INDIANAPOLIS —The last time Peyton Manning and Tiger Woods paired up on the golf course, Manning was able to inspire Woods to reclaim his throne atop the world golf rankings.
Now hot on the comeback trail once again, Woods is apparently in need of a little more inspiration.
The Memorial Tournament announced today that Woods has committed to play this year's event, and that the 14-time Major champion will be paired up with the legendary quarterback in its pro-am outing, which is being held on May 30 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
Manning and Woods first paired up on the golf course in 2005 during the pro-am at the Bay Hill Inviational in Orlando, Fla., and also were partners in 2009 during the pro-am at the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, N.C., where Manning's then-teammate, wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez, hilariously served as his caddy.
Anyway, according to The Golf Channel, Manning told Woods during that time that he used his name as part of the Colts' no-huddle audibles; he'd say "Tiger" to snap on one, and "Phil" to snap on two, referencing the world golf rankings at that time, when Woods was No. 1 and Phil Mickelson was No. 2.
But when Manning and Woods golfed together a few years later in 2013, he told Woods those audibles had changed a little bit.
"I just played a season with the Broncos, and (Woods) said, 'What's the biggest difference in the Colts' offense and the Broncos' offense?'" Manning recalled. "And I said, 'Tiger, really, it's pretty similar. The hardest thing for me right now is that McIlroy is on one, and Tiger is on two.' And it hit him — it hit him in the gut hard. Because he, you know, he likes to give it out more than anybody. And it hit him hard, and he looked me in the eye and he said, 'I'm going to get that fixed.'"
Woods was true to his word, Manning recalled. He'd go on to place first in two events in a month's span and reclaim his No. 1-overall ranking over Rory McIlroy.
And, of course, Woods called Manning to make sure he had changed the audible back.
Their next pairing coming up on May 30 couldn't feature better timing for Woods, who has battled through multiple back surgeries to return to some solid golf of late, already finishing in the top-12 in PGA Tour events four times this year, including a T-11 finish last weekend at the Players Championship, where he shot 7-under on Saturday and 3-under on Sunday.
Perhaps Manning will once again have the right words to say to Woods to inspire him into his first win since the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Woods, meanwhile, had some very nice things to say about Manning when he retired from the NFL following the 2015 season:
