Thursday was a magical day at the Genesis in Rancho Palos Verdes. The stars were out in force. Everywhere you looked they were either teeing it up at The Riviera Country Club or drinking copious cocktails in the VIP confines of hospitality tents or the hallowed clubhouse on the hill. A who’s who of Hollywood out to watch the tour’s best, with the hope of catching a glimpse of the GOAT and the tourney’s host himself, Mr. Eldrick Tiger Woods.
We had a blast yesterday to say the least — thanks to the copious cocktails, delicious brownies we engulfed in The Bluffs (our hospitality locale), and the dozens of shots we got to see Tiger hit during his first round.
For those of you who have never attended a professional golf tournament before that Tiger has played in, we want to share with you what the experience is like. The good. The bad. And the “did I really just see that?” moments.
So, what was it like?
- Busier than you could ever imagine. If you wanted to get within 10 ft of Tiger, you had two options: 1. Walk two holes ahead of where he was playing and camp out on the rope line between the green and the next tee. From there you can almost get close enough to smell his cologne. 2. Take a gamble and park yourself 300 yards down the fairway from the tee, either 15-20 yards right or left. When Tiger misses a fairway it’s usually way off target, and yesterday he was missing both ways. If you guessed correctly and rushed to his ball where it lay in the rough, you were able to get up close to see him slash it back into play.
- Loud. His gallery was easily a thousand-plus fans. All in constant movement as soon as he hit. And they could have cared less what JT and Gary Woodland were doing.
- Annoying. Imagine setting up your base camp on the rope next to the 16th tee at Riv, which we did on the par three. A perfect vantage point to watch Tiger, JT, and Woodland take dead aim on the 165-yard into-the-wind glorious tri-par. And right before Tiger was about to tee it, a photographer planted himself between us and the GOAT. Disgusting. But there was nothing we could do. It’s not like the photog was going to move even if we politely asked him to. Fans are nearly as bad. People will just push themselves in front of you. So you have to stand your ground, sometimes giving them a reminder nudge to step the **** back.
- The crazies come out. Furries dressed like tigers, guys in matching Sunday red (not to be confused with Sun Day Red) mock turtleneck polos, and ladies who look like they are trying to catch Tiger’s eye. Lots of ladies. Working it.
- Exhilarating. When he hits a good shot, the whole crowd erupts and the excitement and energy are palpable. When he hits a bad shot, the mob gives off an empathetic aura, trying to will the ball back into play or closer to the hole. And when he grimaces in pain, even a little, in a strange way everyone feels his pain. You actually find yourself stretching your foot or back or whatever the source of Tiger’s ailment is. Toward the end of the round yesterday, his gate demonstrably started to labor. It hurt me just to watch him hurt.
- Emotional. You can’t help but wish him well when you watch him play in person. Sure, he has made a multitude of personal and professional bad choices in his life — much like we all have, only his have been in the public’s eye and broadcast across all media channels, 24/7. When he smiles after a great shot or a holed putt, his smile trips a global switch, leading to smiles by all. Fandom at its finest.
We highly encourage you to experience Tiger teeing it up in person before his game falters any further. He still can play great golf. Maybe not good enough to win on the PGA TOUR again; but good enough to give everyone following him hope that something magical and historic is about to happen. it’s pretty damn cool.
