Tiger Woods: changing the game...
Following his victories this year in The Open and the PGA Championship, Tiger Woods is second only to Jack Nicklaus in major victories and he also has more PGA tour wins than any other golfer... and he’s still only 30 years-old. But forget the titles, the man they christened Eldrick is single-handedly responsible for changing the face of golf. Here’s how…
The Tiger Woods factfile
Tiger describes himself as Cablinasian (Caucasian, Black, American-Indian, and Asian).
• Making big bucks: The world’s greatest golfer is also the highest paid sportsman on the planet. According to Forbes magazine, he earned in the region of $87 million last year; thanks in a big part to his lucrative five year $100 sponsorship deal with Nike.
•Appealing across the board: Before Tiger came on the scene, it was predominantly white middle aged/class males competing at the top in golf, and the audience which followed tended to be the same. Since the arrival of the Tiger on the scene however, everyone and their auntie has a passing interest in the sport.
• Man of many nations: Tiger describes himself as Cablinasian (Caucasian, Black, American-Indian, and Asian). His mother, Kultida is from Thailand but also has Chinese and Dutch ancestry. His late father, Earl, a Vietnam War veteran, was an African-American who was 25% native-American, 25% Chinese.
• Doing it for the kids: This year he opened the Tiger Woods Learning Center in California; a learning facility expected to be used by thousands of eager-to-learn youngsters. The centre which features extensive multi-media facilities and an outdoor golf teaching area is funded by an annual event called Tiger Jam which started off in 1998. In 2006, auctioned items from his celeb chums and a sold out Sting performance helped raise $1.5 million dollars for Tiger Jam IX.
• The model wife: We’d never really been that interested in golfer's other halves - that is until
Elin Nordegren came along. The 24-year-old Swede is a former bikini model who married her superstar hubby in a $1.5 million ceremony in an exclusive golf resort in Barbados. She may be taken but she does have a twin sister who isn’t...
