On Tuesday night, Tiger Woods made a rare appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and the 2024 Masters was one of the first topics of discussion.
But it wasn’t the fact that Woods broke the record for most consecutive Masters cuts (24) that sparked Fallon’s interest in this year’s event.
Instead, it was a viral moment involving Tiger and a tree at Augusta National that got the late-night host going.
But first Fallon had a more serious question about the Masters, asking if Tiger still got excited arriving at Augusta each year.
“Yea, I do, and there’s nothing else like it. I’ve been playing there since I was a teenager,”
Tiger explained, “so there’s nothing like driving down Magnolia Lane and seeing that and just seeing the topography and then the history of it.”
Jimmy Fallon confronts Tiger Woods about the viral Masters tree meme on The Tonight Show.
Then Fallon got to the heart of the matter, asking Woods about the viral tree picture that burned through the internet after the Masters. In case you missed it, Tiger was photographed during the final round shaking hands with someone who was hidden behind a tree, with only their forearm and hand visible.
“What was this, do you remember this?” Fallon asked the 15-time major champion.
“Yes I do. It’s the great Verne Lundquist, and he was there,” Woods replied smiling, drawing laughs from Fallon and the studio audience.
Lundquist, who worked for CBS Golf helping call the Masters for decades, retired following the 2024 Masters. It being his last Masters, Woods ran into him on the course during the final round and shook his hand to congratulate him on a historic TV career.
