crowd, just like his father, which makes him nervous.

One of the most exciting events of 2025 will begin in January with Tiger Woods & Rory McIlroy‘s TGL. A first-of-its-kind, TGL will eliminate the limitations of on-course golf by providing the most technologically advanced indoor golf environment.

The entry list for the tournament is also quite impressive. Apart from the co-owners, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, we will also get to see Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, and many more of the best the sport has to offer.

Despite all the excitement, it’s still a bit difficult to imagine how golf can be imitated indoors on a digital screen. So let’s take a closer look at the setup and try to understand the format of the event.

TGL shared a post on their Instagram page trying to explain the complete format of the tournament. The first and most interesting, unique element of the tournament is ‘The Hammer’. As described in their post, every hole that is played will be for a single point. However, teams have the option to choose The Hammer on any hole to add one more point to the winning score. Once The Hammer is used by one team, it will be passed on to the other team and vice versa. Hence, this trump card may be used in all 15 holes by both teams. That’s 9 extra points for each team to grab.

The next image in the post is that of the Field Of Play. The field will be 97.3 yards long and 50 yards wide. At the far end of the field is the 64ft x 53ft screen that will be the target for all the golfers. There are two lengths to tee off on the screen: the Front Box and the Back Box. The Front Box is for shots under 130 yards while the long box will be for shots over 131 yards. On the near side, you can see the Greenzone. This is a short game shots zone where players will end the hole.

Speaking specifically of the screen, it will be 24 times bigger than any standard simulator screen available around the world. The Greenzone itself is also quite big. The whole area will be as big as 4 basketball courts combined.

Now that we understand the field better, let’s get a grasp of the format of the game.

Game Format

There will be a referee present on the course at all times. They will ensure that the TGL rules are administered efficiently without causing any distress. The TGL has also implemented a fast-play policy. Every player will have 40 seconds to hit their shot to avoid incurring a 1-stroke penalty for their team. However, teams are allowed to take timeouts if they need more time to plan their next approach. Each team will get four timeouts in total with two timeouts dedicated to each session.

Coming to the match format, the game will be played in 2 sessions. Session 1 will be played from holes 1 to 9. It will be a 3 vs 3 contest where the players will play alternating shots throughout the session. Session 2 will be played from holes 10-15. This will be a singles competition where all three players from each team will face their adversaries from the opposing team in a 1-vs-1 contest.

The matches will be played based on least stroke, but the tournament itself will be points-based. The winning team of every match will be awarded 2 points. However, the losing team can also win points. If the game goes into overtime, then even if a team loses, they would still be awarded a point on the leaderboard.

The winner of the tournament will be determined based on who wins the most points at the end of the season. The league format is pretty common in sports like football and soccer, and even in individual golf rankings. But having a whole season where teams compete in a league format is something new for pro golf. It’ll be cool to see how this plays out when the tournament kicks off.

Are you excited about all the action? You can catch all the action from the TGL from January 7, 2025, on ESPN and ESPN+.

What are you dressing up as this spooky season? Well, many people are already in the game to be the best dressed for this Halloween. See, we all know that the fans love dressing up as their favorite golfers and we have seen a fair share of instances of that happening. We’ve seen kids and adults dress up as their favorite golfers, and it’s absolute gold. Remember that mini John Daly from a few years back? The little guy rocked Daly’s iconic American flag pants and sunglasses and fans were convinced it was a miniature version of the golf legend.

Fast forward to the present and Amazon even has a special section for Daly-inspired costumes and you can snag those famous pants for just $19! But Daly’s not the only golfer inspiring cosplay. We’ve seen adorable mini versions of Tiger Woods complete with tiny golf hat and clubs, and a dad dressed as a caddie, and even a hilarious recreation of Scottie Scheffler’s arrest scene. The whole world is excited with the sheer thrill of the festival and so are some of the Tiger Woods fans who tried to replicate a look of the golfer only to get bashed by the fans.

The latest video by NUCLR GOlF on Instagram showed the fans how two men decided to dress up as the GOAT and his caddie for this spooky season and let’s just say they didn’t find the outfit to be that good. We mean, the fans did try to copy Woods to tiny details. From the red tee to black trousers and everything but you know it’s all in the aura and not the clothes, at least that’s what the fans thought. “The of all Halloween costumes ”, read the caption.

We all know how vocal golf fans can be when it comes to something they don’t like and well that’s exactly what happened this time around.

