There are few people in the world who are larger than life, but if there is one person in golf who fits that cliché: Tiger Woods. Everyone remembers the first time they lay eyes on a legend. His aura is unquestionable, and he seems to glide above the ground as he moves. Not many people garner as many star-struck gazes as he does.
What’s unique about Tiger, though, is that those jaws-agape looks aren’t just reserved for adoring fans — fellow competitors admire him as much as anyone else. When you transform a sport, you tend to be viewed a little differently than others.
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Count Harry Higgs among that crowd. Although the 29-year-old has established himself as one of the most interesting personalities on the PGA Tour, he’s not above gawking at Tiger. And he got that chance for the first time last year at Torrey Pines.
As Higgs told GOLF’s Subpar podcast, that encounter came on Saturday of the event after playing in the group directly behind Tiger for the first two days.
“We’re walking down the steps and it’s literally step for step on the same step the whole time,” Higgs said. “We make it five or six steps down and I’m like ‘Dude, you’ve got to say something.’ … I look at him and I say ‘Tiger, do you ever worry about slipping in those (metal spikes)?’”
Tiger didn’t miss a beat as he turned to Higgs and told him he got used to them pretty quickly.
“I feel like I botched my first Tiger interaction pretty badly,” Higgs laughed. “I had to say something. If it sticks, great! I don’t think it stuck. I wouldn’t pretend that Tiger knows who I am.”
He’s likely not the only Tour pro who that’s the case for.
Check out the entire episode of Subpar below as Higgs explains his unwavering self-confidence, reminisces on his college days with Bryson DeChambeau and more.