Tiger Woods is the greatest player ever to have graced the game in many golf fans’ eyes.
Some people may say Jack Nicklaus is the greatest of all time, and that’s a fair stance to take.
However, it’s indisputable that Woods is one of the two best golfers in the history of the sport.
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Tiger Woods won 82 PGA Tour titles throughout his trophy-laden career, including 15 major championships.
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Notah Begay III is someone who knows the 50-year-old better than most, having played alongside the great man during their time at Stanford University.
And Begay has now revealed the one thing that made Woods so great, while naming the player who totally took the 82-time PGA Tour winner by surprise.
Notah Begay reveals the one PGA Tour player who took Tiger Woods by surprise
While speaking on the Short Game Chef Podcast, Begay was asked what made Woods so good when he was in contention to win golf tournaments.
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“Well, number one, he knew how to assess the situation,“ his former Stanford teammate replied.
“So he knew how to assess all the major players that were involved in a particular stretch of golf, meaning that he knew how to handicap a golf course. He knew how to handicap a field. And I think that’s a gift.
“Not every opponent is created equal, and I think the only player that ever caught Tiger by surprise was Y.E. Yang.
Photo by ROBYN BECK / AFP via Getty Images
“I think everybody in the world, maybe with the exception of Y.E. Yang’s family, expected him to fold like a lawn chair by the turn.
“But, he became the first person to ever take a 54-hole lead away from Tiger.
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“In most of the other examples, though, Tiger was just very good at knowing exactly what he had to shoot to win. Not everybody does that.“
Y.E. Yang got the better of Tiger Woods at Hazeltine in 2009, after overturning a two-stroke deficit over the final 18 holes.
That remains the only time that Woods has ever lost a 54-hole lead in a major championship.
Hunter Mahan responds to Notah Begay’s Tiger Woods comments
“Man, I love that. That’s an incredible answer,“ Mahan replied.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say he was really good at assessing a situation, but it’s so true.
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“Because whenever he got the lead, he was at his most comfortable, and that’s kind of a crazy thing to think about.
“As a golfer, being in the lead, and it felt like he was exactly where he wanted to be, because in a sport that feels like control is sort of a myth, or it’s very hard to find what that means.
“As soon as he got up near the leaderboard, he was like, ‘okay, I’m gonna win now, because I know my game’s good enough. Mentally, I’m gonna beat everybody. I’m gonna be very patient, and I know exactly how to plod my way around a golf course’.
“He was just a master at understanding what he had to do that day. He was really unlike anybody I have ever seen.“
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Woods was clearly on a different level to every other player in the game when it came to converting 54-hole leads into wins.
He possessed a mindset unlike anyone else at the time. However, it’s fair to say that Scottie Scheffler seems to be close to replicating the 15-time major champion’s ability to close out wins while leading golf tournaments.
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