Even without his recent resurgence, Tiger Woods will go down in history as one of the best golfers who ever lived. It’s been over 20 years since Tiger burst onto the scene with his convincing win at the 1997 Masters, and since then he’s won 79 more times on tour, most recently at the 2018 Tour Championship.
When you’re that dominant, your competitors want a piece of you. Everyone wants to beat the best, and as a result, Tiger made some enemies along the way. That said, golf is a friendly game played by gentlemen, so naturally, you’re going to make some friends along the way.
For this list, I picked out 10 golfers Tiger is known to have a good relationship with, and of course to balance things out—we’re all about fairness here—I’ve selected 10 golfers who are absolutely not Tiger’s friend. Golf is a relatively civil game (you won’t see any Khabib-like blowups at Augusta any time soon), but humans are humans, and they’re susceptible to emotion.
Tiger’s been a pro golfer for 22 years now, which has provided plenty of time to build relationships and develop rivalries. Ever wonder who Tiger hates on tour and who he’s chummy with? Read on to find out:
20 Respects: Phil Mickelson
Tiger Woods is the single reason Phil Mickelson was never able to attain the world no. 1 ranking in his hall-of-fame career, but Lefty doesn’t hold that against Tiger. The pair remains friendly, even though they’re getting ready to face each other in a one-on-one, winner-take-all, $9M match this Thanksgiving weekend.
Perhaps things will go awry at the big game and Phil finds his way onto the other half of this list, but for now, Woods and Mickelson are pals.
They recently played a round together when warming up for last month’s Ryder Cup, and Phil even commented on how well Tiger was playing via his new Twitter account.
19 Doesn’t: Vijay Singh
The Tiger of today is by all accounts a lot more easy-going than he was in his younger days. Whereas now you can find him sharing a laugh on the practice range with fellow golfers, that wasn’t the case prior to, say, 2009. Vijay Singh was the only player to usurp Tiger from the No. 1 ranking from 2000-2010, but the animosity began prior to Singh taking over the top spot in 2004.
The incident that sparked controversy was at the 2000 President’s Cup. Singh’s caddy Paul Tesori wore a cap that read “Tiger Who?” during the Fijian’s match against Woods. Tiger didn’t find it too humorous and proceeded to beat Singh 2 and 1.
18 Respects: Jim Furyk
The 2018 Ryder Cup captain of Team USA is the second player on the list today that Tiger would consider a friend. Jim Furyk had originally selected Tiger as an assistant captain, but the 2018 resurgence of Tiger force Furyk’s hand, and he ended up adding his old friend to the team as a competitor.
The Europeans, of course, ended up stomping the Americans, and Tiger didn’t help out his team much, as he was one of three American competitors who failed to register at least a point over the weekend, going 0-4. Woods has historically been lackluster at the Ryder Cup, but 2018 was his weakest performance to date.
17 Doesn’t: Stephen Ames
The uber-competitive Tiger wears his heart on his sleeve, and you could tell that he wasn’t thrilled with the way he was hitting his drives leading up to the 2006 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.Stephen Ames took note of this and even said so much to reporters in a lead-up to his match against Woods.
“Anything can happen—especially where he’s hitting the ball,” Ames said.
Tiger proceeded to lay the boots to the Canada born golfer, beating him 9 and 8. When asked about Ames’ comment after the match, Woods had a simple, to-the-point reply: “Eight and nine.” Can’t really argue with the facts.
16 Respects: Sean O’Hair
Sean O’Hair’s familial struggles have been well-documented. His relationship with his father was a complicated one, as he forced his son to turn pro at the age of 17, but not before signing a contract that guaranteed 10% of O’Hair’s career earnings went straight to his pop.
With that in mind, Woods had a bit of an ally in O’Hair when he went through his (also well-documented) family issues. They were friends before the unpleasantness, and while they didn’t speak for a few years during Tiger’s very low point just a few years ago, Woods always had an ally in O’Hair.
15 Doesn’t: Tom Watson
Golf is a game for gentlemen, and Tom Watson is basically the poster boy for proper golf. Watson has recently spoken on Tiger’s resurgence, welcoming one of the all-time greats back into the fold after a long hiatus from golf supremacy, but he hasn’t always been a fan of Woods, based on comments made back in 2010.
