We knew Tiger Woods is a sports fan, but we found out just how hardcore during his latest interview with Henni Zuel on Golf TV.
When asked to name his sporting heroes of his youth, Woods listed Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe and Michael Jordan, and declared his favorite teams are the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, MLB’s L.A. Dodgers and the NFL’s Raiders, formerly of L.A., Oakland and soon to be Las Vegas. “There are no other teams,” Woods said.
Perhaps the best story involved the time Woods met Ali while he was in New York in 2004 for a practice round at Shinnecock, and was checking into a Hilton hotel.
“I’m in line at the front desk, and I get hit in the ribs. My right ribs. And it hurt,” Woods said. “And I whip around and think I’m gonna just keel all and hit somebody. I was so pissed. I look around, and it’s Muhammad Ali. And he says, ‘Hey, kid.’ And I’m like, why did you have to give me a love tap so hard? He was old, but it still hurt. I can’t imagine being hit in a ring for 15 rounds like they used to fight. It’s just crazy.”
Then there was the time Woods played golf with Jordan, who invited him to watch a 1997 Eastern Conference Finals game against the New York Knicks in the NBA playoffs. Woods had a chance to watch the team train.
“They were locked in. It was cool to see. It was neat to be a part of,” Woods said. “The mindset—I can relate to that. I can relate to the intensity, the focus in that type of world.”
And who’s the toughest competitor he’s ever met?
“I would say 1-A, 1-B, myself and Michael,” Tiger said. “He’s more, I think, outwardly competitive than I am. But I have my tendencies to be a little competitive at times.”
Woods said his days of basketball pickup games are over after five knee surgeries, but he’ll still play H-O-R-S-E. When asked his favorite sport other than golf, Woods reiterated what he’s said before that he inherited a fondness for baseball from his dad, who played in college at Kansas State. “My dad was a catcher, so naturally I was a pitcher,” Tiger said. “Baseball gave me the footwork and the leg strength to play golf. That’s why my legs moved as much as they did; it’s from playing baseball.”
He also recounted the thrill of sitting in the outfield seats for Game 1 of the 1988 World Series between his beloved, underdog Dodgers and Oakland A’s and witnessing Kirk Gibson’s pitch-hit game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth.
“I remember seeing him round second and give the fist pump,” Woods said.
Of all the athletes who play golf, who does Tiger see as having a chance to play on the PGA Tour?
“A PGA Tour player? I would say no one,” Woods said. “But as a senior tour player, I thought John Smoltz could do it, and I think he still can…The only other player that I think could really do it, and he just turned 40, is (Tony) Romo. I know it’s 10 years away, but he has the speed, he has the game.”
