Tiger Woods is one of the most successful players in the history of golf. The 15-time major winner has lots of records under his name. He has tons of fans across the globe due to his skills on the field and his humble nature off the course.

Tiger Woods has rarely lost any event in his career. The golfer has aced almost all the tournaments he’s ever taken part in. However, it’s not just the skill of a player that always contributes to his victory, it can also be a variety of other factors.

A similar situation arose when Tiger Woods almost lost an event because of something unusual. Despite his great performance on the course, Woods might have lost due to a technicality, or as they say, lack of equipment.

Tiger Woods almost ran out of balls to play

It happened during the 2000 U.S. Open when Woods was playing at Pebble Beach on a Saturday. It was a little foggy that day, and there was a delay owing to rain earlier. Woods and his caddie Steve Williams were at the 18th tee.

Woods hit a ball into Carmel Bay and muttered a few words out of disappointment. To continue the game, Williams put his hand in the golf bag and felt just one ball in it. Without letting Woods know, he handed out the ball to the player and said, “I’d like you to hit an iron, just to get it into play.”

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Woods had a good lead by the end of the round at the U.S. Open. There was nothing for him to be worried about. But the news of having just one ball left could have made him play more consciously. So according to Williams, not telling Woods about it was for Woods’ own benefit.

What would happen if Woods ran out of balls?

Williams said that he was planning to rush to the pro shop and get new golf balls. Woods had taken out three balls from the bag in the hotel room the night before for practicing putting. The player forgot to replace those balls which led to this situation. When Woods learned about what happened, he immediately thought he would have gotten disqualified.

But, for a fact, Woods could have borrowed a ball from his playing partner if it was the same brand and type. And even Williams could’ve run to the pro-shop to get a new one or could send somebody else to do it. The player would’ve been given a two-stroke penalty, but that wouldn’t have affected his game much. He could’ve still won easily.

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