Fore! ''Cheater'' Banner Flies Over Tiger Woods at U.S. Open, Club Goes Flying Out of His Hands While He's Shooting From the Rough

It was not the champion's day, and not only because he notched four bogeys during his first seven holes

By Natalie Finn Jun 19, 2015 1:07 AMTags
Tiger Woods, U.S. Open Round OneHarry How/Getty Images

Tiger Woods probably could have gone the rest of his professional career without knowing what it felt like to be Bobby Flay getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

For the umpteenth time in the last few years, this was not Woods' day on the course—and not only because the three-time U.S. Open champion notched four bogeys in his first seven holes during the first day of play at the 115th Open.

The beleaguered athlete had to shoot his front nine as a small plane trailing a banner reading "CHEATER" circled the greens at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.

Brendan Porath/SB Nation

So no wonder that he played as if he was completely distracted (if he even noticed or will be reading about his airborne escort online later).

At one point, the beleaguered athlete lost his grip on his club entirely, his iron flying out of his hands as he tried to get out of the rough around the eighth hole.

Meanwhile, presuming that the "CHEATER" banner (first spied and photographed by SBNation editor Brendan Porath) wasn't a coincidence, for any of you who've forgotten that's a reference to Woods' 2009 cheating scandal.

After he and then-wife Elin Nordegren got into an argument outside their Florida home that November, it ultimately came to light that he had numerous extramarital encounters. He and Nordegren, with whom he has two children, divorced the following summer.

"I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to," Woods said while addressing the media in February 2010. "I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have to go far to find them. I was wrong. I was foolish."

While he's won a number of tournaments since, Woods' last grand slam title came in 2008, at the U.S. Open. Riddled by injuries in recent years, he remains four titles behind all-time major winner Jack Nicklaus.

But sometimes the past just comes back to haunt you!

Reps for the PGA Tour and Chambers Bay couldn't immediately be reached for comment.