Playing alongside Tiger Woods could be a dream-come-true moment. But it definitely comes with its own drawbacks — the maddening galleries that Woods attracts. Rory McIlroy once called this the ‘Tigermania.’ The Northern Irishman had to take a couple of Advils for his headaches after witnessing that. And while he might have scraped through, that unfortunately was not the case for everyone, like veteran golf analyst Brandel Chamblee.

“First of all, if you’re getting paired with Tiger, you’re under more scrutiny from a fan perspective than you are when you’re contending in a tournament,” he explained. “I mean, there are that many people out there. And if you can handle the heat of playing with Tiger, I think it’s a pretty good steely moment to get you ready,” he said on The Favorite Chamblee, remembering the time from the late 1990s. He played with Woods twice during the 1998 PGA Tour season, but he took home more scrutiny than insights.

People follow Tiger. Period. Remember the massive crowd following him at the 2018 Tour Championship? Thousands of people followed him down the 18th fairway at East Lake Golf Club. The atmosphere was intense and emotional, as that win was Woods’s first Tour victory in five years. That “steely moment” could have either been Tiger’s infamous stare or his locked-in attitude on the course, since Chamblee is not the only one to experience that.

Even Bryson DeChambeau has had his share of coldness experienced from the 15-time major champion. On top of that, if you have multitudes of people looking in your direction, one can only imagine the chaos. It’s the same chaos that made Woods’s former coach, Steve Williams, at times, take extreme measures. But what’s actually funny is how Chamblee experienced all this during Tiger’s “off year.”

“It was an off year for Tiger, by the way,” he recalled. “He only won once that year…Tiger was supposedly in a slump that year, but there was nothing that looked like a slump.”

The year 1998 was still elite for Woods by any reasonable standard. He finished the season as #1, posted 12 top-10 finishes, and won once in the US at the BellSouth Classic. Any other player would have killed for that resume. But for Woods, a single victory in a season was enough to fuel talks. Still, crowds followed him everywhere. “It was phenomenal,” said Chamblee. It taught him to be prepared under pressure and to block out all the noise to focus on one sole goal. That’s exactly how Woods has been playing, after learning this strategy from his psychologist, Dr. Jay Brunza.

Such words coming from Chamblee carry some weight. Everyone knows how harsh a critic Chamblee has been of Woods. Their relationship, to put it mildly, has been complicated. From criticizing Woods’s swings in 2004 and calling them “bizarre,” to giving an “F” for his 2013 season, their feud has always made headlines. In fact, Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, has called Chamblee’s remark “deplorable,” and Woods himself has refused to accept any of Chamblee’s “Twitter apologies.”

Yet, he couldn’t help but speak at length of Woods this time. Especially of a season that was seemingly “off” for Woods. Well, of course, there is a reason behind it.

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Is Tiger Woods the reason for Brandel Chamblee’s sole win?

Brandel Chamblee’s only win on the PGA Tour came at the 1998 Greater Vancouver Open. He finished 19-under par, winning by three strokes over two-time major champ Payne Stewart. And if you are wondering how Tiger Woods fits into this picture, then just weeks before contesting this event, Chamblee was paired against the Big Cat.

“The next tournament I played, I was going up against head-to-head with Payne Stewart. So, you know, looking back on it, it was… it was pretty good preparation the week before,” Chamblee revealed on his podcast.

The experience of playing alongside Woods’s suffocating galleries, perhaps hardened him for good.

When Chamblee arrived at Northview Golf Club that August, he ferociously shot 67-64-68-66 across four rounds. In the final round, he made a confident 36-foot birdie putt to seal his victory. What’s also notable is that Woods himself contended in that tournament. He began the final day only four strokes behind Chamblee, but eventually faltered. He finished five strokes behind the ultimate winner. Chamblee took a massive $360,000 for this victory.

So Tiger Woods might not have caused Chamblee his victory, but he very likely shaped it. By the analyst’s own admission.