If you’re a golf fan who wonders what it might take to get a souvenir from Tiger Woods, the answer is to treat him like a football quarterback.
After Woods completed a practice round at Augusta National in preparation for the Masters, one fan in the gallery decided to yell “I’m open” and got the legendary golfer to throw him the ball he was carrying.
This wasn’t a simple toss because the fan was pretty far away from Woods, who had to make an accurate throw to get it to him.
Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
Even at this late stage of Woods’ career, he was able to drop a dime. The fan nearly blew his moment in the spotlight by bobbling the initial catch before corralling it on the rebound.
In fairness to the fan, this wasn’t a situation where Marquez Valdes-Scantling got behind the Philadelphia Eagles’ secondary and dropped what should have been the easiest touchdown of his life.
The fan was fighting against all of the other people around him who were trying to catch a valuable souvenir from Woods. It’s lucky he was able to deflect the ball straight up to grab it, because if it went in any other direction, someone else probably would have come away with it.
Woods is preparing to play in the Masters for the 26th time in his storied career. This is his second tournament of the year. He previously played in the Genesis Invitational in February but withdrew in the second round due to an illness.
The 2023 Genesis Invitational is the last tournament Woods played all four rounds in. He made the cut at last year’s Masters before withdrawing midway through the third round due to plantar fasciitis.