Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Justin Thomas recall their first encounter with Tiger Woods

Every golfer would remember the first time they met Tiger Woods. Even ace golfers Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Justin Thomas vividly remember their first encounter with the golf legend. Recalling the incident, the golfers said it was a special meeting with Woods.

McIlroy, Spieth, and Thomas were in a roundtable discussion with Woods when they recollected their first-ever meeting with the legendary golfer. Speaking to TNT host Brian Anderson ahead of The Match, the three major champions were quick to put forward their own interesting stories.

While McIlroy recollected watching Tiger Woods at the 2002 World Golf Championship in Ireland, Spieth was fanboying over the legend’s chip-in at the 16th hole of the 2005 Masters. Thomas remembers being lucky enough to get a ball from Tiger at Torrey Pines as an eight-year-old.

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Rory McIlroy’s first encounter with Tiger Woods

Rory McIlroy started the trip down memory lane and recalled being on the PGA Tour as a youngster. The Irish golfer said that he watched Tiger Woods and wished to “emulate” his game.

Narrating his first memory of meeting Woods, McIlroy said:

“I’m a young kid from Northern Ireland like half a world away from this country, the PGA Tour and Tiger, so, I had a dream that one day I wanted to be like him, right. I wanted to emulate that and every Sunday night I’d tune in to watch the PGA Tour golf… I had an opportunity to see Tiger live in Ireland in 2022 at age 13 at Mount Juliet in a World Golf Championship. It was the first time I saw him play live.”

He went on to add:

“Ever since that day, before that anyway, but he is all of our hero’s. Anyone who has grown up in my generation, or JT or Jordan who are a little younger than me, we all looked up to this guy. We all wanted to be the next Tiger Woods. We’ve all figured out that we’re not going to be the next Tiger Woods because there only is one, but we all try our hardest to be as good as we can be and we’re all inspired by him.”

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Jordan Spieth’s first encounter with Tiger Woods

Jordan Spieth was clearly the biggest Woods fanboy of the three major winners. Recalling his first memory of the ace golfer, Spieth said that he fell in love with golf watching Tiger’s chipped in shot at Augusta on Chris DiMarco in 2005.

He said:

“What I remember most is when Tiger chipped in at Augusta on (Chris) DiMarco in (2005, 16th hole, final round Masters). I was like 11, 12 years old and that was when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do – I loved golf and played other sports and fell in love with golf really that day. I think it was the coolest shot ever hit in the game that I’ve certainly ever seen, watched or been a part of.”

He added:

“I want to say the first time I played with Tiger was a practice round in the Presidents Cup in 2013. That was a really neat experience because we were on the same team and going after the same goal. I never would have expected that. That was my rookie season. For me, that was an I’ve-made-it moment because I’m teeing it up against Tiger in one of these team events.”

Interestingly, Woods also remembered the event. Continuing the conversation, he asked if Spieth was the one who made a hole-in-one that day. The golfer replied positively and said that it was a “super-cool moment first time playing with Tiger to make a hole-in-one.” Woods went on to joke that he still lost the game.

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Justin Thomas’ first encounter with Tiger Woods

Justin Thomas also had a very early meeting with Tiger Woods. The golfer even remembered his first conversation with the 15-time major champion.

Recalling his meeting with Woods, Thomas said:

“I would say our first actual round of playing together was something in South Florida. Maybe Medalist or something like that. Competitively, Riviera. I’ve played alongside these guys numerous times and I remember after feeling comfortable enough with him and knowing him that I could ask him, we’ve played at home and now we’ve played competitively, basically, ‘What do you think?’

He was like, ‘You don’t have near enough shots.’ I was like, ‘Sounds good.’ It’s always pretty blunt and short and sweet with Tiger. I’d much rather have say that then blow smoke to me.”

Interestingly, Thomas remembered an even earlier meeting with the ace golfer. He recalled going to a junior event at Torrey Pines where he got the ball from Woods.