A peculiar moment involving Tiger Woods and a tree left golf fans in stitches during coverage of the Masters on Sunday.
The five-time winner made history on Friday after making the cut for a record 24th time but the two days that followed saw him finish at the bottom of the leaderboard with a score of 16-over.
Although fans would have been disappointed not to have seen him competing for a a record-equalling sixth green jacket, they did at least get a moment of levity during the broadcast when the 48-year-old appeared to give a handshake to a tree.
One fan joked: ‘Tiger Woods shaking the hand of his favorite tree at Augusta. Nothing but class.’
‘A rare photo of tiger woods meeting an ent,’ another joked. A third said: ‘That’s going to be meme of the year.’
Tiger Woods interrupted his tough final round to share a moment with a mystery individual
Fans were tickled by the image of Woods during the broadcast of the final round of the Masters
Woods was shaking hands with legendary US commentator Verne Lundquist, who is set to hang up his mic after the 2024 Masters
It soon became clear that Woods was in fact shaking hands with legendary US commentator Verne Lundquist.
Lundquist is calling time on his commentating duties after a mutual decision was made for 2024 to be his last Masters.
As for Woods, Sunday marked his 100th round at the Masters and he wore his traditional red for the final round, which began well enough but its didn’t last long.
Woods hasn’t really been competitive here since 2020 when he finished tied for 38th one year after his stunning fifth victory at age 43.
He finished 13th over two years ago, then was forced to withdraw in 2023 in the third round due to injuries that weren’t helped by the cold, rainy weather that had taken a toll on his body.
For a short time this week Woods showed glimpses of the past.
He played the first two rounds in 1 over to make the cut for a record 24th time. But the final two rounds were a struggle for Woods, who posted his worst round of his career at a major with an 82 on Saturday.
