By Bill Ellis
Special to ASSIST News Service
SCOTT DEPOT, WV (ANS) -- Just about every time I watch Tiger woods on the golf course I always wonder aloud, "Has anybody ever been that good, that dominant? Will anybody ever be that good in the future?" He always reminds me of a highly skilled surgeon every time I see him operating on a golf course. He knows how to cut, slice, hook, put it in the hole and sew it up. Pardon that crude analogy, but he always seems to understand what he is doing and does it better than anyone else.
On Sunday, February 24, I watched this 32-year-old marvel win the Accenture Match Play Championship over Stewart Cink in the final round by an 8 and 7 score. I sit in awe every time I watch him perform. At his birth on December 30, 1975, in Cypress, California, he was named Eldrick Woods.
His parents were the late Earl Woods, a retired U. S. Army lieutenant colonel and Kultida Woods, a beautiful lady of Thailand. If you have ever wondered why he is such a handsome man, take a look at this ancestry. He is one-quarter Chinese, one-quarter Thai, one-quarter African American, one-eighth Native American and one-eighth Dutch.
He got his name "Tiger" from a friend of his father, Vuong Dang Phong, a Vietnamese soldier, to whom his father had given the nickname, "Tiger." That was a perfect fit. On his twenty-first birthday he legally changed his name from Eldrick to Tiger.
The first time I saw him was on the Mike Douglas Show with comedian, Bob Hope, on October 6, 1978, when he was two years old. Kitty and I were impressed by his beautiful hair, his skill with a golf club, his engaging smile and his unbounded enthusiasm for life.
By watching him numerous times over his career, I have been impressed by certain things that are evident by the way he plays. Here is my list of "Tiger" characteristics that I appreciate.
1. He never quits. He is consistently persistent. By his dogged determination he can come from behind and win even when others are ready to count him out. He is not a quitter.
2. His captivating desire to be his very best. Several years ago he reworked his game -- revising and reconstructing it. For a short time some seem to think he had lost his edge and were not sure he would ever be as good as he had been. He has completely come all the way back as a much better golfer. He had honed and sharpened his skills in gigantic proportions.
3. He is a picture of superb health, strength and rhythm. He is blessed with a tremendous body, which he is using to the fullest advantage. He is the best of all golfers in history at this stage of his career.
4. While he earns many millions of dollars each year, I am deeply impressed by what he does for others, especially young people. He seems to understand these words of Jesus, "For everyone to whom much is give, from him much will be required; . . ."(Luke 12:48).
I like the way he gives to make life better for others and I am confident he will give increasingly more. He majored in economics when he was a student at Stanford University and certainly understands the enormous value and increasing returns of investing in the lives of others, especially the young.
Tiger Woods is one athlete I would really like to meet. In the meantime, I'll watch him play as often as I can and thank God that I have the privilege of doing so. I still learn valuable lessons for my life as I observe my favorite athlete in action. It is like Yogi Berra said, "You can observe a lot by watching."
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