“A terrible mistake” - When Tiger Woods reacted to his first-ever golf swing on the PGA Tour
Tiger Woods marked his PGA Tour debut at the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1996. The legendary golfer won his first Tour event the same year at the Las Vegas Invitational. He then went on to win the Masters in 1997 and kicked off his career in style.
The then 20-year-old was lauded by many for his confidence on his debut. However, not many knew that he made his amateur debut at the 1992 Los Angeles Open, four years earlier.
CBS recently brought up an old footage where a 16-year-old Tiger Woods is seen taking his opening tee shot. Interestingly, Woods wasn’t too impressed with what he saw in the video.
During a post-round interview with CBS after finishing T-45 at the Genesis Invitational, the legendary golfer dismissed his own original swing technique. Commenting on his debut event’s swing, over 31 years later, Woods called it a “terrible mistake.”
The American noted that he had his credential badge in his left front pocket, which was a hindrance while taking swings. Tiger Woods said, as quoted by Golf Digest:
“That was a terrible mistake. If you look at that, I had my credential badge in my left-front pocket. I mean, look at that thing… This was out of my comfort zone, obviously.”
Tiger Woods criticises his amateur debut performance
Watching a side-by-side video of his 1992 tee shot and a more recent one, the golfer noted that he didn’t have his classy turn back then. He added that his younger self subtly tried the club twirl, which later became one of his signature moves.
However, Tiger Woods cut his younger self some slack and said that there’s “certainly an adjustment period” going from high school to the PGA Tour. Interestingly, the golfer’s debut was still a strong one on paper, with him carding an opening birdie and shooting 72-75 later to miss the cut.
Despite his criticism, Woods was happy to make his debut at the Los Angeles Open.
“This tournament means a lot to not only myself but my family and my foundation. I’m a SoCal kid at heart and to be able to go from my PGA Tour debut … to now being the host of this event, I would never have foreseen that. Just very lucky and very thankful," he added.
It is noteworthy that Tiger Woods quickly gained fame during his early days. The golfer showcased his enormous talent and promise during his PGA Tour pro debut at the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1996.
He even scored his first hole-in-one as a professional golfer on the 14th hole during his final round of the event. This instantly made him a fan favorite and he hasn’t looked back since.