Golf phenom’s father dies fighting cancer

Giovanna Dell’orto

CYPRESS, Calif. — Earl Woods, who was more determined to raise a good son than a great golfer and became the architect and driving force behind Tiger Woods’ phenomenal career, died last Wednesday at his home. He was 74.

“My dad was my best friend and greatest role model, and I will miss him deeply,’’ Tiger Woods said on his website.

Woods was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1998 and was treated with radiation, but the cancer returned in 2004 and spread through his body.

Woods played catcher at Kansas State, and was the first black to play baseball in the Big Eight Conference. He had also been a Green Beret for two tours in Vietnam.

But he felt his true purpose was to train Tiger, and he watched his son evolve into the dominant player of his time — the youngest player to win the career Grand Slam — and one of the most celebrated athletes in the world.

Woods introduced Tiger to golf by swinging a club as his son watched in a high chair. Tiger appeared on the “Mike Douglas Show” at age 2, played exhibitions with Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus, and his television appeal was solely responsible for quantum gains in PGA Tour prize money.

Perhaps the lasting image of Earl Woods came at the 1997 Masters, when he stepped onto the 18th green and wrapped his arms around a 21-year-old son who shattered records at Augusta National, a watershed victory that changed the appeal of golf and sent him to the greatness his father had always predicted.

(Associated Press)