There's no denying that Tiger Woods' impact on the game of golf has been massive, with the World Golf Hall of Famer brining in millions and millions of new fans thanks to his era of dominance from the 1990s to the 2010s.
Throughout my lifetime, I've seen Tiger hit thousands and thousands of shots on the television box, but never in real life... That is until now as, on Wednesday, I was able to watch the great man in action ahead of The 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon, with two particular aspects standing out to me...
The first thing, particularly, actually came on Tuesday morning, when I was present at Woods' press conference. In a packed room, the atmosphere almost changed as he entered, with a sense of anticipation growing as he faced the media for the first time since the US Open in June.
Many years ago, I can remember watching a Masters documentary on Woods' famous win at Augusta National in 1997 and, one quote that stood out to me, was from Colin Montgomerie, who said: "There's an aura about him, that I witnessed, that I hadn't seen before and that's when I realised there's something different with this player". In that moment of Woods walking into the room, even though it was just a press conference, I could fully understand what Monty had been on about...
Obviously, though, away from the course, it is going to be different story to on it and, 24 hours later, I like many others ventured out to watch the American during his practice round. This is where the second noticeable aspect occurred, as the number of spectators was immense.
Even though it was just a Wednesday morning, not even a competition day, you couldn't miss which group was Woods' as the crowds sat multiple rows deep around the tee box, fairway and green. I've been lucky to follow the likes of Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau at Major events, but this felt like another level, and that's no disrespect to the pair in the slightest! We know that McIlroy and DeChambeau bring in the crowds but, even the professionals would most likely say that Tiger is still the needle mover for the game of golf.
The only aspect I haven't mentioned, which most will be interested in, is his golf game and, in my opinion, it still looked a bit rusty, with a few pulls off the tee at both the par 4 15th and par 5 16th ending up in trouble that, in tournament play, would be in the lap of the gods in regards to the thick rough.
However, there were indeed flashes of the old Tiger, including a delicate pitch and a great iron at the 242-yard par 3 17th that finished pin high. These shots obviously stand out and, as he finished up on the 18th, I was glad to say that I have finally seen him play in my lifetime, especially as Tiger sightings become more and more rarer...
