Michael Jordan's Six-Word Response to Tiger Woods Asking Him How to Talk to Women

In the lead-up to the 2021 release of a Tiger Woods docuseries, it was revealed that the golfing icon once approached Michael Jordan to ask for advice on how to talk to women.

Woods turned professional at the age of 20 back in 1996 and went on to win numerous accolades, and is currently tied for first with the most PGA tour wins.

While he has had a tumultuous life off the course, the American is widely recognised as one of the greatest golfers in history.

Before he really broke onto the golfing scene, Woods’ self-belief served him well, with the American once comparing himself to NBA legend Michael Jordan.

At the age of 14, Woods said: “'I might be sort of like a Michael Jordan in basketball, something like that.”

Woods was warned to steer clear of Jordan

His comments certainly caught the attention of Jordan, and both the basketball star and Woods would go on to become great friends, despite the latter being told to steer clear of the former.

John Merchant, a lawyer who helped Woods' family while he was at Stanford University, stated, as per Yahoo Sports and reported by the Mail Online: “Michael can play basketball as well as anyone who's ever played the game. There isn't anything else that Michael is good at doing. Nothing! And he's had too many years of being out there in public. So he's going to try to use you.”

Woods, though, didn’t heed Merchant’s advice and the pair became close, though Jordan has previously lifted the lid on the golfer’s social awkwardness, particularly around women.

Jordan's words of advice to Woods revealed

According to an article from ESPN's The Magazine, in 1999, Woods approached Jordan and former baseball star Derek Jeter and asked the pair how to approach women on a night out.

Both Jordan and Jeter delivered the perfect six-word response to Woods, telling him: “Go tell 'em you're Tiger Woods.”

After the article came to light, however, Woods and Jordan’s friendship really fell by the wayside, though it had gone south following the 2009 reports that Woods was having an extramarital affair.

The golfer would divorce his then-wife, Elin Nordegren, in 2010 and, in December that year, released a statement saying: "I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. 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."

Tiger Woods with his 2019 Masters Crown. (Image: Augusta National via Getty Images)

Even so, Woods completed one of the greatest sporting comebacks in 2019 by winning the Masters, which drew praise from Jordan.

The former Chicago Bulls icon said: “I never thought he'd get back physically. He didn't think he'd get back physically. But he did it. No one expected him to be back the way he is now.

“He's probably the only person who believed he could get back. To me, that's a major accomplishment. To me, it's unbelievable. Mentally, you always think you can. But you can't answer to what your body has to deal with.”