‘It Was Crazy’ - Pro On First Time Playing With Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods carded an impressive 67 in the third round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, and one man with a proverbial front row seat to witness Woods roll back the years as his playing partner was Matthias Schwab.

As World No.300, the Austrian is surely not used to the media circus and adulation that follows Woods’ every move. Nevertheless, having been given a taster, he admitted even his experiences playing with Rory McIlroy couldn’t compare. He said: “I mean, yeah, this was pretty extreme. I've played with Rory in Europe a few times and it was good crowds there, too. Yeah, this was another level. 

 “I thought it would be similar to what it was like with Rory in Switzerland I think I played with him, and maybe even at Wentworth. It was really busy there, too. I mean, I didn't know what I was getting into, but I mean, I was a little bit prepared. Yeah, it was crazy. I mean, people everywhere and we were the last group, we were one of the last groups out and still everybody comes to see him.”

Still, the occasion didn’t put Schwab off his game too much - at least after an initial bout of nerves. He said: “Well, when I saw the draw, I was really excited and yeah, I mean, I played solid today. The first tee shot I was pretty nervous, it felt like I almost missed the ball, but then from there on I played solid. Made two birdies, one bogey. Could have maybe made a few more birdies, but overall I'm happy with how I handled it. It was a lot going on, people screaming all the time, kind of like last week on 16, just every shot here."