Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are off to a rough start in the seventh edition of The Match. After tying Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas on the 1st hole, Woods and McIlroy dropped three consecutive holes to fall 3-down through four. The outcome was looking so grim in the 12-hole best-ball match, that commentator Charles Barkley joked that TNT was going to struggle to fulfill all of its commercial obligations.
If there’s an upside to blowouts in made-for-TV matches, though, it’s that they help fuel the smack talk, which was never more evident than on the 6th hole as Woods sized up a putt from just off the green. With Thomas already tight — he had just five feet left for birdie — Woods and McIlroy looked poised to lose yet another hole.
Enter Match announcer Brian Anderson, who couldn’t resist one more twist of the knife.
“Forgot to tell you guys, Tiger gets a stroke here,” Anderson quipped on the telecast, which all the players can hear via AirPods in their ears.
Tiger Woods nearly drives first green in The Match, makes easy birdie
The dig drew a smile from Woods and laughter from Thomas and Spieth.
“I’m glad I didn’t see that,” said Anderson’s booth mate, Trevor Immelman.
Added Thomas, “Just please don’t piss him off, guys.”
Indeed, if we’ve learned anything about Woods over the years, it’s that he doesn’t like to be jabbed. Ask Stephen Ames, who, in the run-up to his first-round match against Woods at the 2006 Dell Technologies Match Play, said, “Anything can happen. Especially where he’s hitting it.”
Woods’ response? He famously thrashed Ames 9 and 8, winning every hole on the front nine before tying the 10th to close him out. Message delivered.
If Anderson’s barb motivated Tiger, it hasn’t resulted in the same lights-out play Woods exhibited against Ames. Woods lipped out his birdie try from off the green at 6, where he and McIlroy escaped with a tie. They bounced back to win the 7th with a birdie but then lost the 8th hole to drop back to 3-down.