Eldrick Tont ‘Tiger’ Woods

“I play for myself and my family. That’s it. That’s what my father always said to me and that’s what I’ve always done.”

He was six months old when he started imitating his father’s swing and just two when he appeared on the Bob Hope show to display his already considerable golfing skills.

Born Eldrick Tont Woods, he was nicknamed Tiger by his old man Earl, a Vietnam War veteran, after a Vietnamese soldier friend of his.

A true sporting phenomenon and one of the most recognisable faces in the world, Tiger Woods left his mark at an early age to change the golfing landscape. His interest did not wane as time passed by.

By the age of six, he was able to reach the greens from the tees, while even making a couple of holes-in-one. The most successful amateur golfer in the history of the sport, it was in 1982 at the World 10-and-Under Championship that Woods won his first competition, outshooting boys three and four years older than him. In 1987, he entered as many as two dozen youth tournaments, winning them all.

In 1989, Woods participated in his first major tournament Big I, and then went on to become the US Junior Amateur champion at the age of 15. He was the youngest person to achieve the feat, till Jim Liu broke his record in 2010. However, the American is the only one to have won it three consecutive times on the last hole (1991-1993).

Woods was always being readied up for something else under the shadow of his parents’ constant support and guidance. “We’ve been training Tiger to take his place in society since he was born,” Earl had said.

However, he was just getting started. It was during his adolescent years that he became obsessed with Jack Nicklaus, whilst going on to win two back-to-back USGA Junior Championships (1991-1992) and the 1994 US Amateur Championship, a victory which helped Woods qualify for the 1995 Masters, the mother of all American golf tournaments.

In 1996, he turned pro and immediately signed endorsement deals worth $40 million from Nike and $20 million from Titleist.

Woods may have lost the man who moulded his brilliant mind by drilling it on the mental game as early as the age of four, but the child prodigy has never stopped trying to make Earl proud. It went hand-in-glove when just two months after his father passed away, Woods paid tribute to him by achieving a career high at the 135th British Open Championship in July 2006 by ‘thinking his way around the golf course’. Woods was ruthless as ever at the Royal Liverpool.



For all but a single swing at the 16th hole of the opening round, Woods disregarded his preferred driver. Instead, he utilised 3-woods and 2-irons off the tee, which resulted in greater accuracy.

However, when Chris DiMarco miraculously holed a 50-foot par putt on the 14th hole to reduce Wood’s three-stroke lead to one, Woods went into terminator mode. The American stayed calm against a charging opponent and a gallery-full of distracting clickers, just the way Earl had taught his son, and birdied the next three holes to finish 18-under 270, just a stroke off his own Open record total. He hit almost 86% of all fairways, leading to three eagles, 19 birdies, 43 pars and only seven bogeys for the week.

The only thing that caught him in the end was his memory of Earl.

In a mixture of sorrow and gratification, Woods screamed out ‘Yes!’ after winning his 11th major championship, and buried his head in the shoulder of his caddie Steve Williams, sobbing uncontrollably and then going into the arms of his wife Elin; winning without his father and his trusted driver.

“He would have been very proud, very proud,” he said. “He was always on my case about thinking my way around the golf course and not letting emotions get the better of you, because it’s so very easy to do in this sport. He was very adamant that I play like that my entire career.”

Woods has been inextricably linked with Nicklaus, ‘The Golden Bear’, setting his game around one main aim: overcoming the great golfer’s record of 18 majors, as he came in second with his 14. Nicklaus once said Woods has everything it takes to beat his golf record. However, as the competition continues to improve and his back problems plague him, the chances have greatly diminished.

He may never reach his goal but the world number one has accolades worthy of a lifetime. His 12-stroke winning margin at the Masters made Woods a global sensation at the age of 21. He shelved up three more ‘Major’ tournaments in 2000, and soon held all four Majors at the same time, an achievement that became known as the ‘Tiger Slam’. Woods is among the five players to have reached the milestone.

He has also won 79 official PGA Tour events, second only to Sam Snead, and six ahead of Nicklaus with 73 wins, and his scoring average in 2000 is the lowest in PGA Tour history.

His recognition as one of the greatest golfers of all time can be seen by the 11 PGA Player of the Year awards and nine Vardon Trophy honours to his name. Moreover, Woods holds the record for the most consecutive weeks at number one (281, from June 12, 2005 to October 30, 2010), as well as the highest amount of time spent at number one; a total of 682 weeks.

It is his ruthless will to continue to improve that has made Woods the man he is today.

“The greatest thing about tomorrow is, I will be better than I am today. And that’s how I look at my life. I will be a better golfer, I will be a better person, I will be a better father, I will be a better husband, I will be a better friend. That’s the beauty of tomorrow.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2014.

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