World Wide Technology Championship, 2019. Abraham Ancer sat in the pre-tournament press conference as the highest-ranked Mexican golfer in the field. A month later, Ancer would become the first Mexican player to tee up at the Presidents Cup. Who would he like to go head-to-head with, a reporter asked him in Spanish. “I would like to play against Tiger (Woods),” Ancer responded in his mother tongue.  

A month later, in the final round of the Presidents Cup, the LIV Golf Pro was paired with Tiger Woods, who scored a 3&2 victory against him. “Abe wanted it; he got it,” the 48-year-old quipped after the round. Fans were quick to hunt Ancer down on social media for his ‘cocky’ attitude. But was he at fault, though? Was the intent lost in translation? Ancer speaks up.

Abraham Ancer has nothing but respect for Tiger Woods

Ancer clarified that he meant no disrespect to anyone. He just thought it would be a great opportunity to play against the 15-time Major winner, and he did enjoy it. The Mexican International reaffirms that the intention behind his comment was lost in translation. 

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Chatting with Su-Ann Hang and Jerry Foltz in the Fairway to Heaven podcast, Abraham Ancer revealed what he meant. “With no disrespect to the other 11 or 12 guys, but I mean, it would be insane if I would play against Tiger. I mean, that’s my childhood hero.” The next day, he was shocked to see the headlines: “Abraham answers, ‘I want Tiger’”.

The 2024 LIV Golf Hong Kong winner gives off a wry laugh: “That’s not what I said, but whatever… I think we both actually played pretty well. He did not miss. He made every single putt that he needed to make.” Notably, after the match, the 33-year-old pro clarified his stance on the podium then and there. “First of all, that question was in Spanish, so the tone when I said it, it was never like cocky or challenging or anything like that.” But it did dampen his spirits.

Three years ago, at the Golf’s Subpar podcast, Abraham Ancer said, “I was sad… I should have been really proud, but when I left, I was just like, ‘I can’t believe that that happened.’” The infamous incident also gave rise to a plethora of memes and a deep fake video that puts Ancer in an even tougher spot.

The Woods-Ancer video you saw on YouTube? Yes, It’s fake

A clip went viral on the Internet that showed Woods walking towards Ancer even before his ball rolled inside the hole. While Woods does like to walk his putt, the clip was a deep fake. Ancer laughed. “And by the way, the video we are talking about, it’s fake.” Originally, Woods waited till his ball rolled down and then walked towards Ancer to shake his hands while taking his cap.

But Abraham Ancer admits it was well executed, even though it makes a mockery of his situation. “I mean, he took that hat off right after the ball went in, but I think that was a great edit, and they killed it. Whoever did… that video, it looks really good.” So, there you go. Ancer wasn’t cocky then. Neither is he now.

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