Tiger Woods’s Halloween clone got bashed by the fans

Starting off strong with what this one fan said, “Adidas pants? Nice try” while the other said “Adidas pants, titleist golf, no TW hat?” and well the hat is kind of a crucial thing when you’re going out as Tiger Woods for Halloween. Everyone knows that Woods’s iconic red shirt is more than just a style statement, it’s a battle cry. When he slips it on for the final round, you know he’s ready to take on the competition and he shows the opponent just how ready he is by wearing red to the tournament.

But what’s behind this bold tradition? Turns out, it’s a nod to his college days at Stanford, where the team wore red on the final day of events. Superstition took hold, and Woods has stuck with it ever since. But there’s another special reason behind Woods’ love for red – his mom, Kultida. She convinced him it’s his power color, and who argues with Mom, right? Well, since then the golfer has been wearing red to the final rounds, and its safe to say that it has worked out for him so far.

Another fan said something that may sound confusing to some of you, “The Adidas pants kind of made me mad”, while another said, “Nailed it except for the Adidas pants”, but why? Well, remember when Adidas ditched TaylorMade golf clubs in 2016? Yeah, that decision turned out to be a major misstep now, thanks to Tiger Woods’s epic Masters win in 2019 where he was seen armed with TaylorMade clubs and the brand’s value through the roof.  Adidas sold TaylorMade for a relatively paltry $425 million which was a far cry from the $1.4 billion it shelled out in 1997.

Despite not swinging a golf club, Alan Shipnuck is still at the center of controversies in the golf world. To begin with, a few days ago, he called Tiger Woods and Patrick Cantlay ‘petty, vindictive, and greedy’ according to the reports of Golf Magic. This is because, according to rumors, some of the PGA Tour players want the LIV Golfers to pay back the massive sums that they had taken up to make shifts to the breakaway league. Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Cameron Smith reportedly received upfront payments exceeding $100 million each to join the breakaway tour.

Well, that is not all for the controversies put up because of the writer. Last year, Shipnuck wrote a book called ‘Phil: The RIP Roaring,’ which was based on the controversial life of Phil Mickelson. Mickelson was, of course, not happy with it. Notably, when Lefty’s former friend, Billy Walters, released a book that had information on his gambling habits, Shipnuck said, “So that tells me I probably did my job. I didn’t want to tell a story and say: ‘Phil is a bad guy and here’s why.’ That was never my goal. It was just to find out who he is, present that to readers, and they’ll make up their minds.”

A year later, the controversy that almost ruined Lefty’s life is back afloat. Shipnuck also wrote a book called ‘LIV and Let Die’, which depicted the battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf through players, caddies, and other members. The book even made it to the WHSBOTY (William Hill Sports Book Of The Year) list. Neil Foggin, the host of the Sports Book Club, even said, “It’s his access, and the research is done to this. He’s got he’s had arguments with players, etc. And fallouts. But they still talk to him because of his position within the media. It’s a fascinating book and if you’re, if you love your golf, this one’s for you.”

And now there’s going to be more! Shipnuck in a recent tweet revealed that he was releasing yet another book. “Typing as fast as I can,” he tweeted when asked by a fan when they could read more of what he had written. “It’ll drop March 2026…tentatively!” No doubt there’s going to be controversy brewing! Perhaps it will involve Mickelson too. After all, the pair have a lot of history together.

Alan Shipnuck and Phil Mickelson banter through Jon Rahm rumors

Back in November, before Rahm joined the breakaway league, Alan Shipnuck reported that Mickelson had been telling people that the Spaniard would be leaving the PGA Tour for LIV Golf and that is already a done deal. Taking to this, Lefty responded, “This isn’t true and I don’t know anything. I don’t want to know anything and I haven’t said anything. Alan is the worst liar and a pathetic human.”

Well, that was not all. The sports writer dubbed Mickelson’s response “typically sociopathic,” and emphasized that the golfer has informed “influential figures in the golf world,” about the news regarding Rahm.

In a now-deleted post, Mickelson stated, “I cannot be any clearer: you are LYING. I have not mentioned Jon’s name or discussed him. Everyone I’ve been with over the past couple of weeks can attest to that. Name your source, you deceitful POS (and I won’t even address the numerous lies in your book—there are too many to count).”

It looks like the feud between the duo is never-ending indeed. And perhaps that only adds to the excitement!

