Why is Tiger Woods so important?

Answer 1

He turned the Golf world on its head. He was the first real athlete to play the game, with unbelievable talent and brilliant ability. He has virtually dominated the game since he turned pro in 1996. He is the only player who looks likely to challenge Jack Nicklaus' 18 major championships.

Answer 2

Tiger Woods

Eldrick Woods was not only the greatest minority athlete ever known to play his sport, but is the most extravagant player ever to step foot on a golf course. Eldrick Woods, better known as "Tiger". Tiger was the youngest and first African American golfer to ever win the Masters Golf Championship. Tiger Woods excelled at golf from a very young age and has changed the game of golf, as we know it.

A magnificent smack was the sound Tiger Woods golf clubs made ever since he was eleven months old. He grew up in Cypress California and was born on December 30th, 1975. Tiger Woods was born with the first name Eldrick. Tiger's parents Kultida and Earl made up Tigers name by using His father's first initial and ending with his mothers. Eldrick got his nickname "Tiger" from his father Earl Woods' best friend Nguyen Phong. Earl and Phong first met in the Vietnam War in 1970. They both fought side by side and cheated death many times. Earl (Tigers father) called "Phong "Tiger" because of his strength and will during war". Tiger's parents also met during the war. His parents first met in a U.S. Army office in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1967. Tigers mother was working there at that time.

When Tiger was just shy of a year old he was already playing golf and practicing on the putting green at a Navy Golf Course near his house. Tiger's name got around quickly and he started showing up on TV talk shows like the Bob Hope and Late Night show. He would discuss his passion for the sport of golf and demonstrating his spectacular skills on the golf course. When Tiger was two years old he was excelling at golf surprisingly well. On one summer day Tiger's mom called the Los Angeles sports caster Jim Hill. Mr. Hill came to the Navy Golf Course and filmed Tiger playing one hole. On that day Jim Hill left that Golf course in shock. About two months later, Tiger was on Television once again, and believe me this wont be the last time he would make appearances on television playing against legendary comedian Bob Hope. A few years later Tiger appeared on a show called That's Incredible. There he showed the world how spectacular of a golfer he was at the age of five. "But the best was yet to come" (Gutman 11).

Tiger Woods was one of many kids to have to go through racism throughout out his life. Tiger was one- fourth African American, one fourth Chinese, one fourth Thai, one eight American Indian, and one- eighth caucacasian, he had an unusual heritage. Because of his darker skin he was generally considered a black man. His first time ever experiencing racism was on tigers first day of kindergarten. Some older white kids grab him and tied him up to a tree. "They then trough rocks at him and called him names like monkey and the N word." (Gutman 11). Young Tiger was so scared it took him several days to even tell his parents about the incident. This was just one of many incidents that followed. When Tiger was just eight years old is when he really showed the world how great his golfing ability really was by winning many local and national golfing tournaments. He won his first National Golf Tournament when he was just eight, what was so special about Tiger's win was that Tiger was in a 10 and under age group. So that means he beat all the eight, nine, and ten year olds who showed up to the National junior golfing Tournament. One of the many reasons why Tiger excelled at golf from such a young age was that Tiger had a golfing coach. In fact his golfing coach was Rudy Duran the golf pro at the Heartwell Park Golf Club. Tiger would go to the Heartwell Park Golf Club after school every day. There is when tiger would practice on his weaker and stronger parts of his game. Like putting and chipping, matter a fact Tigers best part of his game was his putting. Which is normally the hardest part of golf for most normal people. But tiger was anything but normal. He was unstoppable "you could just see the talent just oozing out of his finger tips"(Gutman 12).

