Tiger Woods didn’t face the chaos of his early fame alone. As his career took a sharp, almost unreal turn in the late 1990s, the spotlight grew louder, the crowds thicker, and the pressure unlike anything golf had seen before. While Woods is a highly focused golfer who can tune out the surrounding crowd instantly, he did need some assistance to handle the fame. Notably, he sought help from Michael Jordan and another elite athlete his age.

“Yeah, the only two people that really understood kind of what I was going through was obviously MJ [Michael Jordan] what he experienced with the Bulls all those years and just the mania but with the Bulls and then winning all those championships and just the mobs of people and the other one who was about my age that made his major league debut in 96 was Jeets [Derek Jeter],” Tiger Woods revealed in a conversation with Jordan Spieth in a video for the “Tiger Woods: 30 Years of Influence series.”

“And so Jeets and I and MJ we would meet up and where the Bulls are playing in New York and I would come in, and we’d go to a Yankee game, or we’d go to the Bulls game or whatever it and we’d all hang out and kind of chit-chat. I was picking their brains.”

The “Tiger Woods: 30 Years of Influence” is a series marking the 30th anniversary of Woods’ TGR Foundation, founded in 1996. In the first episode, Spieth asked the Big Cat about how he handled the fame he achieved in the late 1990s.

Woods, who celebrated his 50th birthday in December 2025, turned pro in August 1996 at the age of 20. He signed $60 million in endorsements pre-debut and finished 24th in rookie earnings despite a partial season. But he exploded into superstardom after his 1997 Masters win by 12 strokes.

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He was only 21, the youngest ever to achieve the feat, and the first Black winner. This historic moment drew 44 million TV viewers, shattered records, and boosted golf attendance significantly. The “Tiger-Mania” transformed golf into a cultural phenomenon, elevating purses, diversity, and global appeal amid constant hype.

As a 21-year-old, Woods found fame intensely challenging due to sudden, overwhelming media scrutiny, fan mobs, and a loss of privacy. Therefore, he found help in two other athletes experiencing something similar.

Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls dominated with six NBA titles across two three-peats (1991-93, 1996-98). This also included a record 72-10 season in 1995-96. Bulls mania peaked in 1993, inspiring worldwide fandom via satellite TV.

They were selling out arenas, spawning merchandise crazes, and drawing massive media attention with Jordan’s $30 million salary and iconic intros. His image transcended basketball, becoming a cultural icon of dominance and style.

Derek Jeter, on the other hand, debuted with the New York Yankees in 1995 but starred as Opening Day shortstop in 1996 at the age of 22. This earned him the unanimous AL Rookie of the Year award with all 28 first-place votes, the fifth ever. In New York’s intense media market, he hit a home run on debut day, executed iconic plays, and helped win the 1996 World Series. It was the Yankees’ first in 18 years.

Since both Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter were facing a similar fame explosion, Tiger Woods talked to them about how to handle it.

“I was like, what is going on here? You’re in Chicago doing your thing, MJ, and it’s crazy. It’s crazy around the league,” the 15x major champion added. “Jeets, you’re in the biggest media market in the world. How are you handling this? You’re a little bit older than I am, but still, this is all new to you. How are you dealing with it?”

What made handling fame more challenging at the time was that access was completely different. As the 82x major winner said, “It was just a different world.” There was no social media or camera phones. So the only sources of information were hearsay and the written media, which made things worse for him.

Both Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan have shared a good, friendly relationship ever since then. The NBA legend has many times spoken about the impact Woods has had on the sport. In a 2017 interview with Cigar Aficionado, he said Tiger Woods helped golf evolve from being a sport just for “white guys.” He also praised his comeback with the 2019 Masters win as the greatest he has ever seen.

This only hints at how great the “Tiger Mania” was. And it reflects in Billy Foster’s words, too.

Tiger Woods’ fame scared Billy Foster

Another glimpse into how overwhelming Woods’ fame became came from an unexpected voice of Billy Foster. The legendary caddie was on the bag of the 82x PGA Tour winner for a brief period during the 2005 Presidents Cup.

Foster’s brief stint alongside Woods came together in an unusual fashion. Woods’ longtime caddie, Steve Williams, was unavailable due to the birth of his child. Thus, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood helped connect Foster to the U.S. team camp.

Speaking on the Rick Shiels Golf Show, Foster described telling Woods, “I won’t swap our lives,” despite listing off the perks that came with his status. And even Woods took a brief moment and replied, “Billy, at least somebody understands what I have to go through. That’s why I don’t play.”

The experience left a lasting impression on Foster, who witnessed firsthand the scale of the crowds that followed Woods everywhere. That level of attention never really faded. Years later, Woods’ 2018 Tour Championship win and the 2019 Masters win still drove a massive television surge.

From Billy Foster’s blunt reality check to Woods leaning on Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter for advice, the message was that the fame extremely heavy. These explain how Woods endured the chaos of Tiger-Mania and still reshaped golf.