The Written Word: Rafe Mair Dec. 24th
By Rafe Mair
Sunday, December 24, 2006 03:45 AM
Tiger Woods just won another tournament. Big surprise, huh? What shouldn’t be a surprise is that he donated the winning purse of $1.35 million to the Tiger Woods Foundation. In fact, this is the 8th Target Gold Tournament that Tiger has sponsored – all proceeds also go to the Fund - and the 3rd he’s won. He also donates fees paid for special appearances. I have no idea how much is in the pot but I’ve heard numbers like 75 million. Tiger is so supportive of this fund that he canceled a place in an important tournament to attend a TWF function.
What is the Tiger Woods Foundation?
It’s two things - education programs that enhance the learning process for youth, and a year round mentoring and/or tutoring programs. The accent isn’t on golf but on youngsters in need, especially in inner cities.
We are all lucky to be alive to watch this remarkable man on the course and off. Imagine, last year on the PGA tour, Tiger won 8 out of 15 tournaments including the British Open and the PGA. At the age of 31 (on December 30) he has won 12 Major tournaments leaving him 6 short of the 18 that Jack Nicklaus piled up over his entire career. In doing this we have seen a man whose brilliance and determination has literally spooked his opponents leaving some unable to compete again as they once did. The great British player, Colin Montgomerie, played with him in the 1991 Masters that Tiger Woods won in 1997. After watching Tiger go 4 over par on the first nine then come back with a 6 under 30 on the back nine Montgomerie, who had belittled the hoopla around Woods, was a believer. A couple of years ago, at St Andrews, Montgomerie, playing one group ahead of Woods, was in contention until Tiger ate him alive on the back nine. Montgomerie when interviewed after the Tiger win said “ if the man behind you only needs to “par it” to win, the very last person you want that to be is Tiger Woods.
Tiger Woods, great golfer, great humanitarian and, dare I say it, a great man.
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