Woods was not the Tiger in question, of course. The hashtag referred to the New Japan Pro-Wrestling referee Tiger Hattori who gave his last three-count at a special event in Tokyo after 38 years of calling it on the canvas.

Golf fans could breathe a sigh of relief – at least the ones who did not tweet their tributes to the wrong Tiger. However, the hashtag and the Tokyo connection only served to put the golfer’s career into sharper focus in this Olympic year.

There will come a day when Woods calls it a day. Time waits for no man, not even golfers. No, not even the one who made that remarkable career comeback to win the Masters last year, 14 years after his last green jacket and 11 years after his last major.

This is Woods’ one and only chance of golfing gold.

Woods was one of a host of big names who missed Rio 2016, although in his case it was down to injury. Others chose to stay away, including the then top four men in the world: Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Speith and Rory McIlroy.

Security and the Zika virus were among their concerns and while the impact that the coronavirus outbreak will have on the Olympics remains unclear, no one has yet said they will pull out of Tokyo.

Woods wants to go – he called the Olympics a “big goal” in January – ESPN golf writer Michael Collins has pointed out that the feeling is mutual, claiming the Olympics will “find a way to have the biggest star in the sport play on the biggest stage in sports, even if organisers have to let him play under his own flag by declaring his property in Jupiter, Florida, its own independent nation.”

ESPN editor Nick Pietruszkiewicz is confident Woods will do it for the US rather than as an independent nation: “He's going to make the team. He's going to carry the flag during the opening ceremony. He's going to win the gold medal.”

Woods knows what he needs to do, but it will not be easy. The US can send a maximum of four golfers with automatic spots going to the top 15 on the PGA rankings on June 22, the day after the US Open.

He is one of 10 Americans in the top 15 and he is ranked sixth of them behind Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay and Webb Simpson.

Woods cut down his schedule last year, playing just 12 tournaments as opposed to 18 in 2018, as a response to age and the number of surgeries over the years.

“It’s hard to put it together for all four days as you get older,” Woods said last month. “It’s just harder.”

He will need to do that a few times between now and June, even if he has only committed to play two tournaments outside the majors, and they have both passed – last month’s Farmer’s Insurance Open and last weekend’s Genesis Invitational, which Woods hosts.

Otherwise he might need to rely on the kindness of others, such as Johnson pulling out as he did ahead of Rio.

World number two Koepka’s interview with the PGA Tour’s SiriusXM last week could be good news for Woods.

“I don’t know yet what I’m going to do,” he said. “I think it would be cool to be an Olympian but at the same time it’s not something I’ve grown up wanting to be.”

Taking it on face value, Koepka’s lack of Olympic spirit could be good for the game but he might not be as indifferent as he claims.

Bear in mind that in the same set of PGA Championship media interviews this week Koepka claimed he “forgot” a hole in one he scored at Augusta in an online “Ask Me Anything” on Bleacher Report.

At The Open Championship last year Koepka claimed he doesn’t really practise. “I just practise before the majors. Regular tournaments, I don’t practise,” he said, not making Tiger Woods feel any better after he told his own story about texting Koepka for a practise round at The Open and “hear[ing] nothing”.

“If you see me on TV, that’s when I play golf,” Koepka finished.

There are plenty who won’t want to see him on television this summer if it means Woods finally gets a shot at Olympic gold.