TGL wasn’t off to a good start. TGL offers a team concept, yes like LIV Golf, but what sets it apart is the technology. The golf world once accused TGL of copying LIV Golf, and it garnered a lot of criticism when its launch was delayed because of an unfortunate roof-collapsing accident because of weather. It was then announced that TGL would be rolled out early in 2025, but now it seems that fans are not so excited about it anymore.

TGL is the brainchild of big names like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. NUCLR GOLF ran a poll on X asking, “Just 100 days remain until TGL gets underway; will you be watching?” The poll results are surprising as there are more than 900 votes and more than 50% have voted for “Not watching.” Who would have thought that something that has golf’s biggest names associated with it would not interest fans?

Fans might not be looking forward to TGL but a few pros like Xander Schauffele are. Per him, fans will love it; “It’s going to be something that people have never seen before.” The 2x Major champion also believes that TGL will help many fans understand golf from close up. And this “more tech-forward” component in the game might also give it a different reaction. A few fans would like to differ though, it seems.

Fans not being excited for TGL is yet another blow for Woods. He recently underwent a fifth back surgery and is in recovery. He is excited to return to the golf scene again, be it on the real greens or simulated ones. Fans not only expressed their disinterest through the poll but also expressed their thoughts in the comments section.

Interestingly, people have mixed reactions toward this new tech-based golf; some are eagerly awaiting its launch, while others are convinced it will flop.

What are fans saying about Tiger Woods’s TGL?

This fan talked about the uncertainty of this team golf concept, saying, “Either going to be massively cringy or an all-time watch. Literally no in-between.” TGL is an intriguing concept, blending technology with golf and utilizing a specially designed SoFi Center for the matches. However, at the same time, it’s something happening for the first time in the sport, and this fan isn’t sure whether it will be able to produce the results that Woods and others are expecting it to.

One fan talked about the longevity of TGL, saying, “Should be a huge hit early on… with curious golf fans. But longevity of it, I’m not sure. “ Although it’s not confirmed how much Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods had to spend for TGL overall, they certainly spent $50 million when SoFi Center suffered severe damage due to heavy rain and wind in November 2023. Not only that, it even forced its launch to next year. If, after all the challenges, TGL fails to achieve long-term success, all the efforts will have been in vain.

Another fan outright revealed that they won’t watch the tech-based golf, saying, “I’ll watch it once but probably forget about it after that. It just seems like ‘alot’.” Back in November 2023, when they announced the format of TGL, fans had a similar reaction as they bashed with comments like “I think I speak for everyone when I say we will watch this once and then never again.” Now that only 100 days are left, there doesn’t seem to be any change in their thoughts.

Meanwhile, some fans are looking forward to it and expressed their thoughts with comments like “I will watch probably.” and “I’ll give it a go.” However, only after its launch in January can we say how much crowd TGL was able to impress.

12-1-1. Looks impressive. Is impressive. But do you know what the numbers mean? Well, many would find it familiar if not recognize it at first sight. But no worries, for we’ll tell you. The figures represent America’s record at the Presidents Cup. Quite an alluring set of numbers. Moreover, it also paints an accurate picture as to which side had the best experience at the biennial event.

Although the American team boasts the best figures at the event and thereby a lot of glorious moments, it’s not as if they have not experienced the bad side of it. Curious now? It would be surprising if you weren’t since the U.S. squad would have had many such instances, good and bad, throughout the 30 years that the contest has taken place.

Memorable & peculiar moments for the U.S. at the Presidents Cup

1. The 2003 Tiger Woods-Ernie Els playoff: Call it the best Presidents Cup ever or even the most entertaining, for the majority of the golf community will agree with you. And this is despite the tournament ending in a tie with not even a single player from both teams going undefeated. Thursday saw the Gary Player-led International squad leading 4-1. Then Friday came and the U.S. hit back to make it 9.5-6.5.

Fast forward a day into Saturday and we see the Internationals sweeping all six matches leading 12.5-9.5. Sunday, however, packed the most entertainment when the American squad won seven matches while losing four and tying one. The score? A scintillating 17-17, and the two teams send Tiger Woods and Ernie Els for a playoff. However, when the match went on till the third hole, the two skippers had a heart-to-heart and decided to end it with a tie. Truly a GOAT moment!

2. Water vs the U.S. team? Of course, America!: It was the Friday Fourball session of the 2007 edition of the tournament. Woody Austin, paired with David Toms, found his tee shot landing on the greenside lake. Off went his socks and shoes in an attempt to splash it out. And off he went as he slipped on a rock to fall in the water face-first while attempting to do so.

