And so the dye is cast: there will be no Sun Day Red at Sawgrass this weekend. No Tiger Woods and no Karl Vilips, the little-known Australian carrying the flag for golfing royalty.
It is only Friday but already Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Co are already fielding questions about the atmosphere here – and the hole left by a 15-time major champion and his ruptured Achilles.
After it was confirmed that he would miss this Players Championships, Woods’ only footprint at this event was wrapped around the shoulders of his protege, Vilips.
The Australian is ranked No 106 in the world. He is a PGA Tour rookie who qualified for this event by winning the Puerto Rico Open. ‘Just a dream come true,’ he said. It was his first PGA Tour victory in just his third start as a professional.
Vilips grew up idolizing Woods and last month he was named as the first ambassador for Woods’ clothing brand: Sun Day Red, named after his iconic look for the final rounds of events.
‘We were drawn towards his relentless work ethic and pioneering spirit that embody what we stand for,’ Woods said. ‘I have no doubt he… is one of the game’s future stars.’
Karl Vilips wore Tiger Woods’ Sun Day Red brand at The Players Championship at Sawgrass
The golf legend, who launched the brand last year, missed The Players because of injury
The apparel was launched last year, at a glitzy ceremony near Los Angeles. Since then, however, Sun Day Red only had a few outings.
Here at The Players, Vilips failed to make it to the weekend. The 23-year-old gave himself a decent chance of making the cut after finishing his opening round on even par.
But then, on Friday, he plummeted down the leaderboard. His first six holes of the second round included three bogeys and a double bogey.
Another double bogey and another bogey followed. He finished on six-over-par after a 78. At the time of writing, only one player in the entire field had shot worse.
Both Vilips and Woods wore red during their college days at Stanford. On Friday, the Australian was decked out in pink as his maiden Players Championship campaign ended early.
Instead, the lasting headlines this week came courtesy of Woods’ private life.
On Thursday, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that the golf legend and Vanessa Trump, the ex-wife of Donald Jr, have been dating since Thanksgiving.
Vanessa is the mother of Kai Trump, the teen golf star who has already rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest names in the sport.
Vilips is another young prospect now tied to the greatest golfer of his era.
Vilips suffered a second-round collapse at The Players, shooting a six-over-par 78
DailyMail.com revealed that Woods is dating the ex-wife of Donald Trump Jr, Vanessa
Woods has been dating the president’s former daughter-in-law (left) since Thanksgiving
The 15-time major winner reached out to Vilips after his triumph in Puerto Rico. Unfortunately he couldn’t inspire the Australian to a four-day run at The Players.
Instead, the likes of Xander Schauffele were left to articulate what the absence of Woods does to events such as this.
‘There’s a reason it’s called the Tiger effect,’ Schauffele said.
‘Scottie, Rory and I, we’re not going to be throwing our shoulders out fist pumping anything, so I’m sure that would fire a crowd up a little bit more.
‘We didn’t have a whole lot to fist pump at, to be completely honest… all the guys in the group typically play pretty good golf, but no one does it better than Tiger.’
