Tiger Woods Expresses Respect On 'Tonight Show' For Tree He Shook Hands With In Viral Meme

Legendary pro golfer Tiger Woods was confronted with memes of himself shaking hands with a tree on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon this week, which has become his latest in a long line of memes featuring the athlete over the years.

During the interview, Woods clarified that he was not greeting some woodland spirit or nymph, but rather "the great Verne Lundquist," a golf commentator who recently retired.

The memes germinated and blossomed after the Masters tournament in April, which saw Tiger Woods competing alongside many other golfers.

While pausing between holes, Woods noticed Verne Lundquist, who for decades announced golf tournaments on television, and approached him as the cameras rolled. However, between Lundquist and the camera stood a stout and venerable tree.

The resulting image turned into a multitude of memes in the days after it was posted. Something about Woods, in particular, has been irresistible to meme-makers lately.

His "big dog" meme from earlier this year made the rounds, and long before that, photos of Woods smoking with John Daly was imprinted into the collective memory of the internet.

Fallon showed Woods a series of memes made by posters on X / Twitter of Woods and his woody friend, and the golfer laughed along with him, including the one seen below.