Of the many things we know about Tiger Woods, we can add one more learning to the list: Sunday afternoons at the Woods household are not a time for the NFL RedZone.
While most of the sports-watching public tuned into football the Sunday before last, Woods’ television was fixed on the PGA Tour Champions’ SAS Championship, where his good friend Fred Couples was on the brink of history.
As you likely know by now, Couples shot a silly 12-under final-round 60 at the SAS, besting his age by three strokes and claiming the title in the process. Woods is no spring chicken himself. Now 46 and on the wrong side of several (well-documented) serious injuries, he has developed a keen interest in the skill and strength of his fellow players of an advanced age.
On this occasion, it helped that Couples’ game is one that Woods knows well — Freddie, after all, is one of Tiger’s frequent playing partners. Woods was all-in on Couples’ hot run, so much so that he called Justin Thomas to make sure Thomas was watching.
“I think [Couples] was on 17 or 18 and Tiger called me,” recalled Thomas, who at time was watching the Chiefs-Bills game. “He’s like, ‘Are you watching this?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, pretty good game.’ He’s like, ‘No, Freddie’s 11 under and he’s playing 18.'”
On Thursday, Woods’ caddie Joe LaCava doubled down on the humor, sharing his text conversation from that afternoon with Woods on Couples’ SiriusXM show.
“I did follow it [Couples’ round] on my phone, and I got a little excited because I got a text from my current boss, Tiger, who said, ‘Are you watching?’” said LaCava, who formerly looped for Couples. “I knew exactly what he meant and I said, ‘Yeah, I’m watching the Giants get another victory.’”
LaCava, who is a rabid New York Giants fan, was needling his boss, who quickly snuffed it out.
“He said, ‘No, you idiot, I’m talking about Fred,’” LaCava said. “I said, ‘I know what you’re talking about.’”
Then, LaCava said, Woods fired off a few one-liners to his caddie.
“He says, ‘I may switch to the yellow ball the way this thing is rolling in the cup,’” LaCava said with a laugh.
Then came another.
“He said, ‘Thank gosh somebody else can beat Y.E. Yang, because I couldn’t.’”
This Sunday, LaCava’s Giants take on the Seattle Seahawks, while the PGA Tour heads to the Caribbean for the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. Maybe it’s time for Tiger to invest in a second TV.
