Before Tiger Woods was The Tiger Woods, he had a friendship growing beside him. Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan have shared a friendship that dates back to the late 1990s.

Woods first expressed admiration for Jordan when he was 14 years old, saying he wanted to follow a similar path in sports. 

Woods first mentioned Jordan in a 1990 interview with TransWorld Sport, where he said, “I might be sort of like a Michael Jordan in basketball,” while discussing his goals in golf. 

When Woods turned professional six years later in 1996, he signed with Nike, and he later explained in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that this shared sponsorship helped establish his friendship with Jordan.

Woods explained, “I guess my association with Nike did help that.” 

The duo later became associated with Nike, which further strengthened their connection, and Jordan eventually took on a mentorship role as Woods navigated life in the public eye.

He described Jordan as a “big brother” who had already gone through those experiences and was able to help him manage them. 

Following Woods’ victory at the 1997 Masters, the two were seen together at NBA playoff games and playing golf, reflecting the period in which their friendship became more visible.

The duo continued to acknowledge their relationship publicly in the years since. In Wright Thompson’s 2016 feature for ESPN, Jordan said, 

“That bothers him more than anything. It looms. It’s in his mind. It’s a ship he can’t right, and he’s never going to. What can you do? The thing is about T-Dub, he cannot erase. That’s what he really wants. He wants to erase the things that happened.”

Jordan added, “The thing is, I love him so much that I can’t tell him, ‘You’re not gonna be great again.’”

Later media coverage included reports that raised questions about Jordan’s influence on Woods’ private matters. Those reports were presented as speculation in certain outlets and were not confirmed by Woods or Jordan.

When Tiger Woods won the 2019 Masters, marking his return to major championship victory, Jordan acknowledged that his earlier assessment had been incorrect.

Michael Jordan's reaction to Tiger Woods' 2019 Masters comeback

Jordan spoke about Woods’ win and described his reaction to The Athletic’s David Aldridge, saying that he had been impressed by Woods’ return to major victory. Jordan said, 

“I never thought he’d get back physically. He’s probably the only person who believed he could get back. To me, that’s a major accomplishment … To me, it was the greatest comeback I’ve ever seen.” He also referred to the 2019 Masters performance as “the greatest comeback I’ve ever seen.”

In later years, Woods has spoken less frequently in public about his friendship with Jordan. Although the dynamic between them has changed over time, both have remained in contact.

Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu