Getty Image
It’s hard to imagine there are many people at the British Open who wouldn’t recognize Tiger Woods, but he was once forced to deploy an incredibly unorthodox form of identification when he forgot to bring his official credential with him to the tournament.
Tiger Woods was only 24 years old when he became the fifth (and youngest) golfer to complete a career grand slam with a victory at The Open Championship (a.k.a. the British Open) at St. Andrews around a month after he’d put himself in a position to do so by winning the U.S. Open in 2000.
As was the case with many of the many victories he racked up in his prime, Tiger won the tournament in dominant fashion, as he finished eight strokes ahead of his closest competitors and only recorded three bogeys over the course of 72 holes where he managed to avoid every single one of the bunkers with the potential to make life very miserable at the Old Course.
Woods won his second Claret Jug in 2005 before successfully defending his championship at Royal Liverpool the following year, so it’s safe to assume anyone tasked with working security at the tournament in the mid-2000s would be familiar with the three-time champion.
However, based on a story PGA Tour veteran Michael Kim shared on Tuesday, that didn’t prevent one employee from hassling him when he showed up without the pass players are given to gain access to the grounds.
When I was in college, I spent a few summers making some extra cash doing security at a pro tennis tournament in New England, and there was an unspoken rule not to make life unnecessarily difficult for guys who forgot their security credentials but were obviously participating in the event.
However, based on the anecdote Kim relayed, that wasn’t the case with the official tasked with guarding the locker room at a British Open during Tiger’s heyday, as Woods was apparently forced to call their attention to a billboard with his face on it before continuing on with his day.
At the Open Championship, players get a clip as credentials to get you into the locker room and everywhere else. Mid 2000s, Tiger forgot his clip one day, and he was walking into the locker room when the security person stopped him asking for his credentials lol.
Tiger looks…— Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) July 16, 2024
That’s a baller move.