Golf icon Tiger words is struggling to come to terms with the death of his close friend and fellow athlete Kobe Bryant. Speaking nearly three weeks after the Calabasas, California helicopter crash that killed the NBA legend, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others, Woods admitted that there is still a part of him “that thinks it’s not real.”
“It’s hard to put into words what transpired and the fact that it’s a reality,” Woods told reporters at Riviera Country Club Tuesday, according to Sport 24. “Part of me thinks that it’s not real.”
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At the time of that fatal Jan. 26 crash, the 15-time major golf champion had playing in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego. He had been walking off of the 18th green and through the blue-tented tunnel when he was pulled aside by caddie Joe LaCava, who told him of Bryant’s death.
“I don’t really know what I said post-round. I was in shock just like everyone else, trying to put it in words going forward,” Woods reflected on the moment. “The reality of the situation is Kobe and Gigi are not here, but it’s hard to accept. People who are close him and all the families, it’s just hard to accept that reality.”
A “diehard Lakers fan,” Woods and Bryant had been friends for years. Along with watching Bryant through his entire NBA career, which spanned two decades, the golfer would also oftentimes talk about Bryant when he was out on the golf course.
“The fire,” Woods said about how he would remember Bryant in an interview with CBS Sports just days after the helicopter crash. “He burned so competitively hot, and [the] desire to win. He brought it each and every night on both ends of the floor. Not too many guys can say that throughout NBA history.”
Woods added that Bryant’s death was “one of the most shocking, tragic days that I’ve ever been a part of in a very quick span here.”
Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, her teammates Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester, their parents John and Keri Altobelli and Sarah Chester, and girls basketball coach Christina Mauser had been flying aboard the NBA legend’s Sikorsky S-76B piloted by Ara Zobayan on their way to a Mamba Sports Academy basketball game when they encountered dense fog and crashed into a hillside. There were no survivors.
A public memorial service for the nine victims is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 24 at the Staples Center.
