BIOGRAPHY ON TIGER WOODS
...California. He was nicknamed "Tige r" in honor of his dad's South Vietnamese combat buddy, Nguyen Phong, who saved Tiger's father's life in the Vietnam War. He was their only child. Tiger grew up on a military base where personnel are taught not to see “color” in Cypress, California. Earl Woods once said, "When most kids are in those circular walkers, you give them a rattle. He had a putter. By the time he was seven his father had Tiger listening to subliminal tapes to improve his mental game. Along with the tapes his father used what he called psychological warfare on his son. He would cough, yell, laugh, scream, move, run, jump, or throw something at Tiger Woods while he was swinging. He would do anything to try to distract Tiger. Tiger has said his father is his biggest influence in his life. His dad used to sit by Tiger's bed at night and give him confidence, telling him how good he was going to be at life and at golf. But his dad never pushed him. Tiger did what he did because he wanted to. And his father saw him through almost every phase of his golf development. The other influence in his life was his mother. For years she used to get up early in the morning and drive him to tournament sites all around the state of California. His mother balanced Tiger’s life with her religion of Buddhism. Tiger says that his religion has given him self-awareness and his religion has taught him that he is here to work on flaws in his personality. The two things he has worked on most have been stubbornness and impatience – he used to want things to be perfect right away. Now he understands that he has to work on things in his life and that this takes time and discipline. Both parents were very important in the development of his character and golf. Tiger believes that being a good role model to others is even more important than his golf. He believes his golf is just a vehicle for him to influence people. “My father has always instilled in me there are only two things in life that you ought to do. You gotta care and you gotta share.” Tiger wants to influence kids in a positive way and has established The Tiger Woods Foundation in order to promote both golf and non-sports activities for disadvantaged children. Tiger's foundation isn't just interested in helping kids with their golf. It's to help youngsters become better people. “It doesn’t matter whether they’re white, black, brown or green. All that matters is I touch kids the way I can through these clinics and they benefit from them. I have this talent. I might as well use it to benefit somebody.” I’m not out just to be the best black player. I want to be the best golfer ever. I love this game to death. It's like a drug I have to have. I don’t consider myself a great black hope. I’m just a golfer who happens to be black and Asian. It’s hard to classify me as strictly black, because I’m not really all black.” Michael Jordan says: Tiger… will succeed and expand across all racial barriers…. I admire him… for establishing a new plateau, a higher ground, if you will…. I really do believe he was put here for a bigger reason than just to play golf. I don't think that he is a god, but I do believe that he was sent by One." People say Tiger has a real presence and that his ability to help others extends beyond the United States. He is truly a multi-racial person, not just a black athlete. People feel that he will be a big influence on people across the world - and not just in a golf sense. He can hold everything together. He is a universal child - truly multi-cultural. Tiger Woods accomplishments are mind-boggling. He appeared on the "Mike Douglas Show" at age 2, putting with ...