Life story of America’s golf icon Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont Woods, better known as Tiger Woods is a professional American and one of the most successful golfers of all time. Woods was born in Cypress, California on December 30, 1975. He was born to retired African American lieutenant Earl Woods who named him ‘Tiger’ in honor of a fellow Vietnamese soldier who once saved his life. He also has Thai roots, his mother Tida Woods hails from Thailand making him one-quarter Thai, one-quarter Chinese, one-quarter Caucasian, one-eighth African-American, and one-eighth Native American.
From an early age, Woods was naturally gifted for the sport. His amateur career proved him to be one of the greatest athlete prodigies- at age three, he shot a 48 over nine holes at the Navy course, at age five, he appeared in Golf Digest and on ABC’s That’s Incredible. In 1984 at the age of eight, he won the 9–10 boys’ event, the youngest age group available, at the Junior World Golf Championship.
When it comes to a professional career, we all know the 15-time master champion performed exceptionally well. Woods played his first tournament as a professional in the Greater Milwaukee Open when he turned 20 in 1996 and was also named Sports Illustrated‘s 1996 Sportsman of the Year and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. He won 4 PGA TOUR events in 1997, 8 in 1999, and won four consecutive events to end the year and started 2000 with two more victories for a total of six in succession. From 2003 to 2006 he won a total of 20 times and joined Nicklaus as the only player to win the Grand Slam twice. After ending 2007 and 2008 with seven and four official wins, in 2009, he returned to the winner’s circle after 286 days and ended the year leading the PGA TOUR in victories (6) and money ($10,508,163). It is hence a matter of no wonder that he was selected as 1997, 1999, 2000-2003, 2005-2007, 2009, 2013 Player of the Year by the PGA TOUR and the PGA of America and by the Golf Writers Association of America in 1997, 1999, 2000-2003, 2005-2007, 2009.
He was recognized and honored in several media houses and popular publications like Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the year for 1996 and 2000, L’equip’s 2000 World Champion of Champions, Associated Press’s Male Athlete of the year 1997, 1999 and 2000, among others. In 2008 Businessweek made Woods No. 1 in The Power 100 for the most influential people in sports. Woods has also amassed a massive fortune through his years of a successful career, his net worth in 2020 was estimated to be close to $900 million. He has also appeared on Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid athletes. In 2015, Woods ranked ninth in Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid athletes, being the top among Asian Americans or the fourth among African Americans.
In 2004, Tiger Woods Married Swedish model Elin Nordegren, and the couple had two children, a daughter (Sam Alexis Woods) and a son (Charlie Axel Woods). Sam was born in 2007 and Charlie in 2009. However, the marriage resulted in a divorce in 2010 when towards the end of 2009, news related to Woods’ marital infidelity with multiple women broke. Woods gained an infamous and notorious image post a great deal of media scrutiny during this period.
However, his career hasn’t been a walk in the park. In 2006, his father’s death left him in a state of shock and had a severe impact on him, resulting in him taking some time off from the game. Then in 2008, he went through two knee surgeries. Then, he took a brief hiatus to post his highly publicized infidelity scandal to get his emotional stability back and to spend some time with his family. By 2021, Woods had undergone 5 back surgeries. In February 2021, he met with an extremely severe car accident leaving him with multiple fractures and foot injuries. Thanks to his relentless determination and sheer willpower, we see that even though he has had a tumultuous and rocky personal and professional life he still continuously and consistently got back to the field every time.
Apart from giving the tremendous athletic performance, Woods also has served and impacted racial issues and stigma surrounding the sport. According to Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated, the Augusta National Tournament founder, Clifford Roberts, once remarked, “As long as I’m alive, golfers will be white, and caddies will be black.”Woods popularized the sport among people of color and in children and individuals hailing from all backgrounds and regions. With his easy, relaxed, and friendly style, unpretentious disposition, and powerful 300-yard drives, he turned the tables by gaining the respect and attention of golf’s predominantly white culture. Robert Beck of Sports Illustrated called the ethnically diverse and phenomenally talented golfer, “A one-man Rainbow Coalition.” Joe Stroud of the Detroit Free Press commented, “He is a photogenic young man…. He is about as remarkable a combination of power and finesse as I’ve ever seen.”