Paige Spiranac defends Tiger Woods during the 2009 debacle: "People were being too hard on him"

In 2009, Tiger Woods' cheating scandal rocked the golf world. At the time, he was arguably at the height of his fame. There were very few athletes, let alone golfers, who were operating on his level. By then, he'd already won 14 of his 15 career Major titles.

His reputation took a huge hit, and golf suffered a loss in popularity, too. Woods had been on top of the world, but even he was losing fans, love and respect. Paige Spiranac was not one of those fans, though.

Spiranac said at Super Bowl LIX Radio Row via Marca:

"Even when all this was happening, I think people were being too hard on him. You look at your own life and the things you've done, no one lives a perfect life, we all make mistakes."

The former LPGA Tour star has time and again defended Woods. When he came under fire for jokingly giving Justin Thomas a tampon during a tournament, she said:

"If anyone tries to cancel Tiger over this we riot. It's funny."

Spiranac has long been a big fan of the legendary PGA Tour golfer, and she is never one to shy away from speaking her mind. That includes when it broaches a touchy subject.

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Paige Spiranac shares interesting Tiger Woods story

Paige Spiranac didn't just defend Tiger Woods. She once met him, too. In fact, the 82-time champion gave her some golfing tips. She recounted the tale on the podcast at Radio Row.

Tiger Woods once met Paige Spiranac and taught her how to chip (Image via Getty)

Via Marca, the golf influencer said:

"He gave me a chipping lesson once. It was like the greatest experience of my life. He smells so good, by the way... Like that was the first thing I noticed."

When asked what the scent was, she simply said, "Success." Woods has had more success than most athletes and virtually all pro golfers, so Spiranac picked an accurate term.

She continued:

"I remember he hugged me, and he smelled so good, and I didn't take my jacket off or wash it for an embarrassingly long time because I was like, 'I feel and smell like a winner.'"

Spiranac is a very famous person in her own right. As a former player and a current influencer in the social media age, she boasts millions of followers across all her social platforms. Even still, she's prone to being starstruck, and she was when she met Tiger Woods.

Woods is currently recovering from Achilles surgery. He has yet to play a PGA Tour event this year, though he did make all but one start for TGL before suffering the injury while ramping up for the Masters.