Unscripted Featuring Tiger Woods the Sports Mount Rushmore
Unscripted
By Keith Edmonds
Ink Spot Contributing Writer
I don’t know if I even have an aura, man. I just try to win.”
~Tiger Woods
Mount Rushmore, South Dakota is widely known for it’s granite enshrinement of four of US presidents namely George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt. Their images are forever immortalized as arguably the greatest presidents that we’ve ever known in our history. Though that can (and has been) disputed, onr thing that cannot be disputed is that Mount Rushmore symbalizes greatness in it’s purest form and entirety and is a standard by which any other people that assume the position of US presidency occupies. Using Mount Rushmore as a premise, I started thinking about what a Mount Rushmore of sports would look like if there was ever one built and 4 sports figures almost immediately came to mind for me. Today begins Part III of my 4 part series recognizing the 4 individuals that I feel should be given strong consideration for sports version of Mount Rushmore because of their unquestioned greatness and shear dominance of their peers and rivals…
Eldrick Tont Woods, (better known as Tiger Woods), was born December 30, 1975, in Cypress, California, as the only child of a Black Army officer father and a Thai mother. When Woods was a child, his father began calling him "Tiger" in honor of a fellow soldier and colleague who had the same name. To describe his influence on the game of golf would take more than the allowable word limit that I have on this piece, but I will make a valid attempt to do so. Tiger Woods is legendary for his exploits on (and off) of the golf course. I very well could have started with him for my Mount Rushmore series but with him still being active, I thought that I would wait until this point to bring him out. Hey! It makes sense in my mind so hopefully it will in yours!
I struggled on where to start in my thoughts about Tiger Woods simply because I wanted to make sure that I give him his “justice” as a golfing legend. So, where do we start when discussing probably the GREATEST of those that I feel deserve to be on Mount Rushmore? At the beginning, of course! 1996. The day that Eldrick Tiger Woods turned pro, and the landscape of professional golf no longer had a competitive equilibrium. Twenty-six years ago, a skinny young man of mixed race started on a journey that would demolish all notions of one person being so dominant that the world of golf would never be the same after his departure (though he’s still currently active). Since being introduced by his father Earl to the game of golf, Tiger Woods showed such a propensity to play this game that words such as “natural” and “prodigy” began being thrown out as descriptions about him at the age oftwo!
His father knew early on that his son was going to be something special when he appeared on the cover of GOLF Digest at the age of five. At the age of eight, Tiger showed his talent by winning the Junior World Golf Championship. As if that were not enough proof of his ability, he went on to win the championship another six times!
He continued honing his game to the point that when he began playing against his father at age eleven Earl Woods could no longer beat him head-to-head. Following his father’s competitive nature, Tiger began winning tournaments at an alarming rate which led many to believe that once he turned professional, many of the long-standing golf wins records held by greats such as: Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus would immediately be threatened by him. But he went on to college first to get additional tutoring and instruction at Stanford University and it was during his time there that the word “winning” was something that we became accustomed to when speaking about Eldrick “Tiger” Woods.
Upon his arrival to Stanford University, Tiger established himself as his team’s best player and gained respect not only amongst his peers, but from fellow rivals and competitors throughout the country. The golf world had not seen a player with such power, touch, and grace on the course since the immortal “Golden Bear” Jack Nicklaus.
As I researched his collegiate career, I found that Tiger was twice honored as the Pac-10 Player of the Year and won 3 U.S. Amateur Championships. He was the individual Pac-10 champion in 1996, and he was named First Team All-Pac-10 in both of his college seasons winning approximately 42% of the tournaments 11 of 26) he entered. This was a prelude to what he would accomplish as a professional.
Upon turning professional in 1996, Tiger would start a string of winning (Starting with the Masters which he won 6 times) that would see him accomplish the following:
• Win 82 official PGA Tour events, (tying him with Sam Snead) and placing him nine ahead of Jack Nicklaus' 73
• Winning 15 majors, 2nd all-time behind Jack Nicklaus' 18.
• Being 14–1 when going into the final round of a major with at least a share of the lead.
• Being one of 5 players (the others being Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus) to have won all four professional major championships in his career, known as the Career Grand Slam, with Woods being the youngest to do so.
• Being the only player to have won all 4 professional major championships in a row, accomplishing the feat in the 2000–2001 seasons. (This accomplishment became known as the "Tiger Slam”)
These are just a few of Tiger Woods accomplishments during his golfing career. Though injuries have slowed his progress in recent years, his influence and dominance in golf remain as the single-most reason I feel he is most deserving of a place on the Mount Rushmore of sports. Golf tournaments that feature Tiger Woods in the event are the most watched and more lucrative for players than ever before, which further adds credence to him being included on the Mount Rushmore of sports! Outside of the game of golf his image and influence impressed global sports giant NIKE to sign him to deals that have made Woods millions with this past year sending him into billionaire status. Need I say more?