June 10, 2021 | BY AAGD STAFF
News is circulating that Tiger Woods has declined an invitation to join the commentary booth for the June 17-20 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego. Still in recovery from a serious single-car crash in February, the winner of the 2008 U.S. Open had then played on an injured knee to capture the tournament in an 18-hole playoff that went one extra hole. Woods clinched the victory with a par 4 on the seventh hole.
Woods is said to have rejected the assignment to call the action at the third major competition of the year during a conference call with NBC Sports broadcasters.
NBC Reaction:
“… Who better, if he couldn’t be there to play it, to voice it and have him a part of the show,” NBC’s Dan Hicks said. “But we were rebuffed.”
“He didn’t want to do it, and I totally understand his situation,” Hicks said. “There is a lot going on in his world right now and there’s also a part of Tiger that doesn’t want to become this, I don’t want to, for lack of a better word, a sideshow at an event where we should be concentrating on what’s happening.”