Tiger Woods remembers previous, thanks household in World Golf Corridor of Fame induction speech

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — In what appeared like a formality from the primary time he performed in a PGA Tour occasion on the Higher Milwaukee Open in August 1996, or maybe even earlier than then, Tiger Woods was formally inducted into the World Golf Corridor of Fame on Wednesday.

Woods, 46, was elected to the Corridor of Fame in March 2020 and was to be inducted the following 12 months, however the ceremony was delayed due to COVID-19. The occasion was held at PGA Tour headquarters; the World Golf Corridor of Fame is about 25 miles away in St. Augustine, Florida.

Woods was launched on the ceremony by his 14-year-old daughter, Sam.

Throughout his induction speech, Woods talked about being denied entrance to all-white nation membership clubhouses when he was a junior and his dad and mom taking out a second mortgage on their home to pay for his journey bills.

Woods stated his late father, Earl, and mom, Kultida, “instilled in me this work ethic to combat for what I consider in, chase after my desires, nothing’s ever going to be given to you, the whole lot’s going to be earned.”

“If you happen to do not go on the market and put within the work, you do not exit and put within the effort, one, you are not going to get the outcomes, however two, and extra importantly, you do not deserve it,” Woods stated. “It is advisable to earn it.”

Nobody had a extra profound impression on the sport of golf than Woods, whose daring play and dominance attracted minorities to the game and made it cool for youthful generations to play. His recognition transcended sports activities and made him one of many richest and most well-known folks on the planet.

Woods claimed his first of 15 main championships in his second 12 months on the PGA Tour, when he received the 1997 Masters by a record-breaking 12 pictures and set the scoring document at 18 beneath. He received the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 strokes and the 2000 Open Championship by eight. In 2001, Woods grew to become the one participant in historical past to win 4 consecutive majors — profitable the final three majors in 2000 after which the 2001 Masters — a feat that grew to become often known as the “Tiger Slam.”

Woods received the Masters 5 instances, the PGA Championship 4 instances and the U.S. Open and Open Championship thrice every. He was ranked No. 1 within the Official World Golf Rating for a document 683 weeks, tied a PGA Tour document with 82 victories and made a document 142 consecutive cuts.

After a number of knee and again surgical procedures, Woods received the 2019 Masters, his first main championship in 11 years.

“I do know that golf is a person sport,” Woods stated. “We do issues on our personal so much for hours on finish, however in my case, I did not get right here alone. I had unbelievable dad and mom, mentors, associates, who allowed me and supported me within the hardest instances, the darkest of instances, and celebrated the very best of instances.”

Woods may not be completed but. He hasn’t performed in an official PGA Tour occasion because the Masters in November 2020. He suffered critical accidents to his proper leg and proper foot in a automotive wreck close to Los Angeles on Feb. 23, 2021. He underwent a number of surgical procedures and stated final month that he plans to return to aggressive play, however simply does not know when.

When Woods and his household arrived at PGA Tour headquarters a number of hours earlier than Wednesday night time’s ceremony, he wasn’t carrying a big black sleeve that was on his proper leg in latest public appearances.

“Not too long ago, Dad needed to prepare more durable than ever,” Sam Woods stated throughout her introduction speech. “A couple of 12 months in the past you had been caught in a hospital mattress at certainly one of your final lows and one of many scariest moments of your life and ours. We did not know in the event you’d come residence with two legs or not. Now, not solely are you about to be inducted into the Corridor of Fame, however you are standing right here by yourself two ft.

“Because of this you deserve this, since you’re a fighter. You have defied the chances each time, being the primary Black and Asian golfer to win a significant, having the ability to win your fifth Masters after a number of again surgical procedures and having the ability to stroll just some months after your crash.”

A number of PGA Tour gamers, together with Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau and Bubba Watson, attended the induction ceremony.

“I feel the truth that he’s an individual of colour and what that brings to the desk by way of golf being a extra acceptable sport to play in the event you’re from a sure ethnic background, I feel that is left an enormous mark on the sport,” Rory McIlroy stated this week. “I definitely suppose the sport is extra various due to him. And simply his play generally and the thrill he created across the recreation of golf, he was, I would say in his pomp within the early 2000s, he was in all probability probably the most well-known man on the planet.”

To place Woods’ impression on the PGA Tour in perspective, think about that when he first performed within the Gamers Championship in 1997, the overall purse was $3.5 million. The winner of this week’s match at TPC Sawgrass will obtain $3.6 million of a $20 million purse.

“We, as his colleagues and friends, we have all benefited from that,” McIlroy stated. “He made golf, skilled golf on the highest degree, a really, very enticing factor to be concerned in. TV paid extra. Sponsors paid extra. After which hastily, his friends and colleagues and different gamers had been getting paid extra due to that.”

Former LPGA star Susie Maxwell Berning, a three-time winner of the U.S. Ladies’s Open; former PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem; and Marion Hollins, the 1921 U.S. Ladies’s Novice champion and the primary feminine golf course developer had been additionally inducted.