Abraham Ancer infamously called out Tiger Woods at the 2019 Presidents Cup, but almost five years on the Mexican LIV Golf star has addressed the real meaning behind his comments.
Abraham Ancer clarified that his statement about wanting to face Tiger Woods at the 2019 Presidents Cup was misunderstood.
The Mexican golfer, who competed for the International team in Australia during the event, was asked about his preferred opponent for the Sunday singles match. Despite mentioning Woods, Ancer explained that his words were taken out of context.
Our main goal is to give our best effort to secure a victory. Achieving a win in a singles match would hold significant importance, therefore, we must strive to claim the cup.
Ancer’s remarks immediately sparked surprise, as they seemed to be directed towards possibly the best player of all time, Woods. The two did indeed face off at Royal Melbourne, with the American ultimately triumphing over his Mexican opponent with a commanding 3&2 win.
In the usual Woods manner, the 15-time champion delivered a tough response to Ancer, saying: “Abe wanted it, he got it,” in the aftermath. Nearly five years later, the LIV Golf star discussed his challenges with Woods both on and off the course, making it clear that there was no hint of cockiness.
I receive numerous tweets about ‘Abraham Ancer wants Tiger’. That’s what they claim. I thought, ‘that’s not what I said, but oh well,’ he shared on LIV’s Fairway to Heaven podcast. I’ve been bombarded with messages asking ‘who do you think you are? challenging Tiger?’…
Ernie Els was the one who mentioned my name first, and since Tiger Woods was the captain, he decided to go first. I’m not sure if he wanted to compete against me or if he just wanted to finish his match and then focus on being a captain, considering he was also playing.
After that, the media blew everything out of proportion, and I have to admit, I was quite upset because that wasn’t my intention at all. It would have been an incredible experience to play against my hero, and I believe anyone would feel the same way. Speaking about the match itself, I think both Tiger and I played really well. He didn’t miss a single shot and made every putt he needed to make.
Ancer had previously stood by his remarks following the incident, explaining: “When they posed that question to me at Mayakoba, it was in Spanish, so the way I said it never came across as arrogant or confrontational. In that moment, I believed it would be an incredible experience, and it truly was. Regardless of the match’s outcome, I knew I would learn and grow as a player just by being in that situation.”
Leave a Reply