(The Nationalist, 8 August 2003)
It has not been a good year for Tiger Woods. He has not, I believe, won any major competition. Although I’m not a golfer, I follow him in his competitions with some interest, because I like to see a person overcome obstacles through single-minded determination. Tiger began golfing when he was three, using a set of miniature clubs. As he grew up he learned a lot (about life, not about golf) from his mother. She is a Thai, while his father is African-American. When he was young she used to point to the TV where John McEnroe was making an exhibition of himself, throwing temper tantrums at Wimbledon, shouting insults and abuse at the umpires. She used to say to Tiger in her less than perfect English, ‘Not that! Not that!’ She didn’t want him to become another McEnroe.
He needed her advice, and he heeded it. When he was seventeen years old, he entered the US Masters Tournament, an achievement in itself. The captain of the club has been quoted as saying that, as long as he was captain, the only black man allowed on the course would be a caddy. But there was nothing he could do to give effect to his wish, because anti-discrimination laws prevented him. Tiger went on to give the best possible answer: he won the competition. And it was to be the first of many wins.
In Thailand, from the background of their Buddhist tradition, they talk about a person who has what they call “a monkey mind”. They mean someone who hops and jumps from one thing to another, never settling at anything, never concentrating or focusing, and, as a result, never achieving anything. It doesn’t apply to Tiger Woods. He focuses on his game as few others do.
I suppose one of the best tests of people’s character is how they behave when things do not go well. Despite doing badly this year, Tiger retains his self-discipline and composure. He has not become the bad-tempered brat his mother warned him against, but a mature man who thinks of others. He is wealthy, with large earnings in sponsorship from Nike, the makers of sports equipment. He devotes much of it to a foundation he has set up to help the education of black children in the USA. How impressive to see a man think of others, especially when things are not going well for himself. That’s why I like Tiger.