Okay, just joking. In the spirit of these times, that would be more “alternative truth” than fact. What Tiger Wood did actually – really – do is take a commercial flight to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic (a European Tour event) for the first time in 10 years.
He normally flies private jets to and from tournaments (and for various other everyday pursuits) but on this occasion he decided to take a scheduled airline service from Los Angeles to the United Arab Emirates – and nearly missed the flight.
Protesters at the airport opposing President Donald Trump’s travel executive order nearly kept Woods and his group from making their Emirates flight. “We were on the other side of the terminal,” Woods told ESPN. “You could see it, but we just couldn’t get there.” Woods arrived only 30 minutes before the plane was set to depart, after taking a private jet from San Diego, where he had missed the Farmers Insurance Open cut at Torrey Pines.
Not much competition joy in Dubai either, where he carded an opening five-over 77 to be 12 shots behind early clubhouse leader Sergio García and in provisional 128th place in the 134-player field.
Presumably, his reported €1.2 million “appearance fee” would have eased some of the pain – and jetlag.
