Tiger talks his Dodgers stripes

With the Giants and Dodgers opening a threegame series Friday night in Los Angeles, Tiger Woods provided a gentle reminder there’s still some bad blood in that storied rivalry, and it doesn’t run only north to south.

Woods, a lifelong Dodgers fan, took a moment during the PGA Championship at San Francisco’s TPC Harding Park to explain to Rory McIlroy why he had a big problem with his fellow golfer’s bag.

“Giants colors,” Woods told McIlroy, who was using the black and orange bag provided to tournament players as an homage to the local Major League Baseball team. “Couldn’t do it.”

Because players are mic’d up to provide television viewers with a unique experience inside PGA events during the pandemic, we were able to eavesdrop on Tiger’s enlightening discussion.

Woods, wearing a Dodgers blue sweater, tried to provide McIlroy with some context.

“What team do you root for back home? Soccer?” Woods asked McIlroy, who hails from Northern Ireland and said he’s a Manchester United fan.

“So, it would be like having Liverpool colors on your bag,” Woods said, referencing one of Manchester United’s biggest rivals. “That’s how much we hate the Giants. I wouldn’t do it.”

“Really? No good,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy then turned the conversation to the NFL, asking Woods what he thinks about his favorite team.

“Are you cheering for the Raiders now (that they’re) in Vegas?” McIlroy asked.

“They’re just the Raiders,” Woods said. “I grew up and they were Oakland, and then they moved to L.A., and I watched them win two Super Bowls in L.A., and they went back to Oakland, now they’re Vegas. So they’ve always just been the Raiders to me.”

Correction, Tiger: The Raiders only won one Super Bowl title while in Los Angeles — in 1984, when they beat Washington.