The stage was set. Down 3 to Tiger, all I needed was magic on 15.
What followed was heartbreak, a fist pump that never came, and one unforgettable sentence from Tiger himself.
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Tiger Meat, Part 3
By the time we reached 15, I was hanging on. Three down. I needed something special.
The hole was a par 3. Tiger flighted a 6 iron. I went 5. Our ball marks landed side by side, but his spun back, mine bounded long.
I needed magic.
Fifty feet of green, downhill, and the only play was a high, soft flop. I pulled the lob wedge and swung. Perfect strike. It landed where I had pictured, started rolling, tracking the whole way.
At 10 feet out, I clenched my fist, ready to throw a Tiger pump right back at him.
It slid low. Just missed.
Later, my caddie, Tom, tells me Roger Maltbie had been standing next to him, whispering into the NBC mic that I had no shot of getting it close. And for one second, I proved him wrong.
By 16, I had one last chance. Tiger missed the fairway, and the ball caromed into the next hole’s fairway. The crowd thought maybe I’d steal one back. Not me. I’d seen this movie before.
Of course, Tiger had a window. Of course, he found the green. Of course, my putt slid by. 3 & 2. Match over.
And just like that, the spotlight vanished.
Walking to the clubhouse, I was no longer “the kid facing Tiger.” Just another guy in the crowd. It was a surreal, almost lonely feeling.
But here’s what stuck: afterwards, Tiger recalled my birdie on 6 in his press recap. “Yeah, I knew he was going to make that putt.”
That one sentence made the loss sting a little less.
Do I still think about what might have been? Sure. Without that penalty stroke in qualifying, maybe I would have gotten a different draw. Perhaps I can make a run. But then again, maybe I don’t get this moment with Tiger at all.
And that’s the thing.
Yes, I lost.
But I also won something else… a story that has carried 29 years, a memory I’ll never forget, and the ultimate clapback when someone talks trash on the golf course:
“Oh yeah? Has Tiger Woods ever watched you play golf?”
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