All these years later and Michael Jordan still apparently has the clutch gene.
Xander Schauffele, who won the most recent major at the PGA Championship in Louisville last month, was mic’ed up with former PGA Tour golfer Cole Knost, during practice for The Memorial Tournament this past week.
Knost asked Schauffele if he’s ever competed against Jordan in golf, and when Schauffele answered affirmatively Knost said matter-of-factly that it’s “really hard to s–t talk him.”
“I did my best version of it — and then he beat me,” Schauffele said.
“Straight up. Embarrassing.”
Knost was stunned, asking, “What?!”
“In the last three holes, yeah,” Schauffele said.
“I pancaked him on his stroke holes, and I started talking s–t to him and he got all quiet [and] focused. And then he birdied 15-16, no strokes. Beat me straight up. And I was like, ‘All right.'”
Knost joked that it was “weird he came through when he needed to” and Schauffele agreed.
The two agreed that Jordan is superb at chipping and putting.
Jordan’s trash talk on the basketball court was legendary, and it has continued on the golf course even as he’s surpassed 60 years old.
Earlier this year, Ryan Whitney, a former NHL player who now co-hosts the “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast for Barstool, told a story where he and Jordan were in a dead heat through 34 holes.
As Whitney remembered, Jordan had been silent for most of their outing, but got after it when Whitney missed a birdie putt and Jordan made one.
“First thing he said all day was, ‘That’s right, bitch,’” Whitney recalled.
“So then we go to 36. I finish the last hole. Another press, lose that hole too. He’s like, ‘A scratch golfer … Bitch you couldn’t scratch my wife’s ass. I just left. I just paid him 10 grand and left. I felt this big [holding fingers closely apart]. He’s pumping rap tunes the whole time that say his name in the song. I was like, ‘What planet am I on right now?’”