Tiger Woods Hands Justin Thomas A Special Gift After Outdriving Him at the Genesis Invitational

In sports history, there are only a handful of great trash-talkers that come to mind: Michael Jordan, Floyd Mayweather, Chael Sonnen, Richard Sherman…and, apparently, Tiger Woods.

After Woods and playing partner Justin Thomas arrived at the ninth tee, both took out driver and hit their tee shots. Thomas’s 313-yard drive found the left rough, but after Woods stepped to the tee and registered a 323-yard drive that also found the short grass, putting him 144 yards away from the pin on the Par 4 ninth hole, the 15-time major winner had a special gift for JT.

Tiger had something for Thomas in his hand, and a photograph taken as the two walked to their balls in the fairway showed a special exchange between the two players and more evidence that Woods, who turned 47 in late December, is still one of the best mind-game players in all of golf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It is just a continuation of the legend of Tiger Woods, who has been known to be one of the most ruthless mind-game players in the world of golf.

Adam Scott once said that Woods would do simple things like pull out “way too much club” on par 3s:

“He would pull way too much club on a par-3 and let you see it as it was playing out. He’d make kind of a full swing with a 7 and flight it in there nicely and let you see it was a 7, and you were tossing out whether if it was an 8 or a 9. And you were like, ‘Well, it’s definitely an 8 if he hit 7,’ and then you go ahead and hit an 8 and airmail the green.”

Woods’ long-time rival and friend Phil Mickelson also detailed some of Tiger’s debilitating moves that would simply pull him off of his game. Woods would go as far as trying to putt first so that spectators would move to the next tee box as Mickelson was trying to finish the hole.

Woods and JT are close friends, and they were also paired with Rory McIlroy, who has been a huge fan of Tiger since he was a kid. JT and Rory have also had a close relationship through the years, so it was a treat for fans to see the three paired together during the first round at the Riv today.

As Woods drained his third straight birdie on 18 today to bring his round to -2, he looked at JT with a smirk. Thomas shook his head and laughed.

😌 pic.twitter.com/JD7Lujbdw7

— TWLEGION (@TWlegion) February 17, 2023

Woods, Thomas, and McIlroy, will tee it up again this morning at 10:24 a.m. EST, 7:24 a.m. local time in Los Angeles.

Cover Image Via Twitter