‘Mom is always right’: Tiger Woods discusses the origin of his famous red and black outfit – and that ‘tree meme’

By Ben Morse, CNN

(CNN) — The sight of Tiger Woods wearing a red top and black trousers as he strode down the 18th fairway with throngs of adoring spectators following close behind is the stuff of sporting folklore.

The color combination was Woods’ go-to outfit for the fourth and final day of a tournament, which regularly ended with him adding another trophy to his ever-expanding collection.

Woods described his father Earl as his “best friend and greatest role model” following his death in 2006, but speaking on Tuesday’s edition of ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,’ the 48-year-old said his mother Kultida was key to him wearing the now-iconic red and black combination.

“My mom thought, being a Capricorn, that [red] was my power color, or some BS thing like that, so I end up wearing red and end up winning some golf tournaments,” the 15-time major winner told Fallon. “And then to spite her, I wore blue, and I did not win those tournaments. So Mom is always right.”

Woods’ mother was clearly was onto something as her son would go onto win a record-equaling 82 PGA Tour tournaments.

Shortly after Woods announced the end of his 27-year partnership with Nike earlier this year, the golfer revealed his own sportswear brand, “Sun Day Red.”

Woods debuted the brand in February at The Genesis Invitational at The Riviera Country Club.

“It’s about athletes being first and designing something for the athlete so that we can perform at a higher level,” Woods said.

‘The best picture I’ve ever seen’

As well as discussing stories of Woods’ son Charlie when he was younger – the 15-year-old is now forging a golf career of his own – Fallon presented the 15-time major winner with some of the internet’s most creative memes relating to the now-famous photo of him appearing to shake hands with a tree.

Photographers caught Woods shaking commentator Verne Lundquist’s hand on the 16th hole at this year’s Masters and from the angle of the photo, it appears as if the 48-year-old is shaking hands with an arm protruding from the tree itself.

The “tree meme” sent the internet into a frenzy as it came up with some humorous captions for the moment, and a few of these were put to Woods on Tuesday’s show.

Calling it “the best picture I’ve ever seen,” Fallon showed Woods one of the memes with the caption “when I ask for my receipt to be emailed instead of printed,” as well as another saying: “How it feels to go on a good hike.”

Woods himself said he remembered the moment and was seen laughing at the “tree memes” Fallon presented to him.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.