Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida (AP) —The greatest Tiger Woods of his generation is in the highest position ever when he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame Wednesday night and shared a life story of his passion for play. Won. And the work ethic that made him feel like he had won it.
Woods didn’t mention either 82 wins on the PGA Tour, 15 majors, or 8 surgeries he endured along the way.
He talked about borrowing a second mortgage that would allow his parents to play the junior circuit in California.
“If you don’t go out and work, you don’t go out and make an effort. One is that you don’t get results,” Woods said. “But two, and more importantly, you don’t deserve it. You need to win it. That defined my upbringing. It defined my career. . “
He was introduced by his 14-year-old daughter, Sam. Sam said her father was preaching to her and her 13-year-old brother Charlie the same message he had learned from his later years.
“Train hard and fight easily.”
Woods includes retired PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, three-time US Women’s Open Champion Susie Maxwell Burning, and the visionary late Marion Hollins, who became the first woman to develop a prominent golf course. It was a class headliner.
Since the show was centered around Woods, there were three short video presentations titled “GOAT,” the popular acronym for “greatest ever.”
There was no doubt that Woods was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
He was on the candidate’s slate two years ago, but with the exception of Woods, everyone introduced a list of achievements, one at a time. It wasn’t necessary to take up what he achieved, the people he influenced, and the significant impact he had on his sport by attracting new fans, soaring TV ratings, and increasing prizes. ..
This week’s Players Championship prize pool is $ 20 million and will not be lost to players on the field. Woods made his debut in 1997 with a total wallet of $ 3.5 million. This week’s winner will win $ 3.6 million.
Patrick Cantlay, who won $ 15 million last year as a FedEx Cup champion, said earlier this week, “All the pros here are grateful to Tiger because this sport is his. It wouldn’t be the place it is today without impact. ” ..
Woods, the first black and Asian heritage player to win a major in the 1997 Masters at the age of 21, also talked about the discrimination he felt as a young man. He told a story about going to a country club to play a tournament, and he wasn’t allowed to enter the clubhouse like any other junior because of his skin color.
“So I was denied access to the clubhouse. That’s fine. Please put my shoes in the parking lot here,” he said. “I asked only two questions, that was it. Where was the first tee and what was the course record? It’s not complicated.”
The room at the PGA Tour headquarters, which could only accommodate about 500 people, was applauded.
The ceremony has been moved from World Golf Village, which hosted the previous ceremony in Florida, to the new PGA Tour headquarters, about a mile away from where Woods first became famous.
Indeed, when he was a two-year-old genius, he starred in the Mike Douglas Show and had three consecutive US junior amateur titles. When Woods first offered the uppercut that defines his celebration, it was on the island green on the 17th hole of the par 3 of the US amateur TPC Sawgrass in 1994.
This was the first of three unprecedented consecutive US amateur titles, and it just got better.
Much better.
His record is so strong that Woods had one and three Hall of Fame careers. After spending four years as his professional, he has already won a Grand Slam career and 24 victories on the PGA Tour. His first major was the 1997 Masters, which won 12 out of 20 records.
By the time he was 30, he had already won 46 tours and won 10 majors, including a major sweep. This is a feat that no one has ever achieved.
Woods now has a record 82 wins on the PGA Tour, 15 majors and three wins over the gold standard set by Jack Nicklaus.
His influence was more than his victory.
Woods didn’t want to be seen as an athlete, not as a golfer. He wasn’t the first to find Jim, but his dedication to fitness and fitness created a template for others to follow.
“Tiger has changed people’s perception of golf from games to sports,” said Padraig Harrington.
Woods’ popularity, his showmanship was so great that Finchem could turn it into a television contract and his wallet soared.
Finchem also created the World Golf Championships event and Presidents Cup, giving a group of fast-growing international players from outside Europe the opportunity to compete in team matches. And he kept the PGA Tour strong with sponsors during the 2008 recession.
Maxwell Burning won only 11 LPGA tours, but played in a time when his career was shortened by juggling golf with his family.
She has won the United States Women’s Open three times, and only five have won at least three times in six years. She also won the Women’s Western Open, a major in her time. She said she had won a total of $ 16,000 from three women’s open titles.
“I was wondering if I wanted to change the check,” Burning told Woods.
Hollins funded and developed a golf course for women in New York and was the brain behind two legendary golf courses in California, Cypress Point and Pasatiempo. Hollins, who died in 1944 at the age of 51, was a pioneer in golf course architecture, a close friend of Alister MacKenzie, and the United States Women’s Amateur Champion.
Renee Powell won the first Charlie Sifford Award for her spirit of driving golf diversity. Meanwhile, her Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Peter Ueberroth and the late Richard Feliz, who are part of Pebble Beach’s owning group.
With the introduction, the number of people inducted into the Hall of Fame has increased to 164.
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