Someone was bound to write a tick-tock story of the Tiger Woods car crash and leave it to GQ to send one of its ace reporters — in this case Chris Heath — to give a chronological account of the events of March 27 when Woods, a 15-time major champion, was involved in his latest car accident on Jupiter Island, Florida.
It’s a faithful retelling of the police reports with additional on the scene reporting, including attempts to ring the doorbell of the home of Jeromy Bullard, whose vehicle Woods struck, as well as taking the reader to the scene of the accident and on a boat ride past his estate, where he learns that in addition to Privacy and Solitude, Woods has apparently added a third boat named “Endurance.” Spoiler alert: it makes for a great
kicker. [Woods and his camp declined to speak to the reporter for this story.]
There’s a lot to sift through in this story, but perhaps the part that made an impression was the fascination over his golf clubs during this moment where the life of the 50-year-old legend of the game is about to spiral again. When officers on the scene ask Woods if he needs anything out of his flipped car before the tow truck arrives, Woods says, “No, just the sticks.”
“‘Just the sticks’—okay,” repeats Fusco. After some more chat back and forth, he asks, “Is that putter just the one you’ve taken with your career, or what?”
“Uh,” says Woods, “I’ve won 14 majors with it.”
“With that putter?” says Fusco.
“Yeah,” says Woods.
“Wow,” says Fusco. “They didn’t call you the GOAT for nothing, man.”
Here’s the exchange between Rob McNamara, an executive with TGR Ventures and second set of eyes on Tiger’s swing, when he shows up on the scene and converses with authorities.
McNamara alerts him to one particular priority: “It’s just the clubs.”
“Yeah, no, I understand,” says Fusco. “Worth more than my house.”
“The putter’s worth more than all of our houses,” McNamara says.
After the glass in the back window of the trunk is smashed allowing them to retrieve the clubs, McNamara explains their import to the authorities on the scene:
“That one club,” McNamara says. “There’s only one other club that’s won more majors than that individual club. Jack had one, like, 3-wood or something.” (Jack Nicklaus used the same MacGregor Tommy Armour 3-wood between 1958 and 1995, including during all of his 18 major titles.)
Once the golf bag is free of the car, one of the officers cutting himself in the process, McNamara receives it. He immediately takes out the putter.
“Is that the one?” Fusco asks him.
“Yeah,” says McNamara, taking off its head cover.
“Piece of history right there,” says Fusco.
McNamara points to the precise, circular wear mark that has formed on the putter’s face.
“Twenty-seven years,” McNamara says.
You can read the story in its entirety here.
Adam Schupak is a senior writer at Golfweek, covering the PGA Tour.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: GQ's deep dive into Tiger Woods crash details love of his 'sticks'
