Rory McIlroy: Crazy golf galleries cost Tiger Woods two shots every tournament
Woods confirmed that fans have cost him shots and trophies over his career
It’s no big secret that golf fans can be ridiculous. For every 100 knowledgable, well-meaning patrons, you get one doofus yelping, “Baba Booey!” or “mashed potatoes!” on a random tee shot. We saw this a few weeks ago at the Farmers Insurance Open when somebody piped up as Tiger Woods was putting.
Woods probably gets more of that than anyone, or so said playing partner over the first two days at the Genesis Open, Rory McIlroy. This is the first time Woods and McIlroy have been paired together since the final round of the 2015 Masters.
“It might have been like this like the whole Tiger-mania … but I swear, playing in front of all that, he gives up half a shot a day on the field,” said McIlroy. “Like, it’s two shots a tournament he has to give to the field because of all that that goes on around. So whether that calms down the more he plays and it doesn’t become such a novelty that he’s back out playing again because it’s tiring. I need a couple Advil … I’ve got a headache after all that.”
So what exactly are they yelling?
“Just the whole thing. Guys, you’ve got a six-foot putt, ‘It doesn’t break as much as you think,’ just stuff like this that they don’t have to say,” McIlroy said. “Just stuff. You know, whoever that’s teeing off at 8:30 in the morning doesn’t get that and can just go about his business and just do his thing. That’s tough. He has to deal with that every single time he goes out to play.”
McIlroy was clearly perturbed by the entire scene as thick galleries lined the course at Riviera Country Club to watch Woods play his 5th and 6th rounds of 2018. He went on to miss the cut after shooting 72-76 over the first two days.
“It’s cost me a lot of shots over the years,” confirmed Woods. “It’s cost me a few tournaments here and there. It’s been a lot because all it takes is one shot on a Thursday that you lose a tournament by a shot on Sunday. What people don’t realize, it’s not just something that happens on Sunday afternoon, this is cumulative and it’s par for the course. I’ve dealt with it for a very long time.”
This probably isn’t going to change any time soon. McIlroy is right. Woods being back out on the PGA Tour is still a novelty, and people are excited. He’s played just three events since the end of 2015, and he’ll play No. 4 next week at the Honda Classic. Hopefully the mashed potato bros will keep the schtick at home.
