Nearly every golfer who has played alongside Tiger Woods can remember what that commotion felt like. Fans everywhere. Constant yelling and screaming for Woods’ attention. It can be a lot.
PGA Tour veteran Brendon de Jonge, now 46, remembers it well.
De Jonge joined this week’s Subpar podcast to discuss the upcoming Presidents Cup (he was a former member of the International squad) and also reminisced about playing alongside Woods.
At the 2012 AT&T National at Congressional Country Club in Washington, D.C., de Jonge played his way into Sunday’s final threesome with Woods and Bo Van Pelt. A storm ripped through the area during the tournament, so spectators weren’t allowed on the course Saturday. All of those tickets, however, were honored for Sunday, meaning even more fans were on-site for the final round.
“I get to the first tee, and I have never seen this many people in my life,” de Jonge said. “I was so scared, it was so intimidating. I mean we had double the fans that we would have otherwise because of honoring those tickets. Didn’t get off to the best start, didn’t play that well unfortunately, but I got to see what Tiger was all about with the lead.
“I remember this so vividly, that for the first nine holes, he would putt it up there to about a foot away from the hole, and he’d mark, and he’d wait, because he knew as soon as he taps in everyone is going to take off [to the next tee]. He would mark, he was very courteous, he would let us try and putt. As soon as we got to No. 10, he putted up to a foot away, he’d walk up there and tap it in. As soon as he taps in, sure enough everybody takes off running. So you are standing over your putt and you are looking up, looking up, and all you see is just moving bodies all over the place. He played the game that day — he’d been in that position so many times he knew exactly how to use it to his advantage.”
Subpar co-host Colt Knost said that he never played with Woods, but the first time he walked inside the ropes as an on-course reporter with Tiger he was blown away.
“You can’t describe what the atmosphere is like around Tiger,” Knost said. “Some of these players complaining about everything that’s going on, the noise, you have no clue what it’s like until you tee it up with that guy. It is insane what it’s like trying to play alongside him.”
So insane, in fact, that de Jonge even said he asked Woods that day at Congressional if he ever got sick of all the noise and all the craziness surrounding him.
“He just kinda looked at me and said, ‘What are you talking about?’” de Jonge said. “I was like, Alright, I guess you are able to block that out.”
