Tiger Woods’ voicemail leaves new PGA Tour winner speechless

For PGA Tour rookie Karl Vilips, the last month has been decidedly life-changing. And the way it ended came as a shock to the new pro: with a voicemail from his idol Tiger Woods.

Just a few weeks ago, the 23-year-old Australian pro signed with Sun Day Red, becoming the first brand ambassador for Woods’ new golf apparel brand (other than Tiger himself, of course).

“Tiger Woods was my idol growing up, and knowing that he drives the insights and meticulousness behind Sun Day Red’s apparel and footwear gives us a unique edge that no other company can match,” Vilips said at the time. “I couldn’t be more proud to be the brand’s first official ambassador.”

News

Vilips earned the endorsement by tearing through multiple levels of golf on his way to the big leagues. He played college golf at Stanford, Woods’ alma mater, and then won Rookie of the Year honors on the Korn Ferry Tour last year, earning his PGA Tour card in the process.

Then this week, while the Tour’s elite were battling at Bay Hill, Vilips went out and won the Puerto Rico Open to add “PGA Tour winner” to his resume.

Vilips went 65-67-66-64 at Grand Reserve Golf Club for a total score of 26 under and a three-shot victory in the tournament, which is one of the PGA Tour’s Additional Events. It was just the fourth Tour start of his career.

In addition to $720,000 and a spot in this week’s Players Championship, the win also earned Vilips a voicemail from Woods.

Following his round, Vilips told reporters that after sinking his winning putt, he found an unknown number had texted him, called him and left a voicemail. He soon found out that Tiger was the source of the messages, a fact that left him speechless during his press conference.

“Yeah, it was tough because I got on my phone after the round and I was just scrolling, like who was texting me? I think I got one from a random number that called me as well,” Vilips shared on Sunday. “Then there was a voicemail saying it’s Tiger and I couldn’t like process it in the moment, I was just trying to — I’ll get back to that later. That’s pretty cool.”

He went on to explain how much more the win means now that he’s a brand-new ambassador for Tiger’s brand.

“I think it’s really special. I think it shows me that there’s a reason why they chose me to rep their brand and I’m just really happy to be able to do it in a way that’s, you know, as myself,” Vilips said. “It’s really cool and I know everyone at Sun Day Red team is going to be super happy. You’ve got to look good to play good, so yeah, it’s really cool.”

Vilips also revealed that he’s been a student of Woods’ career heroics all his life, detailing his favorite moments from Tiger’s career.

“I mean, you just can’t forget that putt on 17 [during the 2001 Players Championship], better than most. You’ve got that one,” Vilips said. “Every time I went to a tournament in college, we were always playing the coverage from I think 2012. Not sure when him and Lingmerth were going at it. There’s so many memories I have of him. I mean, the first big one is him making the putt at Torrey [during the 2008 U.S. Open] to force a playoff, watching documentaries of him, studying to go to Stanford and then his U.S. Am highlights.”

Following in Tiger Woods’ footsteps

Unsurprisingly, the young Tour pro admitted that he’s often tried to follow Tiger’s lead throughout his rise to the PGA Tour.

“There’s so many things that I’ve watched with him that I just kind of try and do what he does. Study hard, attend a good school and obviously hard work’s going to pay off in the end, but he’s been such a huge influence in my golf career.”

And don’t count Vilips out at the Players Championship this week. He moved near TPC Sawgrass in November and has played the course regularly since then, potentially giving him an advantage over the rest of the field.

But that’s not the thing he’s most excited about heading into Players week.

“I’m just excited to sleep in my own bed, cook my own meals, be with my roommates. It’s going to be a lot of fun. Never really had a chance to do like a home tournament. Obviously just moving there in November, I played the course a bunch,” Vilips shared.

The 2025 Players Championship kicks off this Thursday, March 13, with the opening round at Sawgrass’ Stadium Course.