Few people get a chance to meet Tiger Woods; even fewer get him for one-on-one lessons. Although being a famous musician certainly helps.
Train frontman Pat Monahan was the guest on this week’s Subpar podcast, where he discussed meeting Tiger Woods, playing Augusta National, his band’s upcoming tour and more. He’s met Woods a few times over the years, although the first came several years ago when Woods needed a last-minute fill-in to headline his annual Tiger Jam fundraiser.
Woods’ management team called Monahan to see if Train would be interested in playing after one act was a late cancellation.
“I was like, ‘I’m good, I have been working too hard,'” Monahan said on the podcast. “And they were like, ‘Tiger will give you an hour-long lesson.’ I was like, ‘I’ll be there tomorrow.'”
During their lesson, Monahan learned why Woods grew tired of pro-ams (six-hour rounds), and Tiger even shared an odd story that led him to conclude, “I think this is the last one.” Most of all, Monahan just appreciated that Woods seemed like a normal person.
“He is one of my favorite guys,” Monahan said. “He’s like one of us. He handles himself so professionally but when you can get him in a small group he’s just a dude. I just wanted to hit a couple good shots and I did and he was like, ‘Whoa, Pat can get through a shot.’ He made it fun more than stressful. It wasn’t a round of golf, it was just me at the range with him. There was no pressure to make par or anything.”
Although if there’s one thing the world knows about Woods, it’s that he doesn’t let people into his inner circle easily.
“I was like, ‘Man, I want to be best friends,'” Monahan said. “And he’s like, ‘I’m good.'” [Laughs]
You can listen to the complete interview with Monahan here or watch it on YouTube below.
