It is no secret that Tiger Woods and Roger Federer are pals, but most may not have realized the depth of their bromantic feelings until this weekend, when both were competing on the same day, yet despite being immersed in their own respective mad-sportsman zones, found at least part of their minds focusing on what the other was trying to accomplish. Bromantic vibes were transmitted all the way from Ohio, where Tiger was preparing for his ultimately victorious final round at the Memorial, to Paris where Federer was polishing off Robin Soderling in dominating fashion to claim his first ever French Open title.
“I was pulling for him. I was as nervous as can be for him,” Tiger revealed after shooting a 65 to hold off Jim Furyk and the rest of the Memorial field. “I was yelling at the TV, the whole deal.”
SI says Tiger, a notoriously disciplined player, was a little later than usual getting to the driving range, because he was so busy watching his pal win the French. And after Tiger finished his round, he hurried to the nearest phone to call up Roger and offer his congratulations. No doubt, had Tiger been in Paris instead of Dublin, Ohio, he and Elin would’ve taken Roger and his attractive, pregnant bride Mirka out to dinner, and there would’ve been much raising of glasses in hearty tribute, and many an expensive sauce-slathered seafood item would’ve been consumed, and such mutual admiration would’ve been expressed as to make one fairly vomit.
On the surface, it seems natural that Tiger and Roger should’ve formed such a bond. Each is the best in the world at what he does, each is filthy rich, each is precluded from living an entirely normal life as a result of their wealth and public notoriety, and each possesses about as much personality as your average fencepost. Really, it is a match made in heaven. And now, we lucky sports viewers get to watch this bromance for the ages play out before our very eyes, or, at least, we get to hear about it from magazine writers and TV commentators who feel obligated to work Tiger into every story they possibly can, even ones about Roger Federer.
This seemingly perfect bromance does not, however, lack undertones of possibly nasty rivalry. As we know – cause we’ve been told a hundred times by SportsCenter – Tiger and Roger now both have the same number of major championships, 14. No doubt, though Tiger was sincerely pulling for his buddy, there was a small part of him that wished for Roger to lose, so he could continue leading in number of arbitrarily-defined most important titles. Tiger doubtless now feels even more motivation to win the US Open, so he can pull back ahead. Unfortunately, with Rafael Nadal possibly out of Wimbledon with a knee injury, even if Tiger does claim the Open, Roger will likely tie him again almost immediately. And then Tiger will be faced with the same tortured mixture of emotions, happiness for his friend blended with frustration at his own loss of superiority, gladness mingled with regret.
Such complications are more than enough to tear even the strongest bromantic bonds asunder. I’m sure Tiger and Roger’s love can weather this storm though. And if it can’t? They’ll just have to console themselves via money and sex with their hot wives. These guys truly suck.
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