Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open (Main image off of Google images, and then I photoshopped the rest.)

"Tiger Woods: Life in & Out of the Rough" “I want to be what I’ve always wanted to be: Dominant.” Tiger Woods, who is arguably the best golfer of all time, spoke this quote. He has broken countless golfing records, won even more tournaments, and is in fact the world’s very first billion-dollar athlete. If you believe at all that people are born to do only one thing, golf is surely what he was put here to do. He started golfing before the age of two, and since then has never put down a golf club. He is not just a sports icon, but a generous man as well. He co-founded (along with his father) the Tiger Woods foundation, and donates large sums of money to various charities every year. He has inspired many people, young and old, with his outstanding performances on the course, and his determination to be the very best. In 2009, he was subjected to a major scandal, which turned his world upside down, and he took a break from professional golf for a number of months. He is still recovering.

Tiger was born in 1975 in Orange County, California. He was a child prodigy, and started golfing at the age of two when he would sit and watch his father, Earl woods, hit golf balls for hours on end. He would then try to mimic his father’s swing, and did so pretty successfully. Before he turned three, he had won the under 10 division of the drive, pitch, and putt competition. At the age of eight, he won his first golf tournament for children aged 10 and under. Before he was 10, he had appeared on the cover of Golf Digest, made an appearance on ABC’S that’s Incredible, and putt against comedian Bob Hope on The Mike Douglas Show. He went on to win the Junior World Championships 6 times. In 1994 he became the youngest golfer ever to win the U.S. Amateur Championship. He accepted a golf scholarship to Stanford University, and won them plenty of awards. After two years of golfing there, he left to turn professional.

“Hello, World” were Tiger Wood’s first words as a professional golfer. He started his career with a $40 million dollar sponsorship from Nike, and a $20 million dollar deal with Titleist. This set a record for the highest endorsement contracts that early in any career. In his rookie year, he was sports illustrated “Sportsman of the Year” and PGA Tour’s “Rookie of the Year.” The following year, he won the Masters, which was his first major. He set 20 records and tied another 6, just for that one tournament. That year he ascended to the rank of worlds #1 golfer. He dominated the world of golf for the next 7 years- from 1997-2003. But in 2004, he went into a bit of a “slump” and did not win a major. He fell to number 2 on the world ranking and number 4 on the money list. He changed coaches and adjusted his swing, and was back on top. In 2006, Tigers father, Earl woods, passed away. He was Tigers biggest inspiration. He took a 9-week hiatus from the tour to be with his family, and when he retuned, it was evident that he was more than a little bit rusty. He missed the cut at the 2006 U.S. Open, the first time he had ever missed the cut for a major, ending his 39 long streak of cuts made. However, later on in the same year Tiger had an outstanding victory at the 2006 British Open, which he dedicated to his father’s memory. In 2008, Tiger Woods claimed what I believe to be not just his greatest victory of all time, but one of the most intense and miraculous showings of golf ever. I am referring of course to his victory in the U.S. open. Woods had been suffering from a knee injury for a number of months, and underwent his third surgery just weeks before the U.S. open. He was trailing the lead by four shots after the first round with a 72. In the second and third rounds, he made up a few shots and ended up leading the tournament by one going into the final round. Woods began having trouble with his knee at this point and could be seen wincing from the pain after some shots. Going into the final hole of the tournament, Tiger was behind Rocco Mediate by 1 shot. On the green, Tiger had a 12-foot winding putt that he had to make to force an 18-hole playoff with Mediate. Being Tiger Woods, he obviously made it. Now it was playoff time. Tiger found himself in the same position on the 18th hole of the playoff round. He had another long birdie putt to force sudden death, and made it again. On the first sudden death hole, Woods made par and Rocco missed his putt, relinquishing the championship to Tiger. In 2009, due to personal problems, Woods took a break from the PGA Tour. He returned to professional golf for the 2010 Masters and since then has been working on his game.

Tiger is important to me because as a golfer, he is a huge inspiration. I love to golf, and have been actively doing so for around 4 years. I believe the reasons why he is an inspiration as a golfer should be evident at this point, but if not, it is because of his outstanding professional career, his character, and his undeniable will to succeed. I don’t really have any interest in being a professional on the PGA tour when I get older, but even just as a casual golfer I model my game after him. Even through his struggles with his personal life over the past year, I still admire Tiger. What he did was wrong, no doubt, but if anything that only made him seem more human to me. Before that he was some sort of golfing machine designed to destroy the competition, who was very introverted and private, but when that whole series of events unfolded, that all changed. The whole world knew his darkest secrets, and I can only imagine how tough that must have been for him. But He managed the situation with such grace and character, and I admire that.

In November of 2009, Tiger crashed his car at 2:30 in the morning outside his house. This was the beginning of the end for Tiger. He later announced he would not be attending his own golf tournament: The Chevron World Challenge. The media started becoming suspicious, and eventually a San Diego waitress came out and said that she had an affair with Woods. She produced voice mails and text messages left by Tiger, telling her to delete his name off her phone because his wife went through his phone. Soon after, a dozen women also came out and said they had affairs with woods. After he admit to infidelity, many of his sponsors dropped or suspended their contracts with him. He had hugely embarrassed his wife (Elin Nordregen), and let his children down. This scandal led to many public apologies from Woods, and he even started going to therapy. He announced he would be taking an indefinite break from professional golf. After trying to work things out with his wife, they both agreed a divorce was the best thing. They divorced in late august, 2010. Tiger has recently built a home on Jupiter Island, California, and His ex-wife is also rumored to be buying a home on the same island. He and Elin retain a friendly relationship.

From child prodigy to golfing superstar and world-renowned athlete, Tiger Woods does seem to be a perfect role model. Or at least he was, until that whole infidelity fiasco unfolded and blew up his wholesome image. But to me, I still admire him. If that situation showed me anything, it is that even the best of us are not perfect. Tiger Woods is a dominant athlete, a generous and charitable person, and a man of character. He is en route to be the best golfer of all time, and I believe he will achieve that goal. “I once heard, and I believe it’s true: it’s not what you achieve in life that matters, it’s what you overcome. Achievements on the golf course are only part of setting an example; character and decency are what really count.”