Father's course of action

Shaun Powell

June 15, 2004

It's been two years since we last saw a fist pump from Tiger Woods in a major tournament, and after close inspection and much analytical thought, his very first coach has discovered what's wrong.

"Nothing!" Earl Woods said.

He answered the phone inside the same modest Cypress, Calif., home where he raised and trained the biggest force in golf. His golden and chocolate Labs woke him early, as usual, with their incessant barking and face-licking. He welcomed it, because when you've survived two open-heart surgeries and get around mostly by wheelchair, the simple pleasures of morning sunshine and the sounds of life are blessings. It was a day filled with promise.

And then, somebody had to spoil the moment by calling and mentioning "Tiger" and "slump" in the same breath.

Shaun Powell Bio | E-mail | Recent columns

"I really get a kick out of this," said Woods, although the edge in his rising voice suggested otherwise. "All of a sudden, all these people, all these experts, think they know Tiger better than Tiger. Can you believe that? They're talking about his swing. They're talking about a slump. But I understand. After all the good things Tiger has done both in and out of golf, the thing to do now is to find something negative about Tiger Woods. It makes good copy.

"He hasn't won a major in two years. At least they got that right. But they don't even consider the fact that 99 percent of the pros don't win majors every year. This is a controversy about nothing." One of his Labs barked in agreement.

"He's judged by a different standard," Woods continued. "I guess that's good. I guess I should be happy about that."

His son's next try at a major comes this week at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, and at the very least, this experience should end better than the last one. Nine years ago, before he broke new ground in golf, Tiger was hauled off to Shinnecock by his father, who was anxious to see how a skinny 19-year-old amateur would do in the Open. In the second round, Woods jammed his wrist trying to hack out of the rough on the third hole and was forced to withdraw.

"Tiger was young and his swing was not as professional as it should have been," Earl Woods said. "I knew that. I just wanted him to compete and we achieved that objective. I didn't anticipate that the wiry grass would wrap around that club and cause a tendon to be pulled.

"But that was a blessing in disguise. It showed him the importance of fitness. Before, nobody knew you had to be fit to play golf. That's another way Tiger has influenced the game. Now, everybody's getting in shape and getting stronger."

Plenty has changed since that Shinnecock debut in 1995, in particular, Tiger's traveling partner. Then, it was his father. Now, it's his fiancée. Elin Nordegren, the most famous ex-nanny since Fran Drescher, is fastened more securely to Tiger than the Nike swoosh.

They're supposed to make it official sometime this year. But many months ago, when the buzz began to build between Tiger and his squeeze, his father dismissed any talk of marriage. Earl Woods said Tiger was much smarter than that, and besides, a wife would ruin Tiger's golf game.

Well, it's 2004, and did we mention how things have changed? "When he gets married, it will have a balancing and maturing effect on his golf game," said Earl Woods, doing a 180. "It's like the old caveman who went out hunting and came back to an empty cave. He had to fix the fire and cook the food and didn't have anyone to tell how difficult it was to kill the damn thing. Tiger will have companionship and someone to share his accomplishments with and to share life with.

"He needs that kind of support. All golfers do. All people do. It's better when two people handle a problem than one."

Speaking of women, Mr. Woods, your thoughts on the Tigress-in-progress, Michelle Wie?

"Well," he said slowly, "she is an awesome talent." But? "But obviously," Woods continued, "awesome talents require extreme responsibility when handling them. It requires a parent who's devoted to their child but who also has to teach the child a lot of things about golf. And in her case I don't think she's being taught these things."

Woods believes the parents of a 14-year-old prodigy who received an exemption to play in the U.S. Women's Open should apply the brakes, as difficult as that might be.

"Her mental approach is w-a-a-a-y out there," Woods said. "When you start thinking you're so good that you can bypass college, and if you do go to college you don't want to play on the women's team but the men's team? And then you tell the world you want to play on the PGA Tour and not the LPGA Tour? And that, yes, you would turn pro if you got Tiger's money? Something is missing here. Somewhere, something hasn't been connected with her."

What about Martha Burk and the all-boys club at Augusta? "I thought it was hilarious," Woods said, "and really, nothing but a great, big publicity stunt. Martha Burk, before she grabbed the controversy, was nothing. I know for a fact that those guys would not succumb to anybody telling them to do something, but would be totally receptive to somebody asking."

Where are all the black golfers that Tiger was supposed to bring to the game? "I've seen them," Woods said. "They're out there. You'll first see the impact in college. I once asked some schools why they didn't have more non-white golfers on their teams. They said, 'We can't recruit them.' I said, 'All you have to do is go into the cities and see them.' It was like they were afraid and saying, 'Football coaches can go in there but we don't.'"

The barking dogs in the background were telling Earl Woods he had been on the phone long enough. He will not be at Shinnecock. He attends few tournaments because of the surgeries and diabetes, and also because "too many people start coming up to me." He does fly to Augusta every year but stays at a rented house and watches the Masters on TV before flying home.

Before excusing himself, Earl Woods stressed his son will resume the chase for Jack Nicklaus' career record of 19 major titles very soon. Even with increased competition from Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and a few others, No. 9 for Tiger might come this weekend.

"He'll catch Jack if his health holds up," Woods said. "There's also the issue of motivation, but that's the least of Tiger's problems. I see him being motivated. That will never end."