It was the summer of 2006. I walked out of the DMV proudly waving my new driver’s license - the golden ticket to freedom for every newly turned sixteen-year-old. A few days later my parents finally handed over the keys and let me set out on my own. I tuned the radio to Kicks 101.5 and started my first solo drive. As I cruised down familiar back roads, sounds from the newly released Taylor Swift song filled my car.

“When you think Tim McGraw, I hope you think my favorite song….” 

Taylor Swift’s debut single “Tim McGraw” was released on June 16th, 2006. That exact same day, Tiger Woods missed the cut in a major for the first time since he turned pro in 1996. He played in 37 consecutive majors, making it to the weekend in every single one, until this one. Fans, fellow players, and even Tiger (eventually) contributed most of his poor performance at this tournament due to the passing of his father, Earl, only a month prior.

Earl Woods introduced his son to the game of golf. Every Tiger Woods fanatic has seen the video of two-year-old Tiger from “The Mike Douglas Show” or the clip from the 1997 Masters where Tiger buries his face in his dad’s shoulder and cries tears of joy after winning his first green jacket. When Tiger played golf, he thought of Earl. When Tiger watched golf, he thought of Earl. 

In a press conference heading into that 2006 US Open, Tiger was asked about playing again so soon after losing his dad. And while he admitted it was difficult, he also shared that getting back out there brought back some great memories. “To remember and think back on all the lessons, life lessons Dad taught me through the game of golf. All these things come rushing back to you.”

Those lessons definitely rushed back - after that missed cut at the US Open, he went on to win six consecutive PGA Tour-sanctioned events: The British Open (in Liverpool), Buick Open, PGA Championship, Bridgestone Invitational, Deutsche Bank Championship and the American Express Championship. Note: there are TWO majors in that list!

Listeners of our podcast know that I’m a big Taylor Swift fan. On the recently released Taylor’s Version of Red, one of the new vault songs is titled “I Hope You Think About Me” that was even a trending Tik Tok sound for a while. It reminded me of her debut song, “Tim McGraw” and the last line of the chorus that says, “When you think Tim McGraw, I hope you think of me…”

When Tiger thinks of certain courses, he thinks of his dad and the lessons he taught him or the memories they share. When I think of Tiger Woods, I think of my grandpa and how he brought me to my first tournament where I got to see Tiger win. When my son thinks of Tiger Woods, I hope he thinks of me and how I make sure he still gets to see Tiger play whenever he’s in a tournament.

And when you, Dear Reader, think of Taylor Swift….I hope you think of me too. :)