It’s ridiculous really. Perfectly ridiculous. He begs the question: Should anybody be this good at anything . . . ever? This dominant, this entrenched in mastery, this untouchable, this prone to perfection? Tiger Woods, on Kaua’i for Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s
It’s ridiculous really. Perfectly ridiculous.
He begs the question:
Should anybody be this good at anything . . . ever? This dominant, this
entrenched in mastery, this untouchable, this prone to perfection?
Tiger
Woods, on Kaua’i for Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s PGA Grand Slam of Golf, is an
anomaly really, a true aberation from normalcy. The man is 24 years old, the
same age as this column’s author, and a stunning tribute to the notion that man
is preordained to do something -in his case, golf.
Could another
level-headed individual look at what Tiger has done in the four years since
turning pro and not see the absolute realization of what was meant for him? If
so, I don’t want to share the road with that person.
The biography turned
out by Tiger’s professional representation agency, IMG, is 23 pages long and
filled with enough facts and figures to drive this column into the depths of
numerical boredom. But let’s say this, before we touch on some highlights: the
world of golf, perhaps the world of sports, has never seen so much done at such
a young age. If you aren’t holding the biography yourself -or related to Tiger
-you can’t possibly know the half of what lies between the first and last
pages.
For instance, you might have known that Tiger was the youngest
golfer ever to ascend to the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking,
arriving there at 21 years, 24 weeks. But did you know that Bernhard Langer was
the previous youngest, at 29 years, 31 weeks? Did you know that Tiger had
crushed the standing mark by over eight years?
You might also have known
that Tiger has won eight major championships in his 24 years -five professional
majors and three U.S. Amateur titles. And that Jack Nicklaus won just five
major championships by the time the same age. But did you know that Tiger has
played 110 tournaments worldwide as a professional, finished 79 times in the
top 10 and missed the 36-hole cut one time?
These facts are astounding,
true. But how about some tidbits that make even golf nimrods sit up and take
notice, that might pull in the golf-isn’t-a-sport crowd.
Tiger was born on
December 30, 1975. That’s not all that impressive. But by age two, he was on
the Mike Douglas Show, putting with comedian Bob Hope. By three, yes three, he
shot a 48 for nine holes. Just a year or so removed from learning to walk, and
he was already shooting a score I’ll never achieve. At five, he was featured
in the magazine Golf Digest.
That doesn’t do it for you? He won the
Optimist International Junior tournament six times, at ages 8, 9, 12, 13, 14
and 15. Without knowing anything else about the tourney, just know that at 8,
Tiger won an international tournament with 15-year-old competitors.
Need a
little more about Tiger’s dominance whilst he still was a cub? In that 15th
year, he won the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship -the youngest ever to do so
-and was named Golf Digest’s Player of the Year. He was the publication’s
Player of the Year again at the age of 16 (1992). He was also Golf World’s
Player of the Year in 1992-93 and the magazine’s Man of the Year in 1994, when
he was 18, just barely eligible for any award celebrating a man.
In Sports
Illustrated 10 years ago Gary Smith penned an article foretelling the
likelihood, and desire of Tiger’s father, Earl, that the golfer would transcend
the sport he played, mean something more to the world than athletic
entertainment.
Hmm, listen closely and you will hear already the grumblings
of a Tiger Woods For President campaign. Witness, if you will, the surge in
golf popularity in America’s inner cities or the proliferation of the First Tee
program, designed to bring the game to the country’s youth. These things are
Tiger driven.
But there is more. Woods has created his own foundation,
designed to empower kids. The first line of the introduction letter, written by
Tiger, on the foundation’s website makes clear what quickly is becoming
reality:
“When I was young, my dad encouraged me to change the
world.”
He is a man carrying enough of the world to perhaps do just that.
Tiger’s father is 1/2 African American, 1/4 Chinese and 1/4 American
Indian. His mother, Kultilda, is 1/2 Thai, 1/4 Chinese and 1/4 Caucasian. To
find out exactly what all that makes Tiger, please consult an abacus.
The
point is, Tiger can reach more people than AT&T, and is not limited by the
age barrier that separates him from the staunchly old-timers historically
associated with golf. Even when congregating with purists, Tiger is at ease,
respectful, a true testament to uniqueness. And let us not forget that the man
is 24.
Perhaps that which speaks most voluminous about the idea that Tiger
is, collectively, graced by something special, is the intensity with which he
makes eye contact. Ask him a question, should you ever get the chance, and he
will bore into you with the answer, so that in a room with 500 people, 498
become figurines.
That, again, is something taught him by his father. Earl
stressed the confidence exuded by eye contact, the comfort level at which you
immediately set your partner in conversation.
Tiger has that quality, that
mesmerizing quality.
