An announcer was criticized for a remark he made about Tiger Woods during the first round of The Open Championship on Thursday.
Woods got off to a hot start at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland by parring the first hole and rolling in a long birdie putt at the second. Things quickly went downhill from there for the 15-time major champion, and one of the Featured Groups announcers for The Open seemed to offer a theory as to why.
The announcer speculated that Tiger was on “a lot of painkillers” in order to cope with the various injuries the 48-year-old has suffered throughout the years.
“You look at the eyes, you’ve got to think that there’s a lot of painkillers being taken to cope with the pain, you know?” the announcer said.
Featured groups basically calling Tiger a drug addict because “you look at the eyes, you gotta think there’s a lot of painkillers being taken.” pic.twitter.com/udylWo5BsT
— Cameron Jourdan (@Cam_Jourdan) July 18, 2024
Woods has had numerous surgeries over the years. He has been very open about the fact that he is in almost constant pain and is unsure of how much longer he will be able to get up and down the course.
What the announcer may have meant is that Woods was likely battling through pain and probably had to take medication to manage it. The announcer may have been referring to perceived pain in Tiger’s eyes rather than the look of someone who is on drugs. At the very least, the comment came out terribly wrong.
