The voice becomes softer. It’s more profound. He’s at a golf tournament. And he’s a broadcaster.
“It’s Tiger Woods here at 18 fairway. He’s got a 3-wood. He’s going to hit it around this tree. He’s going to knock it on the green. This is the U.S. Open.”
Deep. Sounds familiar even.
But this is no Jim Nantz, Dan Hicks or Mike Tirico. Or anyone else who’s broadcasted golf.
It’s Tiger Woods.
Calling Tiger Woods.
Deep again.
The sequence comes from the 15-time major winner himself, and it was shared Monday via the social channels of TaylorMade, one of Woods’ backers. On a video, at what appears to be a reception during his recently completed TGR Jr. Invitational event, Woods had been asked by a young audience member this question:
“When you’re golfing in a big tournament and it’s an important shot or a putt, how do you handle the pressure?”
We love these kinds of queries, don’t we? To get just a glimpse of the artist’s mind. We love it more, though, when the savante says more than a cliche.
To which Woods did not. His tips were two on how to cope with pressure, and they’re related.
1. Make practice ‘that intense’
Here’s where the broadcaster voice comes into play. Woods said he puts himself in big moments, so when they come, they’ve been cataloged. Oh, that’s what that feels like.
But you have to go all in. ‘Nantz’ it.
“I make my practices that intense,” Woods said on the video. “So when I’m practicing at home, I’ll have a little bit of a window in my practice sessions where I’ll make it: ‘It’s Tiger Woods here at 18 fairway. He’s got a 3-wood. He’s going to hit it around this tree. He’s going to knock it on the green. This is the U.S. Open.’ And then all of a sudden it happens, Saturday at the U.S. Open. Yeah, I do a lot of that stuff at home. At the time, as any kid, I grew up trying to make putts against Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, you name it, right.
“I have fun with it.”
2. ‘End on a high’
Of course, in practice, you’re going to miss putts and mishit shots. This is not revelatory.
Just don’t stop on those, Woods said. Put another way, you want your inner Hicks and Tirico calling makes and flushes.
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“At the end of the day, I always end on a positive note,” Woods said on the video. “Every practice session, end on a high. Make a big putt I had to make. And I would keep doing it again and again until I made that putt. And it was always to win a major championship. It was always to beat my heroes and the people I idolized growing up. Or on the range, it’s ‘hit this one drive that’s going to put me in the fairway of the narrowest U.S. Open you’ve ever seen.’ …
“And I loved it. I loved making challenges like that in my head and try and stir up emotions so that when I get to a situation where I’m faced with those emotions, I’ve already done this. I did it at home.”
Notably, Woods was asked at least one other question at the TGR Jr. Invitational reception. It’s been shared before. And we’ll simply pass it along again. To set it up, 11-year-old Holden Bautista had made two holes-in-one during the tournament portion of the event, and he was given a mic.
Below is the video, which TaylorMade and golf personality Tisha Alyn captured and shared. Below that is the exchange.
“Well, one, have you ever gotten two hole in ones in one round?” the 11-year-old asked.
There was laughter. Woods closed his eyes. Bautista continued.
“I, I mean, you’re the GOAT.”
Woods lowered his head. He shook it. There was more laughter. Bautista continued.
“I … you’re like, you’re the GOAT, and I, I … and it would be … I feel like it would be expected.”
Woods opened his eyes. He shook his head. He smiled. There was more laughter. Bautista continued.
“But it’s OK, it’s OK. I feel like I’m putting you under a spotlight now.”
There was applause. Finally, Woods spoke.
“He just mic-dropped it on top of everybody, right?”
Indeed. Good job, everybody. A short later, as part of the video shared by Alyn, Bautista had another question for the host, and this was good, too.
“But also, after something like a hole in one or like a chip-in,” Bautista asked, “what’s your mentality moving forward into the next hole?
At first, Woods joked, then offered a tip.
“Yeah, you had to go there, double-hole-in-one time,” he said. “OK, I’ll give you that one. Uh, no, but seriously, on a serious note to that, when I’ve had a high of making an eagle or a hole-out or I’ve had the low of making a tap-in for a 10, it’s about, as I was saying earlier, it’s about staying right here, right now.”
