Tiger Woods was missing from the final round of this week’s PGA tournament, but his signature red-and-black outfit for final rounds was not.
More than half a dozen professional golfers donned red shirts and black pants during the last round of the WCG-Workday Championship in Florida, prompting Woods to make his first comments since his terrible car crash last week.
“It is hard to explain how touching today was when I turned on the tv and saw all the red shirts,” the 45-year-old Woods wrote Sunday on Twitter from his hospital bed. “To every golfer and every fan, you are truly helping me get through this tough time.”
It is hard to explain how touching today was when I turned on the tv and saw all the red shirts. To every golfer and every fan, you are truly helping me get through this tough time.
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) March 1, 2021
Tiger’s tweet was liked nearly half a million times.
The 15-time major champion suffered devastating injuries in a car accident last week in California. He has undergone one surgery to fix the compound fractures in his leg suffered during the rollover and more surgeries are expected.
Pro golfers Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Jason Day, Tony Finau, Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood, Cameron Champ and Sebastian Munoz were among the golfers to don Tiger’s final round outfit. Other golfers, including Bryson DeChambeau and Matt Kuchar, along with Day, played Bridgestone golf balls with Woods’ name on them.
DeChambeau tweeted a picture of a golf ball with the name “Tiger” and a red line on it. “We’re pulling for you @tigerwoods. A mentor, idol and role model to my career, there’s no one that could come out of this stronger. We are glad you’re here. See you soon,” DeChambeau wrote.
Meanwhile, at a second pro tournament in Puerto Rico, everyone on the grounds crew wore red and black outfits. And many of the women golfers at Gainbridge LPGA event in Orlando also wore “Sunday red,” the association tweeted.
It’s a @TigerWoods Sunday for the maintenance staff at the @PuertoRicoOpen. @PGATOUR pic.twitter.com/OheyF4o1N8
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) February 28, 2021
The PGA Tour tweeted out a montage of Tiger in his Sunday outfit, along with the players who wore the colors on Sunday.
For Tiger ❤️ pic.twitter.com/9sMqbOIUoS
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 1, 2021
Woods has said that early in his career, his mother, Tida, suggested he wear the color combination and he’s done so ever since.
Finau went one step further, wearing his Nike hat backward as Woods often does when he arrives at tournaments, ESPN reported.
“I heard earlier quite a few guys were going to do it. I for sure felt like it would just be a nice touch,” Finau said. “We’ve enjoyed so many Sundays watching Tiger do his thing. Red and black, that’s what Tiger does on Sundays, so to just join in and just let Tiger know we’re supporting him in the best way we can.”
Collin Morikawa, who planned to join other players in honoring Woods but the clothes from his apparel company didn’t arrive in time, won Sunday’s event, then praised Woods.
“Tiger means everything to me,” Morikawa said. “I hope he is all right and makes a quick recovery. Sometimes we don’t say thank you enough, and I wanted to say thank you to Tiger. Sometimes you lose people too early. I lost my grandpa about a month ago, and you don’t get to say thank you enough.”