"Good job, old man”: Tiger Woods takes a naughty dig at Charley Hoffman at Riviera after his runner-up finish at WM Phoenix Open
Charley Hoffman's performance at the WM Phoenix Open helped get him a spot in the Genesis Invitational. It's an event hosted by Tiger Woods, and is the first event on tour that the legendary golfer is playing in since he recovered from ankle surgery last spring.
Woods ended up being the first one to see Hoffman when he showed up at Riviera, and he didn't miss the opportunity to give him a slightly backhanded compliment via Golf Digest:
"Good job, old man."
Woods, of course, is an old man himself. In fact, he's slightly older. The 82-time PGA Tour winner is 48, while Hoffman clocks in at 47. These two have been on tour for a long time, and they both know it.
Tiger Woods is glad Charley Hoffman made good on his promise
Tiger Woods is hosting the event, so he has a say in the field. They offer exemptions to some players who don't make it through ordinary qualification. Charley Hoffman, prior to landing in the field, had asked for one from Woods personally. However, there weren't any left. He had just figured then that he wouldn't make it and could enjoy some time off.
He revealed that he didn't know that his recent form had allowed him to sneak in via the Aon Swing 5, but that he was glad he'd honored his promise to Woods:
"Did it?! That's awesome. I'm excited about that. I guess I'm playing next week and not going skiing. We were planning on going to Mammoth skiing for a few days. I guess we're going to have to change those plans! So I asked Tiger for an exemption and he said they're all taken, so I said, I'll play my way in, so I guess I did."
That's the nature of Woods' light-hearted joke. Charley Hoffman had made good on his promise, and the 15-time major winner took the chance to rib him on it. This will be Hoffman's 496th start on tour and Woods is returning for his 374th, so there's plenty of experience to go around.
If not for injuries, Woods might have much more than Charley Hoffman. But either way, he's the elder statesman in this duo if only by a little bit. He is keenly aware of that, which is where his tongue-in-cheek remark gets its irony.
Nevertheless, these two will get to face off against each other this weekend. Something that seemed impossible before Hoffman's near-win at the WM Phoenix Open.
He ended up in a playoff with Nick Taylor, where he finished a stroke shy of the win. That said, he still beat out top golfers like Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Max Homa and others to earn that P2 finish and a spot at the Genesis this weekend.
That field will include Woods, Will Zalatoris, Ludvig Aberg, Kevin Yu, Cameron Young, Sepp Straka, Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy, Max Homa, Xander Schauffele and tons of other good golfers, so it'll be an event to watch.