In an interview with CNN’s Stan Grant, Watson said that Woods needed to “treat the game with a little bit more respect.” This was in reference to Tiger’s old tendency to swear after a bad shot, or even throw his club to the ground in frustration.
14 Respects: Fred Couples
I’ve never met a guy who dislikes Freddie Couples. He’s just a likable guy, and Tiger Woods agrees. Couples was already in the twilight of his career when Woods burst onto the scene, and he served as somewhat of a mentor to the young phenom.
Couples has always publicly supported Woods, and he most recently spoke about Tiger at the 2018 Masters.
Couples still plays in the tournament annually thanks to his lifetime exemption, earned by winning the 1992 Green Jacket. Count Couples as another veteran golfer who is happy to see Tiger back at the top of his game.
13 Doesn’t: Rory Sabbatini
Tiger has made it pretty clear that he dislikes it when fellow golfers talk smack about him to the media, and that’s why South Africa's Rory Sabbatini is stuck in Tiger’s doghouse. Sabbatini’s ill-advised comments came back in 2007, when he mentioned that Tiger was (at the time) more beatable than he’s ever been.
Seems pretty harmless, but Tiger’s a proud guy and wasn't going to just sit and listen to Sabbatini call him out like that. He was quick to point out that he’d already won three times that year, which just so conveniently matched Sabbatini’s career total at the time. Checkmate, Rory.
12 Respects: Notah Begay III
Of all of Tiger’s friends on the list, Notah Begay III is probably his oldest friend. NB3 actually has a pretty playful relationship with Woods—something that has eluded almost anyone else who’s attempted as much. Begay even gave Tiger the nickname “Urkel” back in their Stanford days. I simply can’t see this being okay if, say, Sergio Garcia called him that.
Woods and Begay remain friends to this day, and Tiger usually makes an appearance at the latter’s annual charity golf tournament.
That's not a bad name to draw to your charity tournament, and the fact that Tiger goes out of his way to appear shows his admiration for NB3.
11 Doesn’t: Brandel Chamblee
Brandel Chamblee really knows how to run his mouth, something that is apparent pretty much every time you see him on the Golf Channel these days. He’s said some pretty outrageous things about the greatest golfer of all-time, including just last August when he said that Tiger “got the least out of his talent of any player in history"
While we’re not exactly sure how that’s a quantifiable statement, does it matter? I mean, Chamblee won on the tour exactly one time, and it was the now defunct, often poorly attended Greater Vancouver Open back in 1998. Anything Chamblee says about Woods is just noise, really.
10 Respects: Arjun Atwal
Back in 2009, when Tiger’s controversies were fresh, there weren’t many guys who stood by the beleaguered golfer. There was one golfer whom he preferred to play his practice rounds with over the others though, and that was former neighbor Arjun Atwal.
While Atwal hasn’t had too much success on the PGA Tour, he did become the first player born in India to become a card-carrying member of the PGA Tour. He then became the first player born in India to win on that same tour, taking the 2010 Wyndham Championship. He’s been a vocal supporter of Woods this past year as well, stating he believes that Woods will be even better than he was before (a bold statement).
9 Doesn’t: Adam Scott
While Aussie Adam Scott hasn’t come out and said anything too disparaging, there’s evidence to suggest that the pair aren’t the best of friends. Caddie Steve Williams left Woods and immediately started carrying Scott’s bag, and after Scott won his first tournament with Williams on the bag, the latter insinuated that it was the best win of his career (a clear slap in the face, as he won tons with Tiger, including many Majors).
Woods later became a supporter of banning the long putter, which is what Scott used to putt with.
This was a frustrating time for Scott, as he had to basically learn how to putt a different way than he had gotten used to, and he said as much at the time.
8 Respects: Davis Love III
Davis Love III is a few years older than Tiger, but the peaks of their careers more or less lined up with each other. Love III has always been supportive of his fellow American, and the pair were frequently seen chumming around whenever they would play in team events, be it the Ryder Cup or President’s Cup.
Although they’re friends, it must have been frustrating for Love to play during Woods’ prime. Love finished 2nd to Tiger in four tournaments, meaning that Love would potentially have added to his 21 PGA Tour wins if not for that meddling Tiger.
