Los Angeles: Tiger Woods was on the course and in contention when news began to spread that his former training partner Kobe Bryant had died. The mood at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in Southern California Sunday quickly turned somber according to Rich Lerner, who was commenting for US television. "Eerily quiet on the grounds of Torrey Pines," he said. "People had their heads down, looking at their cellphones trying to come to grips with the terrible reality.

"This place was absolutely shaken." Yet caddy Joey LaCava managed to keep the news from Tiger Woods, who knew Bryant and whose career for a long time ran parallel with the Laker great. "I was trying to win the golf tournament," Woods said immediately after the round. "Joey realised that I was locked in on that and didn't want to distract me with that type of news." "People were yelling, 'Do it for Mamba.' Now I understand," Woods said, referring to Bryant's nickname. "People yell things all the time, so I was just plodding along, doing my own thing." "I grew up a diehard Laker fan. He was part of the most historic franchise in the NBA. Ultimate toughness. Ultimate competitor." Before relocating to Florida, Woods lived not far from Bryant just outside Los Angeles.