Unfortunately for the duo, they had to concede the hole to go two down and give the point to Rory Sabbatini and Trevor Immelman. But falter again. They did not, for Woody ‘Aquaman’ Austin redeemed himself by carding three birdies in a row to tie the match, allowing the U.S. to clinch a 19.5 to 14.5 victory.

3. The playing captain Tiger Woods down under: Only two times has the U.S. had playing captains on the team and both times, the squad has emerged victorious. What then, makes the 15-time major champ’s 2019 win different? Well, Woods had chosen himself as a captain’s pick and led his team to triumph. That too not in America but in Australia, unlike Hale Irwin in 1994.

The golfer was named the captain of the biennial event. But when the Masters came, he claimed the top spot at the major, followed by a Zozo Championship win later on in October. The rest is history as the athlete became a playing skipper for the first time after 25 years and carded figures of 3-0-0. Yes, a whopping three victories to surpass Phil Mickelson’s record of 26 wins.

4. The Patrick Reed Saga: Although the year 2019 was highlighted by the 82-time PGA Tour champ’s scintillating record and captaincy, it stood out for another reason, and sorely so. Enter Reed and his 2019 Hero World Challenge controversy. The golfer had, back at the Woods-hosted tournament, been slapped with a two-stroke penalty. The reason? He tried to improve his lie before playing his third shot on the par-5, 11th-hole sand bunker.

But how does it connect to the Presidents Cup in Melbourne? The Aussie fans made sure to dish out their best heckling talents as he became ‘Mr. Sandman’ in their eyes. However, too much heckling got on Reed’s caddie, Kessler Korain’s nerves, causing him to get into a confrontation and a physical altercation with a fan on Sunday. The looper was then removed from caddie duties for the day’s play. Although the now-LIV Golf Pro did win over C.T. Pan, the moment remains nothing short of embarrassing.

5. The Phil Mickelson blunder: One would rarely mistake the Presidents Cup for the Ryder Cup. But something along those lines is exactly what the Lefty ‘accidentally’ did as he mistook the latter’s rules for the former in 2015. For a bit of clarity: the professional, during day 2 of the competition, was playing alongside Zach Johnson at the par-5, 7th hole in the Fourballs. He then decided to switch to a firmer golf ball for his second shot.

Sounds unproblematic? Dead wrong! For the Presidents Cup, unlike the Ryder Cup, a ‘one-ball rule’ is present where the golfer has to use the same spheroid throughout the round. And Mickelson received a one-hole adjustment for his inadvertent decision to switch the ball. This caused the duo to halve with Adam Scott and Jason Day of the International team. Unlucky!

6. The lone American defeat: With a dominant figure of 12 wins over their rivals, it wouldn’t have emerged as a surprise if the lone defeat was termed an embarrassing moment for the U.S. team. Even more so since the squad consisted of some of the best golfers in the world, including Fred Couples, David Duval, Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson, Mark O’Meara, and Tiger Woods. “The greatest collection of golfers in the world,” said Peter Thompson, the International team captain.

The event, however, was so lopsided that Nick Price secured the winning point on Sunday even before the food was finished serving for breakfast. The International squad won with a dominant figure of 20.5-11.5, marking it as the lone win for the American team’s rivals in the 30 years it has played out.

These are but some of the best and worst moments that the U.S. team experienced and suffered, respectively over the years at the Presidents Cup. Do keep an eye out, for the upcoming event at the Royal Montreal Golf Club might just add to either of the two!

The elite golf fans know the brother-like bond Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods have had on and off the course over the years. This duo has seen everything from playing together to competing against one another. They also mean so much to each other, and Woods refers to JT as his younger brother. The two have had plenty of moments when they caught the eye of the golf world.

The infamous tampon controversy

During the Genesis Invitational’s first round on February 17, 2023, something unlikely happened. Tiger Woods received a lot of heat from the fans and critics for handing Justin Thomas a tampon as a prank after outdriving him. What Woods thought was a harmless prank turned out to be a huge mistake.

Critics argued that the gesture encouraged harmful stereotypes about women and implied that Thomas’s driving performance was weak and feminine. Woods later apologized for the prank and said, “If I offended anyone in any shape or form, I’m sorry. It was friends having fun. We play pranks on one another all the time.” 

