Woods, Tiger (1975—)

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Woods, Tiger (1975—)

Prepared by his father for golf stardom from an early age, Eldrick "Tiger" Woods is off to a solid start in reaching his father's goals. Even before he turned professional in 1996 after two years at Stanford University, Woods (the "Eldrick" officially disappeared when he was 21) became the first amateur ever to win three consecutive U.S. amateur titles. By the end of 1998, Woods had won one major tournament, the 1997 Masters (becoming the first person of color to do so), and several other tournaments, while racking up millions of dollars both on the course as well as from advertisers such as Titleist, Nike, and American Express. In 1997, he won the PGA Tour money title by winning just more than two million dollars.

For many years, golf was mostly a white man's sport (through 1961, the PGA of America constitution actually contained a "Cauca-sian clause"), mostly elitist in nature. In addition to his solid play on the course, many people believe that Woods's success has opened up the game of golf to minorities, with many blacks specifically picking up golf because of him. Woods himself has grappled with his race, however. With his mother a Thailand native, Woods considers himself Cablinasian—Caucasian, black, Indian, and Asian—because of his racially diverse background. Throughout his short career, he has at times shunned the African-American label, though he does not deny his father's African-American roots. When Woods turned professional, discussing whether or not he would be a role model for minorities, he said in a 1996 Newsweek article, "I don't see myself as the Great Black Hope. I'm just a golfer who happens to be black and Asian. It doesn't matter whether they're white, black, brown or green. All that matters is I touch kids the way I can through clinics and they benefit from them."

Earl Woods started teaching his only child the finer points of golf almost from the beginning. Tiger watched his father take practice swings when he was only six months old, and he was mesmerized watching his father swing the club. Four months later, Woods took swings of his own before he even took his first steps, and he also was on the practice green before his first birthday. When Woods was five years old, he appeared on the television show That's Incredible! and was featured in Golf Digest. Often, Woods's punishment would result in no golf, a good way to encourage him to stay out of trouble. He also could not practice golf until his homework was complete. Not only did Earl and Kultida encourage their son toward the golf course, but they also ingrained in him trust and respect. During Woods's preteen and teen years, his father used his military training to help toughen up his son for the rigors of golf. For example, Earl would intentionally distract his son when he was preparing a shot.

At age 15, Woods was the youngest golfer ever to win the U.S. Junior Amateur title, the first of three consecutive titles at that level. He went on to win three consecutive U.S. Men's Amateur titles, the only player in U.S. history to have won both the Junior and Amateur titles. In 1996, he became the NCAA champion. However, Woods became bored with the college game, looking toward the day he would turn professional and start playing for money.

Shortly after that third amateur title, Woods did turn professional. Playing at the Greater Milwaukee Open in September 1996, he finished a respectable sixteenth place, with a seven-under-par score. He won $2,544 for his efforts. A few weeks later, Woods won his first tournament in Las Vegas, which assured him of a spot on the PGA Tour for 1997, when he led the tour in prize money. In only eight tournaments, Woods earned almost eight hundred thousand dollars. After his fantastic start, Sports Illustrated named him "Sportsman of the Year."

Woods's biggest accomplishment, however, came in April 1997 when he shattered the Masters record for largest margin of victory. After nine holes on Thursday, Woods found himself four over par. According to Earl, his son made a subtle adjustment to his swing. On the next 63 holes, Woods put on a show the likes of which the famed Augusta National Golf Club had never seen. He eventually finished at 18 under par, winning by 12 strokes, both of which were new records. In total, Woods broke 20 records with his performance and tied six others. Woods became the youngest Masters champ in history (at 21, he was two years younger than 1980 champ Severiano Ballesteros). Unfortunately, Woods's smashing win was somewhat overshadowed by some racially insensitive comments made by fellow golfer Fuzzy Zoeller. Zoeller immediately apologized for his remarks, but the story did not die as soon as it might have. Some people blamed Woods for that fact, because he was less than forgiving toward Zoeller—not returning Zoeller's repeated phone calls. Woods won the tournament almost 50 years to the day after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier.

After his Masters win, Woods had trouble fulfilling the extremely high expectations of his fans. In the three following majors, he finished no better than seventeenth. Part of his problem may have been his extremely strenuous schedule, which included several overseas trips and also lengthy commercial shoots. In 1999, however, Woods came out on top again with a 22-under-par win at the Buick Invitational in February and a 15-under-par win at the Deutsche Bank Open in May.

—D. Byron Painter