AR
Jim Watson
By Alex Myers
Tiger Woods spoke some heartfelt words while accepting the Ben Hogan Award at the Golf Writers Association of America dinner on the eve of the Masters. He added some new words to his ever-growing golf lexicon after accepting the green jacket on Sunday.
Several years ago, we put together a list of our favourite “Tigerisms,” ranging from abbreviations for people (“Steiny”) to abbreviations in general (“Traj”). The list is long overdue for an update, but in the meantime, here are five new(er) terms Tiger trotted out at his winning press conference on Sunday.
“Cush”
Definition: Short for cushion. You know, because saying “cushion” is a lot more taxing. Tiger said “cush” three times on Sunday to conserve his energy after an exhausting week.
How Tiger uses it in a sentence: “Birdieing 15 and 16, you know, gave me a nice little cush with the last two holes to play.”
• • •
“Squeezer”
Definition: What Tiger used to call a push-fade, it’s become his go-to shot off the tee when he needs to hit the fairway. Again, another way to conserve energy. Savvy.
How Tiger uses it in a sentence: “Hit a little flat squeezer out there and I did, I just smoked it.”
• • •
“Hooped”
Definition: Holed. Same amount of syllables, so he’s not really gaining anything from this one, but it sounds cooler than “holed.”
How Tiger uses it in a sentence: “As you know, I birdied 13, I birdied 15 with two good shots in there, and almost hooped it at 16.”
• • •
“Whoofed”
Definition: A dog of a shot or an ugly shot. Like the one he hit on 18 when he was just trying to ensure his bogey to win. So in that case, it was so bad, it was actually OK.
How Tiger uses it in a sentence: “I whoofed it and hit it over to the right and I was able to put that ball on the green and two‑putt.”
• • •
“Shapes”
Definition: Short for having the ability to shape shots. Kinda like how “Traj” is short for “Trajectory.”
How Tiger uses it in a sentence: “He’s [Tony Finau] starting to figure out shots and shapes and he’s starting to figure out how to play, and it’s only going to get better.”
That’s a big compliment, Tony. And because your name already ends in a “y,” Tiger doesn’t even have to call you by a nickname. So that’s a plus as well.
