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Tiger Woods
by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian
My Thoughts
Tiger Woods’ life is an incredibly fascinating story. The author’s are brutally open in this book and they dig into plenty of the negative aspects of his life. Regardless of whether you like him or not, there is a lot to learn from his successes and mistakes. Even if you don’t like sports, I think you will enjoy this biography.
General Notes
In grade school Tiger’s dad bought him a cassette player and motivational self-help tapes. In addition to words of empowerment they included sounds of soft music and sounds of nature such as water flowing through a creek.
Tiger lived at the corner of Teakwood and Chestnut Streets in Cypress, CA.
As a child Tiger was quiet, sensitive and isolated. These are common traits of “gifted” children.
Tiger wrote these statements on a sheet of paper taped to his bedroom wall:
- “I believe in me.”
- “I will own my own destiny.”
- “I smile at obstacles.”
- “I am first in my resolve.”
- “I fulfill my resolutions powerfully.”
- “My strength is great.”
- “I stick to it. Easily. Naturally.”
- “My will moves mountains.”
- “I focus and give it my all.”
- “My decisions are strong.”
- “I do it with all my heart.”
At 12 Years Old Tiger Woods Had:
- The top golf coach in Southern California
- A military trained sports psychologist
- Scotty Cameron making custom putters for him
- All equipment down to his bag was noticeably superior to other kids his age
- Two parents whose lives were consumed with giving him every advantage
Tiger Woods’ Letter to Stanford University
While he was in middle school, Stanford University was recruiting him for the golf team. Coach Goodwin wrote him a letter (photo available at Business Insider) and this is Tiger’s response.
This transcript is from Golf Digest.
Dear Coach Goodwin,
Thank you for your recent letter expressing Stanford’s interest in me as a future student and golfer. At first it was hard for me to understand why a university like Stanford was interested in a thirteen-year-old seventh grader. But after talking with my father I have come to better understand and appreciate the honor you have given me. I further appreciate Mr. Sargent’s interest in my future development by recommending me to you.
I became interested in Stanford’s academics while watching the Olympics and Debbie [sic] Thomas. My goal is to obtain a quality business education. Your guidelines will be most helpful in preparing me for college life. My GPA this year is 3.86 and I plan to keep it there or higher when I enter high school.
I am working on an exercise program to increase my strength. My April USGA handicap is 1 and I plan to play in SCPGA and maybe some AJGA tournaments this summer. My goal is to win the Junior World in July for the fourth time and to become the first player to win each age bracket. Ultimately I would like to be a PGA professional. Next February I plan to go to Thailand to play in the Thai Open as an amateur.
I’ve heard a lot about your golf course and I would like to play it with my dad some time in the future.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Tiger Woods
Other Notes
- After Tiger won his first masters, he left the tournament cranking C’mon ‘N Ride It (The Train) by Quad City DJs.
- He practiced often at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California.
- When in Las Vegas he liked to stay at The Mansion at MGM Grand because of the privacy given to VIPs
Related Book Summaries
Hope you enjoyed this and got value from my notes.
This is the 19th book read in my 2019 reading list.
Here is a list of all my book summaries.