Tiger Woods speaks during his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame on Wednesday in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Before he became Tiger Woods — champion golfer, global brand and the first billion-dollar athlete — a multi-ethnic boy in Southern California fell in love with the game and developed a killer instinct on local municipal courses long before “diversity” had entered the American lexicon.
Woods recalled his rise from humble beginnings to national icon Wednesday night at the $65 million, 187,000-square-foot PGA Tour headquarters as he entered the World Golf Hall of Fame.
As he has done since he was a teenage phenom, Woods captivated the crowd. During an emotional, heartfelt speech, the 46-year-old gathered himself more than once, shed some tears and reminded everyone a game Woods made look so easy was anything but.
Woods did not once mention any of his 82 PGA Tour wins or recall memorable moments from his 15 major championships that people are sure to be discussing decades from now.
Instead, Woods looked back much further.
“I’m going to start retro,” he began.
High school scores and top performers from Thursday, May 16
Tiger Woods becomes emotional during his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Tiger Woods becomes emotional during his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
At 6, Woods became a fixture on a par-3 course at Heartwell Golf Park in Long Beach. To prepare for Heartwell’s Saturday tournaments, an 8-year-old Woods practiced in the local park with his dog Boom Boom — named after rising star Freddy Couples.
Around the same time, Woods also had learned a few tricks until his father Earl caught on and put the kibosh on money games his son used to fleece locals. Besides teaching him golf, Earl shared a few secrets from his Green Beret days once his only son was old enough to play on the Navy Golf Course.
Woods would lay in wait, covered in foliage until golfers passed and retrieve lost golf balls.
“Obviously, military guys aren’t the straightest of players,” he said. “If I found a balata ball, are you kidding me? I’ve got a brand-new fresh balata. I can use this in a tournament. Surlyn balls only used for practice.”
Soon, Woods was playing — and dominating — junior events on better courses and at country clubs. He also encountered an ugly side of golf due to his skin color, further fueling his passion to succeed.
“I was denied access into the clubhouses; that’s fine,” Woods said. “Put my shoes on here in the parking lot. I asked two questions only, that was it: Where was the 1st tee? And what was the course record? Not complicated.”
The comment elicited a Tiger roar from the audience, including 27 Hall of Famers and myriad current Tour pros in town for The Players Championship.
Tiger Woods stands with his daughter Sam during his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Tiger Woods stands with his daughter Sam during his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Woods soon tugged at everyone’s heartstrings.
To finance the future of their 14-year-old son, by then a U.S. Junior Amateur champion, the Woods family took a second mortgage on their home so he could play in American Junior Golf Association tournaments.
The sacrifice was yet another seminal moment in the evolution of Woods’ competitive fire.
“Mom stayed at home. Dad traveled. And I went out and played the AJGA Tour on our second mortgage,” he said.
Woods then looked at his mother, Kutilda, seated in the front row and choked up with emotion.
“Without the sacrifices of Mom, who took me to all those junior golf tournaments, and Dad, who’s not here but who instilled in me this work ethic to fight for what I believe in and chase after my dreams, nothing’s ever going to be given to you and everything’s going to have to be earned,” Woods said.
Woods’ legendary work ethic set the template for the modern golfer. Commissioner Jay Monahan said the approach of virtually every player on Tour likely was inspired by Woods.
The impact reaches far beyond current players or even golfers.
By the time Woods took the stage as the final inductee, video tributes had appeared from legends Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam and testimonials from current pros Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott and Justin Thomas, a close friend of Woods who sat in the crowd.
Praise came from beyond the golf world, too. Testimonials from Michael Phelps, Serena Williams, Jerry Rice and Tom Brady also were shown on the screen behind the stage.
“He made the shots when he needed to make the shots,” marveled Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl winner.
Yet the best tribute Woods received came during his introduction by his 14-year-old daughter Sam, who sat with her grandmother, 13-year-old brother Charlie and her father’s longtime girlfriend Erica Herman.
Sam recalled Woods’ crippling car accident in February 2021 that nearly led doctors to amputate his shattered lower right leg.
“But you’re standing here on your own two feet,” she said. “This is why you deserve this because you’re a fighter. You’ve defied the odds every time.”
Born the day after Woods came up a shot short of a playoff for the 2007 U.S. Open, Sam Woods never met her grandfather. She hears him in Tiger Woods, particularly a phrase the man he called “Pops” repeated from his military training.
“I feel like I can hear his voice every day reminding me to ‘Train hard, fight easy,’” Sam said. “This is an old special-forces saying that he ingrained into my dad, who now says it to Charlie and me. It not only teaches us that we have to put in the hard work to get what he want, but it’s that hard work that will pay off in the end.”
Woods certainly is proof, though he was the last to take credit.
“Golf is an individual sport,” he said. “But in my case, I didn’t get here alone. I had unbelievable parents, mentors and friends who supported me in the toughest times, the darkest of times, and celebrated the highest of times.
“All of you allowed me to get here.”