Tiger’s ridiculous pre-Open routine
By Alex Perry
Come for Tiger Woods’ antics in the middle of the night, stay for Brooks Koepka and Jena Sims freeing the flesh. Alex Perry explains in The Slam
Hello. Welcome to this week’s edition of The Slam. Now, who’s getting excited about the Open? I’m not, but mainly because I’m not going. It’ll be my first missed Open since St George’s in 2011 and I’m still a bit sulky about it so bear with me. (Do the massive brownie points I’m earning at home make up for it? No, no they do not.) Right, shall we talk about Tiger Woods – because we can’t get enough of that guy, can we? But first…
Daly grind
John Daly’s had a fun few days.
After turning up at Moor Allerton, a pitching wedge from NCG Towers, to captain the Yorkshire team against Lancashire in the annual War of the Roses, the Wild Thing posted the following on social media:
My life chapter 84k: Craziest event! Was in England last wk & incurred a spider bite, not really knowing it. Fast forward to Friday, mouth/mouth, compressions & unknowingly now in an ambulance rushed to ER all while on family vacation & straight into surgery! Removing what developed into a major infection in my abdominal area & treated for early sepsis all from a brown recluse! Thk u staff @Nemacolin @UtwnHospital My caddie has now named me #SpiderPro #photoistoographic #GladtobeAlive #InSomeSeriousPain
TLDR? Daly was bitten by a spider, rushed to hospital, underwent surgery.
At that point, however, he was still confident he would play in the Open, despite being denied the use of a buggy by the R&A…
The 148th Open at Royal Portrush…… pic.twitter.com/RAOLQUmfLY
— John Daly (@PGA_JohnDaly) July 6, 2019
But it didn’t take long before he decided to skip the year’s final major, for which he is exempt until the age of 60, to instead play in the Barbasol Championship.
More importantly, John, where did this spider bite happen and was it at Moor Allerton? Because, y’know, I play quite a bit of golf there..
New balls please
You know the Open is close when social media is full of photos of slebs at Wimbledon, and golfers aren’t shy of a free invite either…
Great day at Wimbledon in The Royal Box with these beautiful people! Shook hands 🤝 Fed and Nadal yesterday. Let’s hope the magic rubs off on me for next week! pic.twitter.com/jd0Zq5RUbd
— Justin ROSE (@JustinRose99) July 9, 2019
I love this photo of Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose…
“Rosey, why do they get 15 points for the first two rallies they win and only 10 for the third?” (Is what I imagine he’s saying.)
Irish Open champion Jon Rahm was also there, and his get-up was quite the talking point, including this from Thomas Pieters…
@PepperellEddie take it from here boss. Im on the Floor 😂 @CHANEL @HUGOBOSS @gucci @Hermes_Paris please help pic.twitter.com/104szOb5cV
— Thomas Pieters (@Thomas_Pieters) July 10, 2019
It doesn’t matter how much money you have, you can’t buy dress sense.
Say no to drugs
Viktor Hovland is quickly becoming my favourite golfer (and perhaps person) on the planet.
When asked about his thoughts on him and fellow new kids on the block Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa being favourites for this week’s John Deere Classic, he had this epic response…
Viktor Hovland is now a living legend. pic.twitter.com/ufA4knxDB2
— Skratch (@Skratch) July 10, 2019
Don’t ever change, Vik.
Night of the Tiger
While most of the United States was sleeping off a hangover on Sunday night after their Independence Day weekend, Tiger Woods was up and at ’em.
The 15-time major champion (still weird) posted a video on Nike’s Instagram stories at 1am, screeching “It’s Tiger – wake up!” into his phone.
So why was he doing it? Well, he’s getting his body clock adjusted to UK time ahead of next week’s Open.
Woods, who has never played the week before the Open, adds: “It is now 1am here on the East Coast. Why am I doing this right now? Because it is now 6am at Royal Portrush. I will be playing the Open Championship there and in order to be prepared for the time change I’m getting up.”
Here’s the full clip, which Golf Channel’s Sam Marks caught…
Tiger Woods says, in a video on @Nike Instagram story, that he’s been waking up at 1 a.m. EST to get acclimated for Royal Portrush time difference. 😱
(Also, anyone know how to make a custom alarm sound? I wanna wake up to “It’s Tiger, WAKE UP!“ every morning) pic.twitter.com/2Fbk99FYUQ
— Samantha Marks (@SamMarksGC) July 8, 2019
Do you know where else is on Northern Ireland time, Tiger?
NORTHERN IRELAND.
Get yourself over here, this can’t possibly be the best way to do it.
See through you
And finally, golf’s newest power couple Brooks Koepka and Jena Sims are not body shy are they? (And why should they be?)
The pair were at the EPSY Awards on Wednesday and it was Jena who caught the eye in a rather revealing outfit at the pre-party.
Now, I’m no prude and I’m often donating money to the #FreeTheNipple campaign, but this is a family website so it’s on the next page if you really want to see it…
Alex Perry
Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.
