Earl Woods : He devoted himself to training Tiger, and he sure likes what he sees

Golf Digest, Nov, 2001

Let's talk a little more about Tiger's development as a kid. What were his interests besides golf?

He tried baseball at my request. He was a natural switch-hitter. He would absolutely murder a low pitch. Couldn't hit a high pitch across his shoulders. Couldn't touch that. But it interfered with his golf. He went out for cross-country in junior high and moved right up to the No. 2 spot but gave that up at the end of the season because it interfered with golf. Tiger has chosen golf on his own over all the other sports.

The story is, you were hitting balls in the garage one day when Tiger was just a toddler and he started copying you.

When was the first time you put a golf club in his hands?

Ten months old. I just unstrapped him out of the high chair, allowed him to come over and play and he picked up a putter, put a ball down, waggled and hit a ball into the net. First time. Changed his grip from a left-handed grip to a right-handed grip and proceeded to hit the first one into the net.

You didn't help him with the grip?

How are you gonna explain a grip to a 10-month-old? But at 5 years old, he could look at a guy and say, "He's got a reverse weight transfer."

I know it's hard to quantify, but how much of Tiger's achievement is physical and how much of it is the mental toughness?

At the professional level, the game is 90 percent mental.

Who do you see on tour who can do some of the same things Tiger can do physically?

Suffice it to say, there are players out there who are not capitalizing on their ability because of their lack of mental toughness.

Are there any players you particularly admire--besides Tiger--for their mental toughness?

No.

Anyone from another sport? Michael Jordan?

Yes. Michael Jordan is right there, but I was thinking of Cris Carter of the Minnesota Vikings. He's talented, but the thing that sets him apart is his mental toughness. Jim Brown--mentally, mentally tough. John Elway. Joe Montana. These are guys who transcend the game by virtue of their mental toughness.

What's your opinion of Richard Williams and the way he's handled the tennis careers of his daughters [Venus and Serena Williams]?

I've never met the man, never talked to him. I've only observed him from afar. But I will say this: If I was those girls' father, I would do things totally different. I would realize my shortcomings as a teacher and not want to have that impair the growth and development of my kids. I would get a true professional to teach them, so that they could get the most of their potential. It's a disservice to them not to give them the best opportunity for development in the game.

At what point did you do that with Tiger--call in a pro when you realized you had taught him as much as you could in golf?

When he was 4 years old. He had a professional teacher [Rudy Duran] from age 4 to 10. Then John Anselmo took over until about 17, and then Butch Harmon took over. That's it. All the time, I've been able to teach Tiger also.

I've read that you can still putt and chip with him.