Tiger loosens up and gets Funky

For all those who missed watching the Skins Game this past weekend, you may never see Tiger Woods so out of character unless you are fortunate enough to accompany him on a social round down at Isleworth. He was really enjoying himself and his playing partners to the point that I have to believe he had some input into their selection.

Fred Couples was the defending champion and an automatic pick. But it is no secret that Tiger enjoys playing with Freddie as much apparently everybody else on Tour also does and wanted him to be his partner throughout the Presidents Cup. (Couples wasn’t up to the task early in that competition and Captain Nicklaus had to sit him down.) The 2 of them were always 30-60 yards ahead of Fred Funk & Annika Sorenstam so they were constantly chatting while waiting for their turn to hit, which we were able to hear as all players were miked. Annika plays enough golf with Tiger that at one point he was telling her about the swing changes that she is currently working on. And Tiger brought it up, not her.

But the real straw that stirred the drink was Fred Funk. This format fit his personality well. You probably have heard that he wore a dress on the hole that Annika out-drove him. You may not know that it was his idea. And there was one moment where Tiger almost came completely unglued. As Funk tried to read his putt, Tiger lined up directly opposite him on the other side of the hole in an effort to help Funk make the read. When Fred asked Tiger what it looked like, Tiger looked at the squatting Funk - still clad in his hot pink, flowered dress - and said “It looks like 2 balls out!” The announcers, the players, the gallery were all practically in tears laughing at this double entendre. Even usually staid Annika was giggling. And Tiger fully dropped his guard, enjoying golf just like a regular guy for a while. You shoulda seen it.