Thousand Oaks - Tiger Woods painted a poignant picture of Nelson Mandela on Friday, as he recalled his meeting with the anti-Apartheid hero in 1998.
“He was over there in a corner and he was folding up his newspaper and he was taking so long to fold up his newspaper, and he was so meticulous about it,” Woods said, speaking at Thousand Oaks in California.
“I asked him why did he pay so much detail to folding up a simple newspaper.
“He says when you're incarcerated for 27 years, you have to slow down time.”
Woods was a young superstar on the rise, with his first Masters title under his belt, when he and his father Earl met Mandela.
Woods paid tribute to the great man and his legacy on Thursday, but as Mandela's death continued to reverberate around the world he was pressed for more memories of the man who emerged from prison to become South Africa's first black president.
Woods said that despite Mandela's stature, he had the common touch.
“To be honest with you, we just BSed a lot,” he said.
“That was the neat thing about President Mandela, that he was able to turn on the switch. He was such an intelligent man and so well balanced and so articulate that it was just a pleasure to be around him.” - Sapa-AFP