There are three certainties in golf: the Masters starts in April, Augusta’s greens are lightning fast, and Tiger Woods will always find a way to one-up you — even if you’re Justin Thomas.
At East Lake this week, JT was asked about his most vivid memory at the Tour Championship venue. Instead of picking a clutch shot or playoff moment, he went personal — and straight into a Tiger Woods story.
Tiger Woods, Green Jacket Troll
Thomas recalled playing a practice round at East Lake in 2020 and FaceTiming Woods, who wasn’t in the field that year. JT, being a good friend, wanted to show Tiger how good the course looked. Harmless enough, right?
Wrong. Because this is Tiger Woods.
According to Thomas, Woods pretended his phone cut out, hung up, and then called him back two minutes later wearing his green jacket from his 2019 Masters victory — his fifth. A not-so-subtle flex from the GOAT, reminding his younger buddy who still runs the room, even from home.
Thomas summed it up perfectly: “Just a typical conversation (with Woods) of thinking I am having some kind of upper edge, and I get shut down and put in my place pretty quickly.”
And that’s Tiger in a nutshell. You think you’ve got something on him, and then he slams the door with a smirk and a major title.
A Softer, Newer Tiger
This newer chapter of Woods’ life has revealed a side of him fans rarely saw during his prime. The intimidating, laser-focused competitor is still there, but behind the scenes Woods has become more of a mentor and friend checking in.
Thomas has been at the center of that shift, often sharing little nuggets, like when he said Tiger called the night before his fiancée Jill’s surgery just to check in. That’s not the cold, distant Tiger of the early 2000s. That’s a Tiger who’s older, more reflective, and maybe more at peace.
What’s Next for Tiger?
Of course, the competitive fire hasn’t completely gone out. Woods missed all of 2025 with a ruptured Achilles, and nobody really knows when or if he’ll return to full-time Tour golf. But there have been news around his next act. TGL, the indoor golf league he co-founded with Rory McIlroy, is growing. He is also designing and launching new golf courses.
It’s stories like these that keep Tiger front and center, even when he’s not swinging a club. One FaceTime, one flex, one green jacket reminder and suddenly, Justin Thomas and the rest of us are reminded why Tiger Woods will always have the last laugh.
