“Fore, please. Now driving, Tiger Woods. Prepare to go nuts.”
In just a couple of months, golf fans will be transported to the tranquillity of Augusta National, a peaceful safe-haven for the sport’s etiquette.
This is nothing like AugustaCredit: Getty
Think you get nervous playing golf? Try hitting this shotCredit: Getty
But this week, we have the antithetical WM Phoenix Open, golf’s answer to the Old Firm derby.
Crowds of more than 200,000 turn up each day to watch the most bonkers week on the PGA Tour – but only 20,000 seats interest them.
They surround the iconic 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale, a 163-yard par three, otherwise known as the loudest place in golf.
While mobile phones and running are forbidden at Augusta, boisterous chanting and the smell of beer fill the air in Arizona.
The tiniest distraction is enough for the top players to pull out of a shot, but here they actively encourage mayhem on the back swing.
There was no stadium back in 1997 and Woods won’t be there this week – but he still owns the most deafening moment in the 16th hole’s history.
Players fire up the crowdCredit: Getty
And they duly obligeCredit: Getty
As with most iconic Woods moments – the ‘better-than-most’ putt, the ‘oh-my-goodness’ chip – it’s preceded by a now-famous line: ‘They’re gonna go nuts when he hits this thing’.
His playing partner, Omar Uresti, just struck one to within three feet, but Tiger goes and holes it in front of 15,000 wild fans.
Pints go flying as if England just scored in a major tournament, Woods starts trying to break everyone’s hand with some questionable high-fiving, and then he throws a classic nineties move.
Woods recently recalled: “I missed Omar, or was it Rusty? Omar? I missed his hand. And then old school, back in the day, raise the roof, you know, that was the thing back in the day.
“Then on top of that, just smelling and hearing the beer hit behind me on the tee box. To turn around and see all this beer flying was crazy.”
This is arguably the most famous hole-in-one everCredit: PGA Tour
The celebration did not match the shot, though Credit: PGA Tour
Just a nice comfortable 9-iron.
25 years ago, @TigerWoods rocked the galleries @WMPhoenixOpen with his ace on No. 16.#TOURVault pic.twitter.com/oGlJKrMO5y
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 9, 2022
Broadcaster Jim Kelly reveals the noise rocked the clubhouse from 600 yards away.
He said: “It was instant bedlam. I mean instant pandemonium.
“The roar was so loud it actually rattled the windows at the clubhouse.”
A quiet old game? Not this week.
Live coverage of Rory McIlroy and co at the WM Phoenix Open will be live on talkSPORT 2, starting Thursday.
