Woods simply said, ‘Abe wanted it, he got it’, after his 3&2 victory. Many will remember the image of the American removing his cap to shake his opponent’s hand at the exact moment the winning putt dropped.
And speaking to Subpar the following year, Ancer admitted that his comments being taken out of context took the shine off what should have been an amazing opportunity.
“It kind of sucked, that experience, because it was such a cool experience for me, that whole event. And then having said that I would love to be playing my hero growing up in such an awesome event, and then all of that gets spun out [of context], I left that week and I was just gassed. I was like, man, that sucked,” he said.
“I was sad. I should have been really proud. But when I left I was like man, I can’t believe that happened.”
Abraham Ancer was asked whether he had spoken to Tiger Woods in the months after their match
Team USA ended up winning 16-14, with just two International players winning their matches on Sunday.
Despite the disappointment, Ancer ended up as the joint-highest points scorer across the two teams, with Sungjae Im and Justin Thomas also winning 3.5 points during the week.
In the same interview, he was asked whether he had spoken to Woods since their matchup.
“No, not at all. I’ve seen him a couple of times at events. We haven’t been in the same room or anything, kind of nodded, but no, he hasn’t really said anything,” he said.
It is probably fair to say that Ancer did not quite kick on as many would have expected off the back of his performance at Royal Melbourne.
He would not win on the PGA Tour for the first time until 2021.
Ancer was one of the players who decided to join LIV Golf the following year, with his departure coming just a few months before the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow.
For some time, it would have seemed like 2019 would prove to be his only appearance in the event. With serious doubts over LIV’s future, perhaps there is a chance that Ancer will be back on the PGA Tour again at some stage.