Justin Thomas talks about his friendship with Woods

Justin Thomas shared insights into his friendship with Tiger Woods during an interview with Golf.com. Thomas recalled a good moment he had with Woods at the Presidents Cup where he and Woods yelled “I love me some me!” after Thomas made a putt on the 18th hole. Thomas explained that the phrase was from a T.O. Tyrell Owens video montage he and his friends found on YouTube. He mentioned telling his team, “If I do something worthy on the golf course today, I am going to say it.”

According to Thomas, his relationship with Woods is more than just a friendship. Thomas says Woods is his idol, and he really looks up to the 82-time PGA Tour winner. “He’s been a lot, man… I respect him so much. I looked up to him and his golf game, and how he won, how he went about it.” Thomas also admired Woods’s qualities as a father and said, “He loves being around his kids… He’s such a good dad.”

Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods’s Q&A session

Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods opened up about their friendship in a fun Q&A session with the PGA Tour YouTube Channel. When asked about the most embarrassing moments they’ve shared, Woods couldn’t resist bringing up the time Thomas knocked over a candle at his place, to which the golfer replied by saying, “Yeah, I did do that.” Thomas fired back at Woods by telling the reporter that he had Woods make some pretty bad shots, which he claims no one has seen.

Woods confessed to being a little jealous of Thomas’s insane chipping skills and said, “I wish I hit it that far, and I wish I chipped in as many times as the knucklehead does,”  calling Thomas a knucklehead. The two golfing legends also shared some giggles about their putting competitions with Woods’s son, Charlie Woods. It seems like Thomas is not only friends with one Woods.

Justin Thomas’s moments with Charlie Woods

To add more to having a brother-like bond with Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas is also very close to his son Charlie Woods. Thomas has gotten to know Charlie well. Charlie looks up to Thomas and wants to beat him in golf, despite never being able to do so. Thomas finds this trait interesting and encourages it often by noting that Charlie’s competitiveness reminds him of his father.

But does that mean the golfer will confess to it? No, according to Thomas Charlie’s wishes to beat him are ‘trash talk’. “He’s always wanted to beat me. It doesn’t matter what it is; although he’s never beaten me in golf or a putting contest, he still talks trash, just like his dad,”  said Thomas. Thomas might have a little ongoing inner competition with Charlie because he also added that he wanted to beat him and ‘shut his little mouth up’ (in good fun); “It’ll be fun; we’ll have that inner tournament within a tournament, trying to shut his little mouth up,”  he said.

This funny and friendly banter only proves how much Charlie and Thomas are close to each other, all thanks to his friendship with Woods.

A career that expands 82 victories on just the PGA Tour also has many ailing surgeries behind it. Tiger Woods’s life has been an inspiration for many, but it has not been easy. In nearly three decades, the 15x major winner has undergone many surgeries, only to be able to play professionally for as long as he can. Whether it be his knee, ankle, or back, he has been under the knife for all. Focusing on his back, there have been six times when the 15-year-old had to undergo procedures on his back.

2014

Tiger Woods’s lower back spasm started in March of the 2014 season at the Honda Classic. Woods withdrew from the event as his then-spokesperson Glenn Greenspan revealed that he experienced some discomfort while warming up. After a month, the 15-time major winner missed the Masters for the first time in his life and shared that he had gone through his first back surgery to relieve the pain from a pinched nerve.

But even after this surgery, Woods still had pain in his back. In the fall of 2014, he once again withdrew from the WGC Bridgestone Invitational as he was playing the ninth hole in the final round. He aggravated his back because of an awkward lie at the second hole, and his back didn’t support that swing. Although he was skeptical of playing at the 2014 PGA Championship, he eventually did but missed the cut. It was his last official event of the season.

2015

Nearly three months after his surgery in 2014, Woods teed up at the WM Phoenix Open but missed the cut. He then played in the Farmers Insurance Open, but after playing 11 holes, he withdrew again. It was due to another back injury because he couldn’t activate his glutes, and that went into his lower back, as NBC reported. Even after that, the 48-year-old played in eight more tournaments that season.

Woods finished T10 at the Wyndham Championship, after which, on September 18th, he revealed that two days before he played the event, he had undergone a microdiscectomy procedure to ail a pinching nerve, which was punctured by a disc fragment. He then said that it was disappointing, but “I’m a fighter.” After a month, he had to go through a follow-up procedure in Park City, Utah, and shared that the surgery had to be done.

There were no other procedures reported to be done on his back in 2016, but he still missed the Masters and posted on his website, saying, “I’ve been hitting balls and training daily, but I’m not physically ready. I’ve said all along that this time I need to be cautious and do what’s best for my long-term health and career.”

