Eddie Jordan doubled house rent for Tiger Woods but all was not as it seemed

Formula One legend Eddie Jordan once doubled Tiger Woods' rent when the golf star stayed in his house during the World Match Play Championship. Woods, a three-time Open champion, is currently sidelined from golf as he recuperates from an ACL injury.

The 15-time major champion crossed paths with the former F1 team boss before the 2006 event at Wentworth. Although he was hesitant to rent his property near the course to Woods and his entourage, Jordan, who passed away in March after a fight with cancer, had a change of heart. In a classy move, he decided to charge double the initial rent but give the money to charities close to both men's hearts. "Though Tiger's management company, IMG, had offered to pay us £15,000 for the week, I later told them the price was double that," Jordan explained to the Irish Independent in 2009.

"Then I requested that two cheques be written for £15,000 each, one made out to the Tiger Woods Foundation and the other to my charity CLIC (Cancel Leukaemia in Children). When I told Tiger what I had done, he thought it was classic. A great move. He loved it. Then I explained that this was normal practice in motor racing."

The connection between the two sports stars was seemingly forged through Woods' caddie Steve Williams, a fan of Jordan's work in motorsport. Jordan reminisced in his autobiography about Woods' arrival at his house, with the golfer accompanied by his wife, caddie, housekeeper and chef.

Renting out their house meant Jordan and his wife Marie had to move into their annexe, but it gave the ex-F1 pundit a chance to witness Woods' relentless pursuit of perfection.

"Tiger's dedication to the game is extraordinary," Jordan reflected in his autobiography, An Independent Man. "He practiced on the fifth green, which is nearby, and insisted that he hit 100 five-foot putts before he could leave. If he missed one, he would do another 100. He just kept knocking them in.

"By this stage, he had a huge following of admirers. It was amusing to watch what happened when he finally walked off the green and disappeared into the trees.

"People assumed he had gone for a pee. Little did they realise that he was heading for the back gate of our house, through which he would disappear, not to be seen until the match itself. That was one of the reasons why he liked to stay in a local house rather than a hotel."

Woods' career has recently been hampered by injuries, with a back operation last September and an ACL rupture in March. Despite these setbacks, Woods kicked off the year in the new TGL format, but his most recent major outing was at The Open in 2024, where he didn't make the cut.

After his second round at Royal Troon, Woods admitted: "I've always loved playing major championships. I just wish I was more physically sharp coming into the majors.

"Obviously it tests you mentally, physically, emotionally, and I just wasn't as sharp as I needed to be. I was hoping that I would find it somehow. I just never did, and consequently my results and scores were pretty high."