GULLANE, Scotland - It takes a lot to impress a young golfing supremo who has just won the US Masters, but Tiger Woods recalled yesterday how his first meeting with Nelson Mandela 15 years ago was an experience like no other.
"I went down there to play Sun City, and he invited us to his home. And my father and I went to have lunch with him. It still gives me chills to this day, thinking about it," Woods told journalists at Muirfield in Scotland, where the start of the British Open tomorrow coincides with Mandela's 95th birthday.
"We walked in the room and my dad and I were just kind of looking around. And I said, 'dad, do you feel that?' And he says, 'yeah, it feels different in this room'. And it was just like a different energy in the room," Woods said.
"And maybe, I'm guessing probably 30 seconds later, I heard some movement behind me and it was President Mandela folding up the paper. And it was pretty amazing.
"The energy that he has, that he exudes, is unlike any person I've ever met. And it was an honour to meet him at his home. And that's an experience that I will never, ever forget."
Mandela is confined to his Pretoria hospital bed on as the world prepares to mark his birthday with cele-brations and charity events.
Defending British Open champion and South African sporting legend Ernie Els said it would be "wonderful" if a South African player could win this week.
Madiba meeting unforgettable: Tiger Woods
GULLANE, Scotland - It takes a lot to impress a young golfing supremo who has just won the US Masters, but Tiger Woods recalled yesterday how his first meeting with Nelson Mandela 15 years ago was an experience like no other.
"I went down there to play Sun City, and he invited us to his home. And my father and I went to have lunch with him. It still gives me chills to this day, thinking about it," Woods told journalists at Muirfield in Scotland, where the start of the British Open tomorrow coincides with Mandela's 95th birthday.
"We walked in the room and my dad and I were just kind of looking around. And I said, 'dad, do you feel that?' And he says, 'yeah, it feels different in this room'. And it was just like a different energy in the room," Woods said.
"And maybe, I'm guessing probably 30 seconds later, I heard some movement behind me and it was President Mandela folding up the paper. And it was pretty amazing.
"The energy that he has, that he exudes, is unlike any person I've ever met. And it was an honour to meet him at his home. And that's an experience that I will never, ever forget."
Mandela is confined to his Pretoria hospital bed on as the world prepares to mark his birthday with cele-brations and charity events.
Defending British Open champion and South African sporting legend Ernie Els said it would be "wonderful" if a South African player could win this week.
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