Michael Dixon
Early in the 2016 Ryder Cup, the American team had a meeting. The focus of the meeting wasn’t on anything that had happened that day or anything that might happen in the coming days. Instead, the team paid tribute to one of its assistant captains — Tiger Woods.
All members of the team gathered in red, white and blue onesies, which were a gift from Rickie Fowler. When it was time, all 12 players stood up, removed their onesies, and revealed a shirt, which was gifted to them by Zach Johnson. The message on the shirt channeled the campaign message of now president elect Donald Trump.
“MAKE TIGER GREAT AGAIN.”
Photo courtesy of GNNstore.com
Woods loved the shirts.
“I thought it was awesome,” Woods said, via Jason Sobel, ESPN. “It goes to show you the team bonding that we had, the team unity. I’ve been out of the game. I’ve been hurt. For them to come together and do something like that, it unified all of us. It was great.”
Sobel also quoted Johnson, saying that “I just want to pay tribute to one of our assistant captains. …A man who has done so much for this game.”
We have to hope that one day picture or video of this meeting surfaces. The image of 12 grown men in matching onesies is quite hilarious and strangely touching. The same can be said about 12 men in matching shirts, paying tribute to a rival.
The team unity seemed to work well for the Americans, who won 17-11 to win their first Ryder Cup since 2008. As far as making Tiger great again — that’s still a work in progress. Woods played his first competitive round in a long time on Thursday and was uneven, firing a one-over 73.
