Bill Clinton and Tiger Woods reportedly had 1 of the worst golf outings ever
Former President Bill Clinton and golf great Tiger Woods went on a less-than-enjoyable golf outing back in 2006, according to a soon-to-be-released biography about Woods.
Woods had wanted Clinton to attend the grand opening of the Tiger Woods Learning Center near Anaheim, California. As a former president, Clinton had star power, and Woods was hoping for a lot of publicity surrounding the opening.
Clinton agreed, but there were several conditions Woods needed to meet.
“Tiger had to personally call and make the request; as an ice-breaker, Clinton wanted to play a round of golf with Woods in Orange County when he came out for the event; and he needed a private plane to travel to the West Coast,” reads an excerpt from “Tiger Woods” that appeared last week in Golf Digest.
None of those conditions sounds particularly difficult, but things were complicated by the fact that Woods and Clinton already had a checkered history.
As co-authors Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian write in their book, Woods refused to appear with Clinton at a 1997 ceremony to honor the late Jackie Robinson. The feud only worsened when, following the U.S. team’s victory in the Ryder Cup, Woods would not have his picture taken with Clinton during the team’s visit to the White House.
Still, Woods agreed to phone Clinton and ask him for the favor. Clinton then said he would appear at Woods’ grand opening event, and the two men planned to play golf beforehand.
But things went south quickly on the day of the golf outing.
It started when Woods allegedly made a crass remark while waiting for Clinton to arrive. “I can’t wait to talk about p—-,” Woods reportedly said.
Then, once Clinton arrived, the former president started “monopolizing the conversation,” which, according to the book, Woods didn’t take kindly to.
“How do you remember all that s—,” Woods reportedly interrupted Clinton to say.
During the outing itself, Woods acted “completely indifferent” to Clinton, “mostly riding alone in his cart and spending an inordinate amount of time on his phone,” the book said.
“After finishing a hole, he would routinely exit the green while others were still putting, a major breach of golf etiquette. When the president hit a wayward drive, Woods snickered. He also told a series of off-color jokes,” the excerpt from the book reads.
According to one observer, Woods was “really obnoxious.”
“It was so clear to me that day who Tiger really was,” the witness added. “I’ve never seen the president more put off by a person than that experience.”
But those sentiments have been disputed by Doug Band, a longtime Clinton aide who was present on the day of the outing.
Band claimed there is “hardly an accurate or true word” in the excerpt.
“The whole notion that Tiger was disrespectful toward the president is completely false,” Band wrote in a piece published on Golf Digest. “The way the authors describe the round of golf (and the events surrounding it) is not only inaccurate, it’s mean-spirited.”
Band said Clinton was “delighted” to be there, and wrote that the former president and the golfing legend “shared a cart and were connected at the hip for most of the day.”
The longtime Clinton aide admitted that Woods made fun of Clinton on the course, but said the jokes came in the spirit of friendship.
And while Woods really did ask, “How do you remember all that s—,” Band said Woods was really in awe of Clinton, not angry at him.
Keteyian and Benedict responded to Band, saying they “stand by the accuracy” of what they originally wrote.
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