A Tiger Woods shot landed in a fan’s jacket pocket on the 13th hole of the Genesis Open on Saturday.
Woods’ shot veered off to the right before somehow finding its way into the fan’s jacket.
‘I pulled off my jacket and it [Tiger’s golf ball] fell right there,’ the spectator told the rules official on site. ‘Right here, I haven’t moved.
‘He’s security, he knows,’ the fan continued, gesturing to the ball. ‘If I could, I would have pushed it out [towards the fairway].’
Tiger Woods hit a ball that fell into the jacket of a fan during the 13th of the Gensis Invitational
Woods and a rules official talk to the fan whose jacket the ball landed in on the 13th hole
“It had to be you.” – @TigerWoods 😅
The story behind Tiger’s drive ending up in this fan’s jacket is incredible 😂 https://t.co/iBC0JNEFdQ pic.twitter.com/8x2ZW8HJPE
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 18, 2023
The fan demonstrates that he did not move and only opened his jacket allowing the ball to fall
“If I could I would have pushed it out.” @TigerWoods’ drive on 13 ended up in a fan’s jacket @TheGenesisInv. pic.twitter.com/beFCE8JIog
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 18, 2023
After receiving a free ball drop, Woods would go on to save par from the right rough to remain even at par. He since went on to add a birdie as he nears the end of Saturday’s opening nine holes.
For the tournament as a whole Woods is three-under par and a full 11 strokes behind the current leader Jon Rahm.
In his first tournament since The Open at St. Andrews the 15-time major champion has played well and appears to be getting strong as rounds progress.
However, Woods did cause controversy at the tournament after he jokingly handed his friend and rival Justin Thomas a tampon during the first round of the Genesis Invitational.
Some like USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan, and Sky Sports golf analyst Sarah Stirk used their platforms to furiously criticized Woods.
‘I’m guessing most of the millions of fathers and mothers who support their athletic daughters probably have long since retired all their juvenile pranks that were intended to demean the ability of those girls they love and for whom they spend so much time cheering,’ Brennan wrote.
‘But not our Tiger. No, he employed basic misogyny to insult his good friend Thomas, a knee-slapper of a dig against female athletes: You hit the ball like a girl!’
‘My overriding feelings are completely surprised and really disappointed. I’m a female working in sport, I’m passionate and love the game of golf, and think we are all striving for equality,’ Stirk said via Sky Sports.
‘We’ve all seen the massive inroads everyone is doing promoting women’s sport, there is more media exposure, increase in participation levels, we want women sport to be on a level playing field with men.
‘I think this incident last night was extremely disappointing and crass to be honest. They are two good friends JT and Tiger Woods, good buddies, play a lot together.
‘Woods outdrove Thomas, it was seemingly done in jest but to me it was sort of laddy, blokeish behavior,’ she added.
‘He passed him the tampon and is effectively saying “look I’ve outdriven you, you’re driving the ball like a woman”.
Woods has spent the weekend being criticized by those like Sky Sports golf analyst Sarah Stirk
He was seen handing Thomas a tampon after out driving him on the ninth hole on Thursday
Both men saw the funny side of Woods’ prank, which came after he outdrove Thomas
‘This is the inference of the incident that happened and that says females and women are inferior to men.’
Others such as Paige Spiranac – former college golfer turned model and ambassador for the sportsbook PointsBet – came to his defense.
‘If anyone tries to cancel Tiger over this we riot. It’s funny,’ she tweeted.
‘It’s interesting to see women outraged by Tiger slipping JT a tampon after out driving him but those same women will quickly tear me down for how I’ve decided to build my business. You can’t pick and choose when to be a feminist.’
