Tiger Woods is wearing his signature red shirt on Sunday as he closes in on a potential victory at the Tour Championship. Woods is headed into the final day at East Lake looking for his first win since 2013. As for his Sunday Nike red polo, fans can thank his mother, Kultida Woods, for starting the tradition.
There have been a lot of theories about why Woods wears red on Sundays. The simple answer is it was his mom’s idea, and mother always knows best. Woods detailed the reason for his red polo tradition in an interview with ESPN’s Marty Smith.
“It goes back to my mom,” Tiger told ESPN’s Marty Smith. “My mom says that my power color is red. And so, in junior golf I won a golf tournament wearing red. She said, ‘See I told you. Red.’ So, the very next tournament what do I do? I wear blue. Okay. So, I win. Again, I told her, and I just kind of made fun of it. Poked at her a little bit. I think I lost the next two out of three tournaments wearing blue. Switched to red and I went on a hot streak. And, well, I kept it.”
Tiger Woods Looking for First Win Since 2013
GettyTiger Woods has a chance to win both the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup.
Woods is so close to ending a five-year drought, and there is no way he would attempt a victory without his red shirt. Woods was three strokes up on the Tour Championship field with one round left to play. Woods admitted he wants to win in Atlanta, but the golfer is not taking anything for granted.
“I would love to be able to win this event, but I’ve got a bunch of guys behind me that have been playing well. We’ll see what happens,” Woods told The New York Times.
Woods may have tried to test his mother early on, but after his play took a hit the legendary golfer has been religious about his Sunday red. According to SB Nation, Patrick Reed started to wear red as a way to pay tribute to Woods, but Nike informed Reed he would not be wearing red at the 2018 Masters.
“Nike [is] doing a new thing where all all the players stay in the same kind of story line,” Reed told SB Nation. “So all the players will either be in this color or that gray, grayish black today and yesterday and then all of us will be in the same color tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday.”
Reed managed to win his first green jacket despite not wearing red. This may seem like an extreme decision, but Woods’ signature red polos have made Nike a lot of money. Woods signed a $100 million deal with Nike in 2013 .Woods’ most recent answer tying his color choice back to his mother is the most concrete explanation he has given on the subject. Woods was vaguer in a 2013 interview with Golf Channel calling his wardrobe a “superstition.”
“I’ve worn red ever since my college days basically, or junior golf days – big events on the last day,” Woods explained to Golf Channel. “I just stuck with it out of superstition, and it worked. I just happened to choose a school that actually was red, and we wore red on our final day of events. So it worked out. I came out here and I continued it. I’ve had a few wins wearing red, and it’s not going to change.”
Wearing red has worked just fine for Woods who has won 79 PGA Tour events. It’s not just the quantity of wins for Woods, but the quality of tournaments Woods has been victorious at. Woods has won every major at least once, including five wins at Augusta. Woods has had a bit of a drought when it comes to majors, as his last big victory came at the 2008 U.S. Open. Woods has battled through multiple back surgeries, along with a tumultuous life away from golf. Woods would sure like to add another trophy to his inventory to cap what has been an amazing comeback.
Curious about Woods’ close relationship with his mother? Click here to read our in-depth profile of Woods’ mom, Kultida Woods.
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Tiger Woods Credits Mother for Wearing Red on Sunday