At Riviera Country Club, Tiger Woods says, you hear things.
They usually come later in the day on Fridays and Saturdays. Box 10, he said, is a familiar place for them. So are 17 and 18.
“Drinks served, things done,” Woods said.
But the most unexpected interaction 15 times major winner was there in the historical course?
This came when he was a child.
Woods told the story Tuesday at a news conference earlier this week The invitation of Genesisan event in which he is the host. Woods knows Riviera good. He made his first PGA Tour appearance on the Los Angeles course as a 16-year-old at the 1992 LA Open. (In case you’re curious, Woods shot rounds of 72 and 75 and lost by six shots.) Before that, he toured with his father, Count.
It was on that stretch, Woods said, that he first heard some words.
“It goes back and forth between the professionals and the gallery,” he said.
In retelling the scene, Woods then said it had “kind of a cool story.” It came at an LA Open, after Woods said he was watching the action on the 8th green.
“And this golf ball comes crashing down there,” he said, “I’m running toward it, and it’s a Ram golf ball. I’ve never heard of a Ram. What’s a Ram? I’m 8 years old, right?
“So I go running over there, and I’m just looking at him, and this caddy just pushes me away.
“I look up and I don’t know who he is at the time, and later I found out it was Bruce Edwards caddying for Tom Watson. So I gave him a lot of grief for that.
“He said, ‘Yeah, you were on the road.'”
Woods then laughed.
Only in Riv.
“For me, that’s part of the beauty of being here at Riv,” he said, “being able to go back in time as a kid.”
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