ESPN anchor puts Tiger Woods on the spot and calls him out for his balding hair

ESPN

Tiger Woods was a guest on “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt” to promote his new book “The 1997 Masters: My Story.”

The interview started out benign enough. But things took an awkward turn when Van Pelt, a person who long ago accepted his own baldness, called out his old pal for what has become one of the worst-kept-secret, under-the-radar stories in golf: Tiger’s receding hairline.

For good or (mostly) bad, Tiger’s hair has become a bit of a punchline in social-media circles. But it wasn’t until SVP dared to bring it up that somebody actually challenged the 14-time Major champion to his face. Van Pelt starts while Tiger is discussing his kids by pointing out the photo on the back of the book to the audience and later asking Tiger if “it’s time to come home,” an idiom that refers to a balding person finally accepting reality and shaving their head completely.

“I’m smiling looking at the kid on the back of this book with that sensational head of hair, and I’ve been telling you bro for a long time, I am your GPS, and I just want to know, when are we just going to come home, man?” Van Pelt asked. “It’s time to come home.”

Woods mostly danced around the question in discomfort, but did acknowledge that things have changed up top and that he needs to wear a hat to avoid sunburn on his scalp.

Poor Tiger. When it rains, it pours.

You can see Woods’ full comments here at the 0:27 mark (via ESPN):