Nick Saban reflects on relationship with Tiger Woods, playing together at Buick Open

Nick Saban doesn’t have time for golf tournaments so close to the football season, except when he’s playing with Tiger Woods.

In an appearance on the PGA Championship MegaCast with Joe Buck & Michael Collins, the Alabama leader harkened back to the 1997 Buick Open, where he was paired with a young Woods during the Pro-Am.

“Well, I was the coach of Michigan State at the time, and this tournament came up like three or four days before we were ready to go to fall camp,” began Saban. “The people at the Buick Open called and said, ‘Do you want to play in the Pro-Am?’ I said I can’t, it’s too close to the season. And they said, ‘Well, would you play with Tiger?’ I said oh, absolutely.”

Evidently, Saban’s expectations of Woods were met, and he was made a lifelong fan of the star golfer that day.

“It was a great experience,” explained Saban. “He was a young player then. Just had won The Masters for the first time. Really interesting, and I’ve always been a fan ever since then.

“Obviously, he’s showing us, giving us a great example in resiliency and perseverance, in terms of the example that he’s setting to compete now, and the way that he is competing to overcome his injuries.”

Nick Saban made a friend, and found a source of inspiration in Tiger Woods back in 1997. Both have built legacies that will live on long after they’re gone in their respective sports, but they’re still looking to dominate in the meantime.

Nick Saban on Tiger Woods: ‘I don’t think there’s anyone – maybe in any sport – that was as dominant as he was for as long as he was.’

As evident by the words he shares, Nick Saban is a big fan of Tiger Woods on and off the golf course. When asked about the possibility of having the global icon speak with his team like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Ray Lewis, among others.

Choosing to focus on the attributes first, Nick Saban spoke primarily about what he believes any young athlete could take away from watching Tiger Woods.

“I don’t think there’s anyone – maybe in any sport – that was as dominant as he was for as long as he was. And anybody that can accomplish that – because it’s so hard to – success is not a continuum, it’s momentary,” Saban said, earlier this month. “So to keep yourself able to stay so well-prepared, to practice, do the things you need to do to stay so competitive, to stay hungry. To have the mental toughness to stay focused all the time for so long.

“And what he accomplished this year at Augusta in The Masters, coming off his injury, to make the cut and to so what he did regardless of what his score was, was pretty phenomenal in terms of what kind of person, what kind of character, what kind of competitive character the guy has. I would love for him to be able to share some of that, but I don’t really have the kind of relationship with him that I’ve had with some of these other guys to get him to do it.”