Tiger Woods gifts lucky fan a souvenir to remember during Masters practice round
Tiger Woods gifts lucky fan a souvenir to remember during Masters practice round
Woods picked out a lucky fan on the 9th green at Augusta National and delivered him a gift with pin point accuracy.
As Woods wrapped up his practice round with Justin Thomas and Fred Couples, a fan on the 9th green, brimming with confidence, seized the moment and called out to Woods from the stands.
At first, it looked like Woods had ignored the call of “I’m open”, but after a quick smirk to his caddie, he threw the ball into the crowd, picking out the fan with laser-like accuracy.
Woods then continued his walk off the green to the amusement of both of his playing partners.
“It just happened to be quiet, and I was looking at him, and hey, why not, so I yelled at him, and he kind of smirked, and then he turned, and he smirked at me, and that’s when I knew, and I was like oh gosh he’s gonna do it.
“.
“Honestly, I’m shocked with myself that I caught it, he throws a fast one. My hand was throbbing for a little bit, so good arm Tiger.”
Matt went on to tell reporters that he is going to find a special case to frame the ball, and if his luck continues, he’s going to try to get Woods to sign it before the week is over.
This week marks Woods’ 26th appearance at The Masters, and the five-time champion is aiming to make history by becoming the first person to make the cut at Augusta National 24 times in a row.
Last year, he made the cut on the number after shooting rounds of 74 and 73 but was forced to retire after seven holes of the third round due to aggravating a long-term injury to his ankle.
Woods’ playing time this year has been very limited, with the 15-time major champion only having completed one tournament round at the Genesis Invitational before withdrawing due to flu-like symptoms and dehydration.
While it certainly seems unlikely Woods will be able to compete with the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm this year, when questioned about his chances, he responded in typical Woods fashion.
He said:
“If everything comes together, I think I can get one more. Do I need to describe that any more than that, or are we good?”
While there are undoubtedly limitations to Woods’ physical ability this year, he clearly believes his years of experience around Augusta National will undoubtedly benefit his chances of competing.
“That’s one of the reasons why you see players that are in their 50s and 60s make cuts here, or it’s players in their late 40s have runs at winning the event, just the understanding of how to play it.
“Now, you still have to go out and execute it, but there’s a lot of knowledge that goes into understanding how to play it. And, granted, every tee box has been changed since the first time I played. Every green has been changed. But the overall configuration of how they roll and how they move and the angles you take, that hasn’t changed.
“That’s the neat thing about this. I can still go through the mental Rolodex and bring out a few putts from the ’90s that still move generally in that direction and the effect that Rae’s Creek has on certain shots and putts. And it means a lot.”
