With the WGC-Dell Match play starting on Wednesday (join our bracket), lets never forget the time that Stephen Ames talked a little smack about Tiger Woods and then got throttled 9&8.
Prior to the 2006 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Tiger had won the Buick Invitational but then withdrew from his next event, the Nissan Open. This left the door open for Ames to take a shot at the Big Cat, but first, let’s go back to 2000 and get Ames’ thoughts on a young Tiger:
“He doesn’t look like he has enough respect for other players. Tiger’s coming across as bigger than the game.”“He’s a spoiled 24-year-old. If I was in his position I’d be more considerate. If I was beating the spit out of [other players], I wouldn’t have to beat them in that way too. He made $11 million [in 1999], endorsed more than $50 million – what’s he got to be unhappy about?”
Alright then.
Fast forward to 2006 and ahead of their match Ames added more fuel to the fire:
“Anything can happen, especially where he’s hitting the ball.”
Yeah, you don’t rile up Tiger. By 2006, Tiger had won 10 majors (4 green jackets, 2 US Opens, 2 Open Championships, 2 PGA Championships). Does that really sound like a guy you want to mess with?
That is just demoralizing, and I loved every second of it then and now.
After their match ended, Tiger had this to say when asked about Ames’ comments:
“You might say that. As I said, 9 and 8.”
Woods hit all 10 greens in regulation that day and needed only 14 putts.
In a 2017 podcast with legendary women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma, Woods said this of the 2006 trouncing of Ames:
“I just think he didn’t all quite respect the way that I can play the game of golf. So I had to show him that I can still play.”
“You have no idea how ticked I was that I missed that putt on the 10th hole to beat him 10 and 8.”
He finished the event tied for ninth, but won the next tournament he entered, finished tied for third at the Masters that year, and also won The Open, PGA Championship, as well as five other tournaments.
Tiger’s numbers for the 2006 season are just silly.
- 8 first place finishes
- 1 second place finish
- 1 third place finish
- 11 top 10s
- 13 top 25s
- 14 cuts made in 15 events
And then there’s this stuff:
- 3rd in strokes gained off-the-tee
- 1st in strokes gained on approach-to-the-green
- 21st in strokes gained putting
- 1st in strokes gained tee-to-green
- 1st in strokes gained total
- 1st in greens in regulation
- 1st in birdie average
- 1st in scoring average
- 1st in official money at $9,941,563
- 1st in the world rankings
I could just go on and on, and I will!
- 2nd in going for the green
- 1st in going for the green – hit green percentage
- 6th in going for the green – birdie or better
- 1st in proximity to the hole
- 1st in fairway proximity
- 1st in approaches 225-250 yards
- 1st in approaches 150-175 yards
- 1st in approaches 175-200 yards
- 1st in approaches > 200 yards
- 1st in just about every scoring category
Woods was also the PGA Player of the Year, PGA Tour Player of the Year, PGA Tour leading money winner, and won the Byron Nelson Award.
DON’T MESS WITH THE BIG CAT!