Tiger Woods inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame

Tiger Woods has been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame at the PGA Tour headquarters in Florida on Wednesday.

The 46-year-old is one of the greatest and most influential golfers in history, winning 15 Majors, second only to Jack Nicklaus’ 18, and a joint-record 82 times on the PGA Tour.

The ceremony saw Woods introduced by his daughter Sam and he was inducted alongside former PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, four-time Major winner Susie Maxwell and course developer and architect Marion Hollins.

“This an individual award,” said Woods. “But this actually is a team award. All of you have allowed me to be here. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Woods received a 40-second standing ovation from a crowd that included 27 Hall of Fame members and a handful of current PGA Tour pros such as defending Players champion Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Billy Horschel, Tony Finau, Bubba Watson and Zach Johnson.

The former No.1 got emotional as he spoke about the time his parents took out a second mortgage on their house – one that he would later pay off – so that he, at the age of 14, could compete on the American Junior Golf Association circuit.

“You have to understand I got to this position because of my upbringing, having two unbelievable parents,” said Woods. “I know that golf is an individual sport, we do things on our own a lot, for hours on end, but in my case I didn’t get here alone.

“I have unbelievable parents, mentors and friends who supported me in the toughest of times, darkest of times and celebrated the highest of times.”

Widely regarded as the greatest golfer of all time, Woods enjoyed a successful junior, college and amateur golf career, before turning to the professional game in 1996 and immediately signing advertising deals with Nike and Titleist that ranked as the most lucrative endorsement contracts in golf history at that time.

He won in only his fifth PGA Tour at the Las Vegas Invitational before picking up a second title just two weeks later at the Walt Disney Classic redefining a game that had never been dominated by a Black golfer, and raised the bar on golfers’ athleticism.

“Playing at some of these golf courses I was not allowed in the clubhouses where all the other juniors were, the colour of my skin dictated that, and as I got older that drove me even more,” he said.

Woods is also the only modern pro to win all four Major golf titles in succession, taking the US Open, British Open and PGA Championship in 2000 and the Masters in 2001, a feat that became known a the Tiger Slam.

In 2019 he wowed the golfing world once again when he won the Masters for a fifth time, which came after years of surgeries and personal problems that convinced many the best golfer of his generation was finished.

“What drove me was the passion to play the game of golf. I was never going to be denied to play. I love it,” he said.

“One of the things Dad instilled in me, he grew up in the same era of Charlie Sifford where you had to be twice as good to be given half the chance.”

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