Michael Jordan isn’t afraid to go head-to-head with anyone, whether it’s in basketball or in golf, where he even challenged legend Tiger Woods.
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The Bulls legend has accomplished what NBA players dream of doing in his career. Six championships, six Finals MVP’s, five NBA MVP’s, an obvious Hall of Fame induction, and much more has cemented Jordan’s legacy as the greatest NBA player of all time.
So, why was his career so confusing? Well, he retired thrice in his career, to give you some context. If that sounds weird to you, that’s because it is. His first retirement was by far the most surprising as it came only nine years into his career, and he had just started to win at the highest level, coming off of his first three-peat.
Michael Jordan bested Tiger Woods in a golf bet
Jordan and Tiger Woods are golfing buddies, and once in 2009, they took it to one of the toughest golf courses in the world at Bethpage Black on Long Island along with Fred Couples, Justin Timberlake, and Ben Roethlisberger.
Bethpage Black is a very technically challenging course for golfers. Only the highest skilled are recommended to play it on as a warning sign is attached to a fence overlooking the first tee.
It’s an 18-hole behemoth. The course is very long, spanning 7,459 yards, and it has only one par-3 under 200 yards. Dustin Johnson, pro golfer, once said, “You have a lot of long to mid-irons in your hand. There’s only four holes where you can get a fairly short iron in your hand. So that’s the difficult part of this course.”
The course is so long that it takes a 15-20 minute ride from the clubhouse to the 10th tee. Every small mistake can lead to a major blow as hitting badly off the tees means an automatic bogey.
The course is very hilly and it’s extremely rough. Overall, taking on a golfing legend at this course seems like a daunting task, but Jordan was up for it.
In 2009, Jordan, Woods, Roethlisberger, Justin Timberlake, and other celebrities came together for a celebrity event at the infamous Bethpage.
While Jordan and Woods were focused on their individual contests, they couldn’t help but make a little side wager. Tiger Woods challenged Jordan to break 92 on the demanding course.
Jordan felt a little rattled. “If we’re playing basketball, you could turn the camera guys on all day,” he said. “But when you step outside your field, it’s a whole different atmosphere. You become human, and I was nervous.”
The NBA legend started an 8-over par for the first four holes, and it seemed unlikely that he would even break 100. However, as Jordan has done multiple times in his NBA career, he fought back and finished with and 86.
“After a while, I said, ‘I’m an athlete. I love playing the game of golf, so enjoy it. Whatever happens, happens,’”
He also had a strong message for Tiger Woods. “I don’t take checks,” he said somewhat deviously.
