Tiger Suffers Toughest Loss Yet
A Commentary by Neal Turnage
May 4, 2006
I just read the news of the passing of Earl Woods, 74, father of golf’s Tiger Woods and was deeply affected.
I had taken a break from studying for exams to check out ESPN’s website when I read the news. I tried to get back to studying, but the thought of the elder Woods’ legacy stayed on my mind.
Behind every successful person is a mentor, a motivator or a significant person whose influence formed the foundation for that success. With celebrities that person tends to stay out of the spotlight, only receiving recognition in brief spurts during acceptance speeches or as a guest at public functions.
Earl Woods was different. He may have often been in the background, but he was always in the picture.
“He was my best friend and greatest role model, and I will miss him deeply,” said Tiger on his official website.
I have long been a Tiger Woods fan, and up until now I thought it was due to his talent on the golf course. I realize that it was his very public relationship with his father that made me like him so much.
Some years ago, Saturday Night Live poked fun at the pair in a skit that portrayed the elder Woods as an overzealous parent living vicariously through his kid. I don’t consider the lampooning as a negative thing but rather an exaggeration of how visible the Woods’ bond had become.
Woods wanted for his son what every good parent wants; for his child to have a better life than the one he lived and to grow up a good person. Tiger has done everything in his power to make a good dad proud.
Aside from accomplishing more in real golf than I’ve been able to do in his video game, Tiger has also established the Tiger Woods Foundation. Its purpose, to “empower young people to reach their highest potential by initiating and supporting community-based programs that promote the health, education and welfare of all America’s children.”
Tiger is not just the celebrity face on someone else’s charity either; he has taken a very active role in the lives of countless youths. He has recognized that his celebrity makes him a role model to many and that it’s not so hard to live a life worth emulating.
That mentality and his determination to be the best simply come from good parenting.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without him,” Tiger continues in his statement, “and I’m honored to continue his legacy of sharing and caring.”
For 25 years the world has had its eyes on the golfing phenomenon that is Tiger Woods, but Earl Woods himself has accomplished quite a few things that are worthy of a second look.
At Kansas State University he became the first black player in former Big Eight Conference baseball. During the Vietnam War he spent two tours of duty with an Army Special Forces unit.
He put his philosophy on parenting down on paper in his book, “Training a Tiger: A Father’s Guide to Raising a Winner in Both Golf and Life.”
“I make it very, very clear that my purpose in raising Tiger was not to raise a golfer,” Woods said in a Golf Digest magazine interview, “I wanted to raise a good person.”
Even his son’s name springs from a noble act. Woods promised a friend he fought alongside from in Vietnam that he would name a son after him.
I am not trying to paint Woods as a saint. I know there are bits and pieces of Woods’ life that are less than laudable but I am not the guy nor is this the forum to highlight them.
Having lost my own father less than a year ago, I just couldn’t go back to studying without giving Earl a pat on the back for a life well lived.
He was a man who lived a full and accomplished life. He was a man whose legacy will live on in the continued accomplishments of his son.
We tend to cheer athletes and teams that we can identify with. I see now that I always cheered for Tiger because the connection with his father seemed similar to the bond between my dad and me.
For Tiger, a man that hates to lose, this loss will obviously be harder to take than any tournament. But when he’s ready to return to the links, I’ll be pulling for him.