Eldrick Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods isn’t just the greatest golfer in PGA history, he’s also a very admired athlete because Tiger is a role model who starts something and never gives up. He also has a lot of passion in what he does and loves to help children. That’s why Tiger Woods started the Tiger Woods Foundation (TWF), which helps many kids in California. You can say that Tiger is a very impressive role model and golfer, but how did he get to where he is now?

As a child Tiger, or Eldrick, would perch on his high chair and observe his dad practice hitting golf balls into a net. Astoundingly, one day little Eldrick had a sudden interest in golf and picked up his the putter his dad had made him and started playing the sport. Both Earl and Kultida (his mom) were very, very amazed that Eldrick had taken up the game of golf. At the age of two, Tiger was on the Mike Douglas Show and had a very impressive putting contest against Bob Hope, who was a very decent amateur golfer himself. Bob was very surprised when young Tiger stirred his ball near the hole and made the putt that got everyone off their chairs. When Tiger first started swinging his club, he was only 11 months and would practice in his garage. Eldrick was named after his father’s old army buddy in the Vietnam War (Nguyen, which means Tiger) in honour of him when he saved his life. Being a role model is more important to Tiger than his golf, as a kid, Tiger was never pushed into doing things by his parents, in fact his dad would sit next to his bed and give him confidence. Being a real inspiration to Tiger, Kultida would drive Eldrick to his tournament sites really early in the morning and would never complain about how long it took, instead, she would cheer him on from the crowds. Tiger is a Buddhist and follows after his mom’s religion. Eldrick had always dreamt about being the world’s best golfer, and now he is! But Tiger’s talent didn’t come naturally.

Practicing at local golf courses, Tiger improved his game, but people thought that he wouldn’t be able to play at courses because of his race. Even in his past schools boys would yell and shout very racial things at him. Tiger was a very impressive golfer, but to be an excellent one he had to work on his mental game. While Tiger was trying to make a shot, his dad would play tricks on him like Throwing a golf ball on to the course and even jump out in front of him and make a really loud, distracting squeal. This really helped Tiger a lot on his golf career because he wouldn’t get distracted by the crowds. After graduating, Tiger went on to college at Stanford University in California and even made his way on the Oprah Winfrey show where he announced that he was “Cablinasian”. Eldrick made up this name from all of his ethnicity. Tiger likes to say he is Asian American and African American. Eldrick is very multicultural and is part Thai, Chinese, Native American, European and Caucasian. Elin Norderen is a supermodel and is also Tiger Woods’s wife.

Currently, Tiger Woods is still the greatest PGA golfer in history and just opened a new learning facility for children in February 2006. Eldrick loves helping people, especially kids. The Tiger Woods Foundation (TWF) is a foundation that encourages kids to start something and never give it up. This foundation also inspires the 2.5 million participants and is 35,000 sq ft. Not only does it help children achieve their dreams, it also gets them into the game of golf. You can find this building in southern California, where the pro lives. As you can see, Tiger is a very admirable, responsible, constructive and very successful athlete. This is why he is my hero.