2017

After missing the entire 2015-16 season, Woods started his 2017 season at the Farmers Insurance Open but missed making it to the weekend. Then, he was at the DP World Tour’s event, the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, in February. But after the opening round of 77, he withdrew because of back spasms. He did not play any other event after this. Until his website was lit up with another notification in April about surgery performed on his back to aid the pain in his leg and back.

The damaged disc was removed, and the levels of the space between the collapsed discs were made normal by Dr. Richard Guyer of the Center for Disc Replacement at the Texas Back Institute. It relieved the pressure felt on his nerve, which was causing the back spasms again and again. That year as well, Woods missed all the major championships.

2021

This back operation was before the catastrophic accident of February, which left his right leg severely damaged. On January 19, 2021, the 15-time major shared on X that he was getting a fifth microdiscectomy on his back. Another pressured disc fragment was removed for the pinched nerve. He was supposed to be back after missing just a month or two of the season, but surprisingly, Woods was not back on the PGA Tour for the entire season.

The next time he teed it up was at the PNC Championship in December, where he and Charlie Woods finished second, two strokes behind Team Daly. In the next two years, Woods didn’t undergo any surgeries for the back, although he played five events in total.

2024

This practically defines the dynamics Mark O’Meara and Tiger Woods have had for decades. Their friendship began when a young Woods moved next to him in Orlando’s exclusive Isleworth enclave and O’Maera treated him like a little brother. “So that’s how I would correlate my relationship and what Tiger meant to me and the reason why I felt like I wouldn’t have won those two majors possibly at 41, if he hadn’t come into my life,” he once said.

They pretty much practiced all the golfing swings ahead of the tournaments together and struck an unlikely connection. One was 22 years old and an eligible bachelor and the other was 41, married, and had two kids. The latter, who is now 67 has decided to retire and spoke to ‘Golf Today’ regarding his decision. While doing so, he made sure to share a small anecdote regarding his dear friend, Tiger Woods.

At the 1998 Cisco World Match Play Championship, Mark O’Maera defeated Vijay Singh, but the next day, he and Woods were supposed to play in the finals. The night before the finals, the two friends had dinner together and Tiger Woods was very excited about facing his friend, though O’Maera was nervous about losing. What happened next?

Tiger got out there and next thing you know he is like 5-under through seven holes. He has got fist pumping going on… I look over, I say, ‘Look, there’s a lot of people out here. They are out here to see you show. You gotta slow down’. He goes, ‘Well, play then’. I am like, ‘I am trying to’. … I hit a good tee shot. I hit it about two and a half feet, he hit it on the back edge. He putted it down to about three feet. And as you can see, he made me putt this putt.”

But what took place next was something the duo can laugh about today.

“I looked over to him before I was going to putt it and I said, ‘Tiger, … you are not going to make me putt this, are you?’ And he looked over and he goes, ‘You haven’t won a hole yet, have you?’ And I was like, ‘Oh my god’ and I made it and then as I was walking off the green, I went right to him with a mean look on my face and I told him, I said, ‘Let me tell you something… ‘If you ever make me putt a putt like that again, our friendship is over. Do you understand what I am saying?’”

Well, Mark O’Maera ended up winning, and with that, he also became the oldest player to win the event.

Tiger Woods really wanted to win against Mark O’Maera

While Woods’s skills may have pushed O’Maera to give his best, the latter understood that Woods really wanted to win. When the younger player refused to concede the two-and-a-half-foot putt, O’Meara knew this was no friendly competition. But it seems like Woods experienced bad luck.

After a poor drive at the 17th, the younger golfer was struggling to make a birdie. Somewhere, he knew he needed to do more when he holed from ten feet. But both the golfers found bunkers at the last and had to lay up. Though Woods hit his pitch to eight feet from the light rough, O’Meara saw his spin back off the green from the fairway.

He then negotiated the collar and a double break, but the 18-foot putt slipped in to give the older golfer the victory. Do you know what happened next? O’Maera turned to Tiger Woods and said, “I am sorry someone has to lose a match like that.” Well, someone finally got their revenge.

This also reminds us of their clash in The 127th Open at Royal Birkdale in 1998. Young stars Tiger Woods and Justin Rose commanded a lot of attention, but O’Maera’s experience enabled him to win the title. What’s interesting is that just three months before this event, Tiger Woods had given O’Maera a green jacket upon winning the Masters.