{"id":294516,"date":"2023-09-30T09:37:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-30T09:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=294516"},"modified":"2023-09-30T09:37:02","modified_gmt":"2023-09-30T09:37:02","slug":"tiger-woods-did-not-see-funny-side-when-i-bumped-into-him-at-ryder-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/nba\/tiger-woods-did-not-see-funny-side-when-i-bumped-into-him-at-ryder-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Tiger Woods did not see funny side when I bumped into him at Ryder Cup’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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    The saying goes you should never meet your heroes.<\/p>\n

    Let alone have a coming together, quite literally, in a moment as embarrassing as it was accidental.<\/p>\n

    The scene is underneath the bleachers behind the 8th green at Hazeltine National golf course in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

    The home of the 2016 Ryder Cup and a truly epic duel in the Sunday singles between Rory McIlroy and American firebrand Patrick Reed.<\/p>\n

    The atmosphere was febrile.<\/p>\n

    READ MORE: People are only just realising why Tiger Woods isn't playing at the Ryder Cup<\/b><\/p>\n

    READ MORE: 'I was Ryder Cup vice-captain \u2013 we downed 72 bottles of wine before final day and still won'<\/b><\/p>\n

    There was no love between the duo, who traded blow after blow in a bid to knock the other one down.<\/p>\n

    It was the top match and the pair of them gave delirious fans what they'd come to see.<\/p>\n

    Birdies were traded over the opening seven holes, but what happened on the eighth became the stuff of legend and resulted in one of the most-watched moments in Ryder Cup history.<\/p>\n

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    McIlroy's tee shot to the par-three came up some 60 feet short of the flag, leaving him a tough task to get down in two, while Reed was pin-high but in the left fringe – 20 feet from the target.<\/p>\n

    The European talisman exploded in celebration when his putt dropped for an unlikely two, and he was happy to let the baying crowd know: "I can't hear you, I can't hear you" as he wheeled away.<\/p>\n

    But, after the noise subsided, Reed calmly rolled in his putt for the half and the pair marched to the next tee full of admiration and respect for one another.<\/p>\n

    But not before the watching media, match officials and a certain Tiger Woods all attempted to fit through a tunnel to the next hole which was cramped to say the least.<\/p>\n

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    Woods wasn't playing due to injury, so took on the role as one of the vice captains.<\/p>\n

    And he looked less than impressed when yours truly turned round to head towards the next hole, only to crash straight into the golfing legend.<\/p>\n

    He didn't see the funny side amid all the surrounding mayhem.<\/p>\n

    Unlike some of my colleagues.<\/p>\n

    But he was happier at the end, because Reed eventually got the better of McIlroy in a match that went the distance – and will live long in the memory for more reasons than one.<\/p>\n