[PHOTO: Kevin C. Cox]
Australia’s Karl Vilips took home his first PGA Tour trophy and a winner’s cheque for more than a million (Aussie) dollars yesterday. But he may have smiled even more getting something more unexpected: Tiger Woods’ digits.
The PGA Tour rookie received a surprise text and voicemail from the 15-time major champion after his victory at the Puerto Rico Open. And that seemed harder to “process” than the fact Vilips had just claimed his maiden tour title in only his fourth career start.
“I got on my phone after the round and I was scrolling through, like, Who is texting me?” Vilips told reporters afterwards. “And I think I got one from a random number that called me as well. And then there was a voicemail saying, ‘It’s Tiger,’ and I couldn’t like process it in the moment.”
We don’t blame you, Karl. You had a lot going on in that moment.
So why did Woods reach out so quickly? Well, Vilips is the first brand ambassador (other than Tiger) for Tiger’s Sun Day Red apparel brand. (How’s that for an immediate return on investment?) He just wasn’t wearing Sun Day Red red. Vilips also happens to be a fellow Stanford University graduate.
“I was just trying to, I’ll get back to that later,” Vilips continued. “But that’s pretty cool.”
Pretty cool, indeed. And don’t worry, Karl. If there’s anyone who would understand you not getting back to them right away after a PGA Tour win, it would be the guy who has been in that position a record-tying 82 times.