"As a teenager Tiger would improve his golfing game rapidly. He would practice all the shots, including a chip. When Tiger hits his chip shot he keeps his head down even though he has already hit the ball. That's classic form" (Gutman 15)! When Tiger was just fourteen he had already won five age group national titles. Which was two more than any body his age had ever won. Those just added to his more than one hundred local junior titles. This meant that there was hardly any room for his trophies in his house. "Tiger was tall, slim, and dark and could hit the golf ball a country mile" (Gutman16). One of the many things that made tiger such a great golfer was that he "had the nerves of solid steel" (Gutman 16). Tiger's dad Earl had practiced with Tiger to make him have such a great mind set, and to keep into his zone and block out everybody and everything. When Tiger would get up to hit every single ball his father would yell and scream. He would also jump up and down and make as much noise as he could possibly can to mess up Tiger. At first it sometimes messed with Tiger and he would hit a bad shot here and there, but over time nothing could get even close to getting under his skin. One of the many things that make Tiger Woods so special is that you never have to determinate him you never had to tell him to go to practice he just did it. In August 1990, when tiger was still fourteen, he played with twenty-one touring professional golfers. Tiger played them in a round at the Insurance Golf Classic. Which was a pro junior event in Fort Worth, Texas. On that day Tiger shoot a 69 for eighteen holes, which was good enough to beat eighteen professional golfers out of twenty one professionals playing in the tournament that day. Tigers playing partner on that day was a pro named Tommy Moore. Moore said, " I whish I could have played like that when I was only fourteen. Heck I wish I could play like that at twenty seven"(Gutman 17). Just a year later Tiger was becoming a freshman at Western High School in Anaheim, California. Tiger wasn't just good at golf. He also played Football, Basketball, Baseball, and track. But one by one tiger had to let each of them go. Why you might ask, Tiger believed that all these sports took to much time away from his favorite sport golf. During his freshman year tiger won his first United States Junior Amateur title. Tiger was the youngest ever to win the title. When Tiger was just a fresh man at Western High he was already receiving letters from colleges with the top golf programs in the Nation. The very first letter Tiger received was from Stanford University. Which was giving him a full ride on a golfing scholar ship.

Tiger told people at a press conference one day that he had to make one thing perfectly clear: "I don't want to be the best Black golfer on the tour," he said (Gutman 18). " I want to be the best golfer on the tour period" (Gutman 18). Tiger very clearly started impressing the world while he was in college. In Tigers time while he was at Stanford he won three straight U.S.A Amateur golf Championships. This was Tigers first competition that really showed how much talent he really had. Tiger was known for ending extremely strong. When Tiger sunk that final putt in the U.S.A. Amateur golf Championship he really showed how strong he could be. Also it set a record for winning the most consecutive U.S.A Amateur Golf Championships ever. Which is still to be beaten today. Unlike many other golfers Tiger was always in working extremely hard in the weight room. By having Tiger lift just gave him another advantage over every one else. It meant that tiger could hit the ball farther and he could put more spin on the golf ball. Just after Tiger's sophomore year at Stanford he was invited to go and play golf with some pros over in England on one of the hardest courses ever known to man kind. Old Saint Andrews was the course and is one of golfs original courses. Tiger couldn't beat the pros but learned many things by playing with them. On Wednesday, August 28, 1996 Tiger made a game-changing announcement.

It was this day that Tiger Woods had come to a decision to go Professional in Golf. Tiger was mentally and physically ready to go pro. The only question was, was the world read for him. As soon as Tiger went pro the media went bananas over him. What ever channel you would turn to they where talking about him. It was immediately announced that tiger had signed two endorsement deals. One with Nike the Shoe Company, and the other with the Golfing brand Titleist. Both deals were said to be worth any between forty and sixty million dollars! Can you believe that? Tiger Woods became just a college golfer to a millionaire in less than twenty-four hours. Nike thought that tiger would bring them customers just like Michael Jordan did. Tiger Woods said, " Golf is like a drug to me if I don't have it I go crazy. It's gone beyond love and hate. I always tell people I'm addicted. I've got to keep playing:" (Gutman 29). Later Tiger played in the Masters, and made history again by winning it twelve strokes under par. It's almost impossible to capture Tigers Woods life in six pages, and there's only one way to describe him. The best ever to hold a golf club.

Answer 3

Because he is a wonderful player that has broken many records and who's respected around the world.