Golf superstar Tiger Woods praised the Black Lives Matter movement as “fantastic” as he gears up for his first major golf tournament since the death of George Floyd.
Woods described the movement as one that is creating positive change in the United States and said it will help the country “move to a much better place socially.”
“I think change is fantastic,” Woods said during a news conference ahead of the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio. “As long as we make changes without hurting the innocent, and unfortunately that has happened — hopefully it doesn’t happen in the future — but a movement and change is fantastic.”
“That’s how society develops. That’s how we grow. That’s how we move forward. That’s how we have fairness,” he continued. “Unfortunately, we’ve lost innocent lives along the way, and hopefully we don’t lose any more in the future as we move to a much better place socially.”
Woods, who famously described himself as “Cablinasian,” previously has spoken out against the violence that spun out from protests over the death of Floyd in police custody.
“We can make our points without burning the very neighborhoods that we live in,” Woods said in a statement posted to social media in June. “I hope that through constructive, honest conversations, we can build a safer, unified society.”
He also offered words of support for Floyd’s family and law enforcement generally while criticizing the actions of the Minneapolis officers who were involved in Floyd’s arrest.
“My heart goes out to George Floyd, his loved ones, and all of us who are hurting right now,” Woods said. “I have always had the utmost respect for law enforcement. They train so diligently to understand how, when, and where to use force. This shocking tragedy clearly crossed that line.”
During this week’s news conference, Woods, 44, also addressed the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected millions and killed tens of thousands in the United States. He said the PGA Tour has taken many precautions to keep athletes safe but acknowledged the lingering risk.
“The Tour has done a fantastic job to protect us and to ensure we’re all safe. But it is now a risk that you’re taking when you’re outside your property and around individuals that you don’t know where they’ve been and what they’ve been doing,” Woods said.
The Memorial Tournament will not have live fans, which Woods said will be a strange adjustment.
“I’m used to having so many people around me or even touch me, going from green to tee,” he said. “That’s something that I looked at and said, ‘Well, I’m really not quite comfortable with that, that whole idea. Let’s see how it plays out first, and let’s see how the tour has played out, how they’ve started’ — and I feel that I’m comfortable enough to come back out here and play again, and I’m excited to do it.”
