The night before Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland prepared to tee off in Sunday’s final group at the 150th Open Championship, NBC Sports on-course reporter and former PGA Tour caddie John Wood couldn’t help but wonder how Tiger Woods, winner of three claret jugs among 15 major titles, would approach the final round in the leaders’ shoes.
So, he texted him.
Woods responded as if it were he, not McIlroy or Hovland, who would be taking a four-shot lead into Sunday at St. Andrews.
On-course reporter @Johnwould texted Tiger Woods to ask how he'd approach #TheOpen final round in the leaders' shoes.
— Golf Channel PR (@GolfChannelPR) July 17, 2022
"No bunkers. No three-putts. Take care of the driveable par 4s & par 5s...sneak in 1 or 2 more. Lo & behold, a score around 68 w/o doing anything special." pic.twitter.com/QIV1oA4jtB
“If I shot 19 under par, which would tie the lowest score in relation to par in all four majors, I would win,” Woods told Wood via text. “How do I go about doing that? No bunkers, no three-putts, take care of the drivable par 4s and take care of the par 5s. Maybe sneak in one or two more [birdies]. Lo and behold, a score around 68 without doing anything special.”