Curtis Strange - "My Infamous Tiger Woods Interview" SHORT TRACK

Intro Music 0:07

Straight down the middle. It went straight down the middle. Then it started to hook.

Mike Gonzalez 0:16

Early on, Curtis, I've got to mention this because this week happens to be the 25th anniversary of Tiger's debut at the Greater Milwaukee Open in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And you must have been there in some capacity because there is a fairly, I will call it infamous interview, you with Tiger, probably on the Wednesday before his debut that year in 1996. And that interview is getting a lot of play this week because of the anniversary, but for other reasons. So why don't you take kind of take us back to that time and and your sit-down with at the time a kid I think who was four days removed from just winning his third straight U.S. amateur.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Yeah. I was with ABC Sports at the time doing their golf. And I asked my producer if I could do the interview, if I could get the interview with Tiger. This was his first professional tournament in Milwaukee. He says, Okay, deal. So I went to him uh that Tuesday or so and he says, sure, I'd love to sit down. So I got to do the interview. I got nervous. I was there twofold. I was playing. I was still playing uh uh a lot of the ABC events that uh I I I televised, and uh they allowed me to do that, and then I was doing the T uh TV. So uh Wednesday afternoon, um we had a sit-down, did a lot of homework, a lot of work, was nervous. I was nervous because I was out of my element now. It's my first sit-down interview, and uh he was a young kid, he had a great record. But Bruce, as you and I all know, uh there's a big transition from amateur golf to professional golf. Yeah. And uh uh he was very honest. I knew him a little bit, I knew him to speak to him and talk and chat, and so it wasn't just meeting on the spot. And I knew enough to let him talk, set him up and let him go. Um I asked the question what would be a good result for you this week. He said, Well, I go to every tournament to win. Um and he said, Winning is what I come here to do, and second sucks, and third is worse. And uh it kind of caught me off guard, um which is my mistake number one, it caught me off guard. And then I thought for a second, I said, Well, you do you realize how that comes off uh as arrogant or cocky to some of these old veterans who have been out here all year, their whole life, that understand how tough this game really is and how it would have beat you up. He says, I understand that, but that's the way I was brought up. That's the way I take my attitude every week, and that's what I think about this week. And I thought for a second, I said, Well, you'll learn. Mistake number two is that I didn't shut up. I said, Well, you know what I mean. I kind of giggled. I said, You know what I mean? It's a tough game, blah, blah, blah. I should have shut up and let him fill the blanks, and I didn't. Um, I said that you'll learn for, you know, it was on the spot quickly. Uh some of it to be a smart ass, some of it that you will learn because this is a tough game. Yeah. We've had a lot of great amorous come before you that didn't come out to be Jack Nicholas or the future of Tiger Woods. And knowing, first of all, how tough I worked at it and how tough the game was for a lot of people. So um it went on. And it was a good interview. It came off great. He was terrific in the interview. Not another word was said for the next 15 years, 12 years until social media hit the hit the airwaves.

Mike Gonzalez 4:02

We hope you've enjoyed this short track of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends until we tee it up again for the good of the game. So long, everybody.

Intro Music 4:23

Whack down the fairway. It went smack down the fairwell. And it started to slice, just smitch off line. It headed for two, but it bounced off nine. My caddy says long as you're still in the state, you're okay.