The chance to play alongside Tiger Woods during his heyday was both a blessing and a curse for Tour pros. The blessing was having an intimate glimpse at the best golfer of their time, but the curse was well, that too.
In that group of lucky unfortunates was Geoff Ogilvy. In 2008, the 46-year-old Australian achieved a career-high ranking of No. 3, during the year when Woods had the longest reign at the top of the rankings (281 weeks as the World No. 1 from 2005 to 2010).
You couldn’t possibly defeat him. On this week’s Subpar edition, Ogilvy remarked of Woods, “No one was gonna beat him.” “He was unique.”
Ogilvy revealed to Subpar presenters Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz that one unique quality set Woods apart from the rest: during his heyday, Woods possessed a clutch gene unmatched by any other.
“Tiger consistently performed well whenever there were high expectations,” Ogilvy remarked. He proceeds to win the competition. I thought that was the greatest.
We’ve all played with men that can play unbelievable golf, like DJ, Brooks, Scotty, Sergio, and others. It strikes me as being at such a high level. However, Tiger consistently fulfilled or surpassed high expectations each and every time. Never failed to go above and beyond.
“And it’s just—I don’t know how you do that because your own expectations are the biggest anchor in golf, right?” Ogilvy went on. “Every time, you just outperform me.”
Ogilvy claimed to have seen a discernible shift in Woods’ attitude during a competition.
He declared, “He was a genius at finishing 72 holes ahead of everyone else.” “I mean, it was just like any other Thursday or Friday; you would be talking, and he was really laid back. He would be a little more serious on Saturday, and you couldn’t talk to him on Sunday. He would not even look them in the eye.
“He was on the verge of meditating,” Ogilvy said. He was simply moving extremely slowly and deliberately, and he managed to cross the finish line ahead of everyone else by some mysterious means. Simply put, he was superior than everyone else at it.
Watch the entire episode below to learn more from Ogilvy, including when he felt Woods would be a special talent.