Tiger Woods

Lesson 1: His Origins

Long before the discoveries of his affairs and his car accident in 2009, Tiger Woods grew up feeling different from any other children his age. He had been primed for success from a young age, instructed by his parents to spend his time only practising golf. His father, Earl Woods, experienced racism as a baseball player in college, changing his view about the sports industry in the United States. He later married Barbara Hart, enlisted in the army, and was an absent father to his children from his first marriage. Tiger’s mother, Kultida Punsawad was a Thai resident who fell in love with Earl when he was in Thailand for work, unknown to the fact that he was married with children. Earl separated from Barbara in 1968 and married Kultida in 1969. Due to a legal mismatch, Earl was legally married to Barbara when he married Kultida, causing Barbara to label him a bigamist. Earl started loving golf soon before Kultida was pregnant with our protagonist.

Tiger Woods was named Eldrick Woods at birth, the E and K for his father and mother respectively. His father soon renamed him Tiger after a coworker who saved his life in Vietnam. While Tiger Woods’ lineage was a mixture of Thai, Chinese, Native American, African American and white, his father was determined to raise him as African American. Earl was determined to teach him golf as soon as he was out of infancy. Earl invited the media to watch Tiger play, making Tiger famous. Yet, Tiger was always trying to please his parents, often ignoring his own needs. Earl also encouraged Tiger to listen to self-help books and audio and worked with a child psychologist to give him an advantage. As a child, Tiger trained with coach Rudy Duran free of charge, and they grew very close. While he dominated on the golf course, he was nervous and anti-social in school. Six years later, a Tiger Woods who aspired to beat top golfers started training with coach John Anselmo. 

With his father usually at work, his mother regularly took him to and fro golf lessons, and they spent a lot of time together. He grew to adopt his mother’s Buddhist religion from the time they spent together. While his relationship with his father seemed positive on the outside, Tiger reflects that it was often abusive and harmful. 

In 1989, Earl quit his job to take Tiger to national golf competitions, while Kultida stayed home. While Tiger liked to play other sports in school, he hid this from his father. He practised almost ten hours a day in high