Tiger Woods was seen brutally trolling his good friend and fellow American golf star Justin Thomas ahead of this week’s Open Championship at St Andrews. Thomas joined Woods over the weekend for two practice rounds on the famous Old Course, as the pair began their preparation for Thursday’s opening day.
Unsurprisingly the all-American duo attracted a huge following on Saturday and Sunday as they made the way round, despite the event not kicking off until later this week. It is well documented that the pair are close friends and are no stranger to a practice round or two.
As a result, Thomas joined Woods and his son Charlie at Augusta National in April, as the 46-year-old made his way around the Georgia course to get himself ready for his comeback to the PGA Tour three months ago.
Despite their good friendship, Woods still had time to drop a brutal joke at the expense of Thomas following their outing on the Old Course on Sunday. In a video that has emerged on social media, the American pair and their teams are shaking hands after their round when the 15-time major champion drops a cheeky jibe about Thomas having never won the Claret Jug.
With a smirk on his face, Woods said to the PGA Champion: “See you tomorrow for the past winners’ event,” and before Thomas even had a chance to respond, the 82-time PGA Tour winner quickly added: “Oh no I forgot, you have never won here.” The 29-year-old followed up by shaking his head and sharing an expletive whilst Woods stood on laughing.
The three-time Claret Jug winner is referring to R&A’s the Celebration of Champions event that takes place at St Andrews today (Monday). Those invited include previous winners of the Open and the Women’s Open, with Woods headlining the field alongside teammates Rory McIlroy, Lee Trevino and Georgia Hall.
The mini tournament is a four-hole team event, with the past winners playing the first, second, 17th and 18th holes of the Old Course. The ex-champion event caused controversy late last week, after it was announced that LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman was banned from attending in the wake of the ongoing civil war within the sport.
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Norman’s exile was confirmed by R&A statement on Saturday, with the Saudi Series boss clearly seen as a distraction away from the upcoming week. The statement said: “In response to enquiries regarding the R&A Celebration of Champions field and the champions’ dinner, we can confirm that we contacted Greg Norman to advise him that we decided not to invite him to attend on this occasion.
In response to Norman's banning, one of LIV Golf's marquee stars Phil Mickelson has chosen to skip the pre-tournament celebrations in support of his new boss, according to the Guardian. Mickelson won the Claret Jug in 2013, and is still expected to tee it up in the opening round of the major event on Thursday.
