Tiger Woods a welcome sight in green jacket
By Ian O'Connor
New York Daily News
(KRT)
AUGUSTA, Ga. - He was a sight to behold, a child romping on
the grass, a pioneer blazing through the pines, a black man sliding
into a green jacket. Tiger Woods was raised for this day, trained
in diapers, conditioned to wreck country-club policies and golf-course
records. Twenty-one years were invested in these 18 holes, so
Woods indeed became the first player his age and color to win
the Masters. If the triumph did not change the world, it did change
the game.
Golf has never seen anything like him. One of his old coaches
called Woods a cross between Magic Johnson and Wolfgang Mozart,
which made perfect sense at Augusta National. This performance
was part fast break, part symphony. Two days before the 50th anniversary
of Jackie Robinson's debut at Ebbets Field, Woods won at a club
that didn't admit a black member until 1990. He shot a 69 to finish
with a 72-hole total of 18-under 270, breaking the Masters record
of 17-under held by Jack Nicklaus and Ray Floyd, winning by 12
strokes, winning a major by the biggest spread this century.
When the final putt dropped, when Woods was done pumping his
fist, he approached the man who gave him a 5-iron before he could
crawl. Earl Woods grabbed his son and whispered in his ear.
"We did it," Earl said. "I love you and I'm
so proud. Now let it all out."
So Tiger cried. Earl Woods had two bypass operations in February,
the second nearly killing him. He had to watch his son play the
final round of the Masters on TV. Around 7:30, with Tiger dressed
in green, that didn't seem like such a bad deal.
"He's been talking about winning the Masters ever since
he was 5 years old," the father said. "I told him he
had to grow up first."
But it was fair to wonder if Earl would let him. The father
played semi-pro baseball, lived the racism of the day, then entered
the service. As a Green Beret, he befriended a Vietnamese soldier
whom he nicknamed Tiger. This soldier was a fearless fighter.
His name, Earl decided, would go to his son.
As a 6-month-old, Tiger watched his father hit balls into a
net. By age 2, he had graduated to the Mike Douglas Show, hitting
off a tee to the delight of Bob Hope. At age 3, Tiger managed
a nine-hole score of 48.
Earl encouraged the fascination. It seemed a perilous approach,
the parent living through the child, an approach that has yielded
far more rebels than champs.
But Tiger forever swore that he loved the game, that he loved
Earl Woods for his support. The kid seized amateur championship
after amateur championship, earning a scholarship to Stanford,
never making a headline in a bar, finally making history at the
Masters.
"It's wonderful to see someone achieve his dream,"
Earl said. "This wasn't my dream. My dream was that Tiger
become a good person. And I assure you he's a better person than
golfer."
This would be a hard sell to a bruised and battered field.
Woods didn't just win the Masters. He so dominated the tournament
that some pros were talking about tightening the fairways, planting
trees, adding traps, doing anything to make the course more challenging.
Watching Tiger swing at Augusta was like watching Gretzky skate
across the local pond, or Jordan shoot in the local park.
On Wednesday, Earl Woods told PGA commissioner Tim Finchem
that his son would win. What Earl couldn't say was where he would
be when Tiger did.
"The doctors almost lost me on the second operation,"
he said. "The surgeon came out and said, 'You're a true warrior.'
I said, 'Yes, I am. I've been through the ultimate competition.
I was competing for my life and I won.' "
He is a dramatic man, this Earl Woods. He has made some outlandish
comments in his day, suggesting that Tiger was in position to
change the course of humanity.
The only course Tiger will change has bunkers and cart paths.
But if nothing else, the elder Woods is one hell of a coach.
"Tiger has a creative mind so powerful," he said,
"that it sees escape routes where there aren't any to a normal
person. That's why he's more dangerous when he's in trouble than
on the fairway."
How could anyone know? Tiger was so long with his drives, so
relentlessly accurate, his only trouble was deciding whether to
hit pitching wedge or sand wedge into the par-5s.
On Sunday, he was never threatened, even with two bogeys out
of the sand on the front nine. He was annoyed by fan noise on
the fourth green, distracted by a photographer at the 18th tee.
But, in between, he couldn't help but smile. It started on the
eighth fairway and ended on the final green, where he stood over
his ball and shook his head in disbelief.
Two putts later, Woods was the first black winner of a major.
Lee Elder, who in 1975 became the first black player at the Masters,
was there to see it, calling it a "glorious day for all African-Americans."
Earl Woods was there, too, watching by monitor, summoning the
name of another pioneer.
"It's a beautiful thing," he said. "I'm sure
Jackie Robinson would've been extremely proud of Tiger."
No prouder than Earl Woods. This was the plan all along. From
cradle to clubhouse, from green bib to green jacket, Tiger was
raised to win the Masters.
Behind the 18th green, in his father's arms, Woods honored
the investment. He was a champion in tears, a sight to behold.
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