Tiger Woods Revealed How His Kids Saw Golf: ‘They Associated It with Their Daddy Being in Pain'
The Golf prodigy has made an impressive comeback by winning his fiftieth major title after 11 years and he sees it as an opportunity to show his children what the sport really means to him.
43-year-old Tiger Woods’ children, daughter Sam (11) and son Charlie (10), have no recollection of their father winning the US Open in 2008, and they grew up associating golf with Woods being in constant pain, as the sports star shared.
This was in Woods’ mind as he won the 2019 Masters ay Augusta, Georgia, marking his first major title in 11 years and the first in front of his children.
BACK TO THE TOP
“This has to rank up there with anything that I have ever achieved. Since I had my last back operation and returned, I think they've come to see what this game means to me.”
-Tiger Woods, Daily Mail, April 14, 2019.
Woods opened up with the British news outlet following his victory, telling about how “fantastic” it was for him to have his children witness his triumphant return to the sport that changed everything for him before he fell from grace.
RENEWED CONFIDENCE
According to Woods, up until recently his children “associated [golf] with their daddy being in pain” but seeing him recover and go back to the field to remind everyone why he became a legend in the first place is changing their minds.
“This is going to give me such confidence going forward. I'm sore now, because I put so much into it, but I know I can win majors again,” the golfer said, regaining hopes of breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles.
“The infectiousness of their happiness has been such a help. Their love and their support – I cannot stress enough how much that meant to me when I was having a hard time just moving.”
Nicklaus, Wood’s childhood hero, was one of the first to approach Woods to congratulate him for his achievement. Woods is now one Masters win behind Nicklaus 6-times record as well.
With a renovated sense of fulfillment, Woods has set his eyes on the upcoming US PGA Championship in May, and he will reportedly take a break before starting to train again to be ready for it.
COMING TO TERMS WITH HIS PAST
Many things happened in Wood’s life during his years of struggle with his injuries and personal scandals that undermined his career once. In the years since his previous major win in the field, he divorced the mother of his children.
“Elin and I were so much in love when we married in 2004. But I betrayed her. My dishonesty and selfishness caused her intense pain,” Woods admitted in a memoir book titled “Unprecedented: The Masters and Me,” published in 2017.
Wood seems to have made peace with his past and mistakes, and while he might regret some of his actions, he considers his life to has come “full circle” 22 years after he hugged his father at his first Masters win.
“I thought about my dad, how he was there for me in 1997, and in 2005 when his health was so bad he shouldn’t really have come. He wasn’t supposed to fly, but he came. He’s not here, but my kids are. So it’s come full circle,” Woods said.
Apart from his children, Woods was accompanied by his mother Kutilda and his 33-year-old girlfriend Erica Herman, who greeted with a loving hug and kiss right after his epic victory.
“The infectiousness of their happiness has been such a help. Their love and their support – I cannot stress enough how much that meant to me when I was having a hard time just moving,” Woods said of his family’s support.