Tiger thanks golfers who wore red and black for him
Tiger Woods on Sunday night tweeted his appreciation for a tribute made by several PGA Tour players who earlier in the day wore the 15-time major winner’s iconic final-round combination of red and black.
“It is hard to explain how touching today was when I turned on the TV and saw all the red shirts,” Woods’ account tweeted. “To every golfer and every fan, you are truly helping me get through this tough time.”
Woods is recovering from a car crash Tuesday that caused serious damage to his legs. In an update Friday from his Twitter account, the 45-year-old was described as “in good spirits” and grateful for all the “wonderful support” he has received. He remains hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and has undergone further procedures after the initial surgery to repair two open fractures and an ankle injury to his right leg.
Phil Mickelson, his formerly chilly relationship with Woods long since mended, went out of his way to swap his trademark black outfit for Woods’s red-andblack at a Champions Tour event in Tucson, Ariz. Mickelson, who played at Arizona State, discovered that most red shirts for sale had the logo of rival University of Arizona, so he wore a black zip-up pullover, with the red collar discreetly peeking out and the logo covered.
“So two things happened today. I wore red on Sunday in honor of Tiger to let him know that the players support him and appreciate all that he’s done. And I had to buy a red shirt and of course every red shirt here has a big A on it,” Mickelson said, adding a little wisecrack. “I hope he knows that we’re supporting him because that was a lot for me to do that.”
Woods also received the show of support at the World
Golf Championships’ Workday Championship in Bradenton, Fla., where Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed and others wore their concern for him on their sleeves and elsewhere.
McIlroy was said to have been wearing red and black together for the first time in his career as he began a final-round pairing with Reed.
“We’re very lucky that he’s still here,” McIlroy said of Woods on Wednesday via golf.com. “I feel like we should pay tribute to him every day for being on the PGA Tour and what he’s done for golf.”
Others competing in Woods’ Sunday colors at the Workday Championship included Tony Finau, Jason Day, Tommy Fleetwood, Cameron Champ, Scottie Sche±er, Min Woo Lee and Sebastian Muñoz. A few players, including Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Day and Matt Kuchar, per reports, played a Bridgestone ball with “Tiger” stamped on it.
Annika Sorenstam, appearing on the LPGA Tour for the first time in more than 12 years, also wore red and black Sunday, as did Angel Yin, who was playing in the final group at the Gainbridge LPGA. At the PGA Tour’s other event this weekend, the
Puerto Rico Open, members of the grounds crew wore versions of Woods’s apparel.
Thomas, one of Woods’ closest friends on the tour, was emotional Tuesday while speaking with reporters in Bradenton after the initial news on Woods emerged.
“I’m sick to my stomach,” Thomas said then. “You know, it hurts to see one of my closest friends get in an accident. Man, I just hope he’s all right. Just worry for his kids, you know. I’m sure they’re struggling.”
On Saturday night, Thomas tweeted a photo of a shirt with tight red stripes matched with black pants. “Seemed fitting for tomorrow after the kind of week we’ve had,” he wrote. “Black and red on Sunday for TW!”
Thomas, who was dropped by longtime apparel sponsor Ralph Lauren last month after he was heard uttering a homophobic slur during a tournament, tweeted Saturday that he considered going even further with the Woods homage by purchasing a Nike mock turtleneck. However, he said he couldn’t figure out a way to get a current sponsor, Citi, “embroidered on the sleeve quick enough.” With a shirt more pink than red, Jon Rahm also appeared to be making as much of a tribute as he reasonably could, given what he had on hand.
Max Homa, who won last week’s Genesis Invitational, a tournament hosted by Woods at the Los Angeles-area Riviera Country Club, tweeted Saturday that he “didn’t pack any red and black for this road trip” to Florida and arrived before learning of the crash.
“I will try and pay my respects to TW tomorrow with some really great final round golf,” he wrote. “Hope to see a lot of red and blackout there!”
Reacting to criticism online for not seeming to do more to pay his respects to Woods, Homa noted he couldn’t just go out and buy a red shirt because of the problem of affixing sponsorship logos. He said on Twitter on Saturday evening that the flak he was taking was “the weirdest thing I’ve experienced” on that platform.
“I love Tiger more than u guys. Promise,” Homa tweeted. “Listen to an interview from last week. Red and black tomorrow doesn’t prove that. A lifelong attempt to mimic his approach to the game of golf does.”