[PHOTO: Andrew Redington]

As we’ve learned through the years, Tiger Woods loves “giving the needle” and claims to enjoy getting it back. There’s just one (big) problem: how do you needle a guy who is arguably the greatest golfer of all time?

Sure, you can get some jabs in for non-golf stuff, but when it comes to on-course sledging, there’s really not much you can say. “Oh, you only have 15 majors?” “Oh, you’re only tied with Sam Snead with those 82 PGA Tour titles?” See what we mean? It’s tough. Tiger has the proverbial “SCOREBOARD!” response if he wants.

So imagine what Tiger’s good friend Justin Thomas has to put up with all the time. That friendship has benefitted JT greatly in terms of soaking up Tiger’s knowledge, but he seems to struggle as much as anyone when it comes to finding a way to chirp Woods’ golf. This week, and with the PGA Championship headed to Valhalla next week, Thomas was asked if he and Tiger ever discuss Woods’ dramatic win there in 2000.

“I mean, I’ve talked to him plenty about Valhalla. As soon as I bring it up, he always jokes that I was probably still in diapers or something like that, it was so long ago,” Thomas told reporters ahead of this week’s Wells Fargo Championship. “I always remind him he was one lip-out away from losing to Bob May in the PGA and not having the Tiger Slam.”

If that’s meant to be a zing, well, it’s not very zing-y. Woods didn’t lip-out that birdie putt on 18 to force a playoff he went onto win as he captured a third major that season. And he then won the 2001 Masters for his unprecedented four consecutive major championships, a.k.a. the Tiger Slam. So, yeah, saying “Well, you almost didn’t win four consecutive majors” is not a burn.

For the record, Thomas was 7 when that happened, so he wasn’t in nappies. We don’t think.

Anyway, just another reminder that Tiger Woods was really good. And really hard to sledge.