“Tiger Woods disappeared and changed his number”: Tennis Titan Roger Federer once revealed why he no longer speaks to the Golf legend

Tiger Woods and Roger Federer are two legends in their own sports. They're both considered by many the best ever to ever pick up a golf club or a tennis racket, respectively. They have countless victories and have both achieved icon status. They also used to be friendly with each.

However, they are no longer as close as they used to be. It's hard to say whether or not they were ever true, good friends, but they aren't now. According to the tennis titan, they don't even speak anymore.

Federer said via Express:

“Yeah, once we used to see each other time-to-time for the Gillette (ad) campaign. Even Nike. But that was rare. It was more about wishing good luck. When he faced problems, he disappeared and changed his number.”

The two athletes used to partner up for ad campaigns as they were sponsored by the same companies. However, in recent years, that has subsided and there's no connection anymore.

In fact, according to Federer, Woods intentionally disappears. Federer claims that when problems arise, such as his infidelity, car crashes, failed relationships, sexual assault allegations, and more, Woods retreats and changes his phone number.

Being that Federer isn't in the 15-time major winner's inner circle, the changed number is a death knell for their contact. Despite all of that, Federer is looking forward to Woods' return and seeing him play as a healthy golfer:

“Anyway, I am happy that he has come back stronger again. He is doing well again and plays well. I would love to hear from him again, we shared some great memories. He supported me a lot. We enjoyed ourselves with the fight for other Grand Slams.”

For now, Woods remains silent and generally out of the public eye as he continues to rehabilitate his ankle surgery. He was last seen participating in the Masters. He barely made the cut before withdrawing from injury.

He then withdrew from the PGA Championship, the US Open, and last weekend's Open Championship. His next appearance may not be until one of those majors next year if he's healthy enough to compete.

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Tiger Woods' debut compared to arrival of LIV Golf

Rarely do things change in a sport so dramatically. When Tiger Woods first came onto the scene in 1996, he forever changed the game. Simply by being one of the best to ever do it and one of the most successful, he changed everything.

Tiger Woods changed the game

Recently, Graeme McDowell compared that time to the rise of LIV Golf. Per Mirror, he said:

"And there’s been a huge amount of negativity in our sport, but there’s also probably never been so many eyeballs on our sport either. We’re potentially at one of the most-pivotal moments in our sport since Tiger Woods, in 1996, the greatest player of all time, who transcended our sport, came onto the scene.”

Given that Tiger Woods hates LIV Golf, it's unlikely that he appreciated the comparison. Nevertheless, he remains relatively silent for the time being.