7 Doesn’t: Fuzzy Zoeller
Look, I’m not saying Fuzzy Zoeller can be insensitive, but I am saying that there is evidence to support that very claim and yeah, he did get insensitive over two decades ago. While he’s always presented himself as a bit of a curmudgeon, it was some comments made after Tiger’s historic Masters win in 1997 that solidified this opinion of him.
"He's doing quite well, pretty impressive,” Zoeller said in an interview after the tournament. “That little boy is driving well and he's putting well. He's doing everything it takes to win."
Zoeller then went on to say in passing that Tiger should get some fried chicken for playing well.
6 Respects: Steve Stricker
Although Steve Stricker is now a player on the Champions Tour, for many of his final years as a full-time PGA Tour player he and Tiger were very close.
It seemed the pair only grew closer after the unpleasantness that surfaced in 2009, often spotted together on the practice range and putting green offering up tips to each other—even when in competition.
Tiger and Stricker have also played together during Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups frequently over the past decade, garnering the reputation of quite the formidable duo in that time. Of course, Stricker will only periodically be around during the “Tiger resurgence years,” but they still support each other nonetheless.
5 Doesn’t: Nick Faldo
This one is a bit of a friendly rivalry, as nothing between Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods has been colored with too much animosity, as far as I can tell. Faldo’s career was tapering off just as Tiger’s was beginning, and Faldo now spends his time as an analyst for the Golf Channel.
While the peaks of their careers never crossed over, Faldo was one of the more vocal critics of Tiger from about 2010 to 2016 or so. He’s recently stepped back from his criticisms, but there was a time when Faldo said “His back is basically locked up. He's had three surgeries on it and he's just not as flexible as you need to be for golf so I think unfortunately he's not looking good to even make a comeback as a golfer." That will teach Faldo to never doubt the best.
4 Respects: Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy was essentially expected to take over Tiger as the undisputed best golfer on the planet, and while that hasn’t exactly happened, there is still mutual admiration between Woods and the young man from Northern Ireland.
McIlroy has recently stated that he doesn’t really have any close friends who are on Tour, but Tiger and Rory often choose to play practice rounds together. When Rory was just bursting onto the scene (around 2011-12), it marked perhaps the first time in Woods’ career that he cozied up to one of the other top players in the world. That’s something he simply didn’t do pre-scandal.
3 Doesn’t: Greg Norman
Greg Norman has always been a large personality in the golf world. Unafraid to speak his mind, he’s been at the center of a few public controversies in his day (nothing like Tiger’s, of course). While the relationship got off to a decent start when Tiger turned pro in 1996, things went south when Norman went out of his way to point out that Tiger had not yet been invited to his annual Shark Shootout event, despite Tiger having expressed interest in appearing.
Tiger was eventually invited, but out of spite, he declined the invitation.
Ever since, Norman hasn’t passed up the opportunity to take a shot at Tiger, stating that Woods would never win another Major back in 2011, and also criticizing captain Fred Couples’ pick of Tiger for the 2011 President’s Cup.
2 Respects: Mark O’Meara
1998 was a good year for Mark O’Meara, as he managed to win his two career Majors that year. It was around this time that the pair grew close, as they were neighbors at Isleworth, and it wasn’t rare to see the two playing a practice round together, or even out on the lake doing some fishing.
While they grew apart somewhat during Tiger’s controversial years (he was busy dealing with that and didn’t have much time for his pals for a few years), O’Meara is still a vocal supporter of Woods and has publicly stated that he hopes for a return to greatness for Woods.
1 Doesn’t: Sergio Garcia
A handful of people have made some pretty sad comments regarding Tiger and the fact that he’s black. Much like Fuzzy Zoeller did in ’97, Garcia made a similarly offensive remark in 2013. It was at the European Tour Awards where Garcia was asked by MC Steve Sands if he planned on inviting Tiger Woods over for dinner at the upcoming US Open.
Garcia’s reply? “We will have him round every night. We’ll serve fried chicken.” First off, that’s not even funny. Like, where’s the joke? Garcia soon apologized for the comments, stating they were in no way intended to be offensive.