The Time Tiger Woods Gave Away Four Buicks
Sifting back through the years of automotive history can yield some forgotten gems. For instance, the time when legendary golfer Tiger Woods was the official spokesperson for Buick. In my opinion, the most interesting product of this partnership was the time in 2003, where Woods ambushed amateur golfers at the tee and challenged them to play against him for a Buick Rainier.
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How did this happen?
The whole exercise was for a commercial called “Tiger Trap,” and the concept was simple. Tiger Woods would hide in the trees with 13 camouflaged camera operators. When a cart full of unsuspecting golfers arrived at the tee, Tiger would emerge and ask the players if they’d seen his wedge. Once pleasantries were exchanged, he’d propose a bet: if they could get the ball closer to the pin while staying on the green, he’d hand them the keys to a brand-new Rainier.
Over the course of the day, four people actually managed to win the challenge and drive away in a fresh-off-the-lot Buick. One of the lucky victors was a woman named Beverly Rettinger. According to an article by Golf.com’s Dylan Dethier, the two other members of Rettinger’s group, “both shanked it right into the woods.”
When her drive went straight down the fairway, Tiger was visibly elated, as you can see in the video above. Interestingly enough, according to a podcast called The Drop Zone, he and Rettinger continued to stay in contact for several years after she drove away in her shiny new Buick Rainier, occasionally running into each other at sporting events and the like.
While both the Rainier and Tiger Woods’ partnership with Buick have been discontinued, it’s fun to look back at a time when one of the most famous golfers of all time hid out in the trees and competed against total strangers with a car on the line.
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