Earl Woods
Earl Dennison Woods (
March 5,
1932 â€"
May 3,
2006) was a pioneering
African American athlete, a US Army infantry officer, (retiring as a
Lieutenant Colonel), and the father of
golfer
Tiger Woods.
Woods was born and raised in
Manhattan, Kansas, the youngest and the only male of four siblings. His father was a scorekeeper for
baseball games and coached Earl in the sport until his death in
1943. His mother died soon after in
1947. After being orphaned, he was raised by his eldest sister,
Hattie Belle for the next seven years. Woods attended
Kansas State University on a baseball scholarship. While at Kansas State, Woods, of mixed
Black,
Chinese, and
Native American ancestry, broke the "color barrier" in baseball in the
Big Seven Conference in
1951. Woods played
catcher, and was good enough that the
Kansas City Monarchs of the
Negro Leagues offered him a contract. However, he rejected the Monarchs, graduated from college in
1953, and started a career in the
U.S. Army.
Woods served two full tours of duty in the
Vietnam War, the second as part of the elite
Green Berets. During his early time in the military, he married
Barbara Woods Gary. They had three children: Kevin, Earl Jr., and Royce. In interviews he said that he had rarely seen these children, often claiming that these children had been a "trial run" for raising his future son, Tiger. Nevertheless, the children remark that they never felt neglected during their upbringing or engaged in any jealousy toward the raising of Tiger. Earl Jr.'s daughter
Cheyenne Woods is also a competitive golfer and received some coaching from Earl Sr.
It was during his time in Asia that Woods met his future second wife,
Kultida Woods, who is of mixed
Thai,
Chinese, and
Dutch ancestry. This marriage produced Woods' fourth child,
Eldrick, who was born on
December 30,
1975. His nickname, "Tiger", came from Earl Woods' friendship with Vuong Dang (Tiger) Phong, a Vietnamese Army Colonel.
Tiger became a child prodigy in golf by the time he was three years old. Woods shared many of the techniques he used in rearing
Tiger in two books:
Training a Tiger and
Playing Through: Straight Talk on Hard Work, Big Dreams and Adventures with Tiger. He had been criticized by some for putting too much pressure on
Tiger at an early age.
The Earl Woods National Youth Golf Academy at Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan, Kansas is named in his honor. It was host to the first
First Tee National Academy in
2000.
Woods died from
prostate cancer (which he had originally been diagnosed with in 1998) at his home in
Cypress, California on
May 3,
2006.
*
Interview with Earl Woods in Golf Digest*
Earl Woods National Youth Golf Academy*
Tiger Woods' statement on the death of Earl Woods*
Chicago Tribune story on Woods' death*
Earl Woods' Other Children
