Long before Tiger Woods and Sam Snead shared the all-time PGA Tour wins record, they shared something else: a few laughs and a couple of cold drinks.
That moment, back in 1982 — when Snead was 70 and Tiger was 6 — captured the hearts and imaginations of golf fans Sunday evening when a photo of Snead and young Tiger surfaced on Twitter as Woods was on his way to his historic victory at the Zozo Championship.
When @AriMarcus published the image with the caption “82 club,” golf Twitter couldn’t control itself. By 10 a.m. ET Monday, the tweet had north of 10,000 likes. And what’s not to like? Snead looking dapper in his trademark pork pie hat, a half-finished beer on the table. Beside him: a baby-faced Tiger looking wholly undaunted as he nonchalantly sips on a soda with a popped collar.
In his winner’s press conference, Woods was asked about his memories of his meeting with Slammin’ Sammy.
“Well, I played with Sam at I think it was Calabasas Country Club,” Woods said. (Golf Digest reports that the mini-match, in fact, happened at Soboba Springs, in San Jancito, Calif.) “He was doing an outing there, and I came out to play the 17th and 18th with him. I remember hitting the ball into a little creek and playing it out of the water and making bogey. I bogeyed the last, and he went par-par. It’s the only time I got the chance to play with Sam Snead and was 2 down through two.”
Chin up, Tiger, you were only six.
Anyway, here’s some reaction from the dewy-eyed masses…
