How Tiger Woods fell – then rose – then fell again

Tiger Woods, a billionaire athlete who won the Masters at just 21, was once considered America’s golden son of golf. But on Friday afternoon (Saturday AEDT), in Jupiter, Florida, the 50-year-old driver flipped his Range Rover over in what is now his fourth major crash and his second for a drink-driving (DUI) ticket. The latest wreck comes just weeks before the Masters, where Woods is scheduled to play (despite his age and a plethora of current injuries).

Now, instead of the dazzling photos we’ll see of Woods attending Rory McIlroy’s Masters Champions dinner on April 7, the world is focused on seeing his latest grizzled mug shot.

Before yesterday’s accident, there was a rollover in 2009, he hit his neighbor’s fire hydrant and escaped with minor injuries. His now ex-wife had to save him by breaking the window with one of her sticks.

In 2017, Woods was found asleep on the side of the road with the engine running and was charged with drunken driving; but was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driving and enter rehab. Then, in 2021, there was a near-fatal single-car crash; In this accident he rolled into a ravine and nearly lost his right leg; It was an injury that experts have noted has affected his gameplay ever since.

‘He still believes he can win. That’s what keeps him going… he doesn’t like celebrations [his career]but he still thinks he can beat these guys.’

Pete Cowen, golf coach

Now Woods can count his 82 PGA Tour titles, 15 Majors and 110 global wins, along with two arrests for reckless driving and two DUI charges, as well as a highly public extramarital scandal and resulting divorce, in his vital, most-quoted statistics. All of this raises one important question: How did things get to this point?

Before spending his career breaking golf records and keeping the tabloids afloat with his exciting personal life, Woods started out the way many great athletes do: as a promising kid.

Born in California to Vietnam War veteran father Earl Woods and Thai mother Kultilda, Woods had a bat in his hand before he was two years old. His father — a potent combination of military man and talented baseball player — undoubtedly helped instill the military-like discipline that still undergirds Woods’ obsessively competitive mentality. Indeed, Woods has said in past interviews that their relationship was complicated.

“Tiger Woods’ work ethic is incredible,” veteran golf coach Pete Cowen, who has worked with the likes of Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke, tells London. Telegram. “He always tried to improve…he never stood still.”

Perhaps it’s that drive that keeps him going at the age of 50, even though he’s now qualified for the Senior Open. Many commentators in the sport wonder why he continues to strive for championships, which he has won so many times before, despite constantly struggling with injuries. Shouldn’t he stop now and really concentrate on his mental health and wellness?

“He still believes he can win,” Cowen says. “That’s what keeps him going… he doesn’t like celebrations [his career]but he still thinks he can beat these guys. That’s what makes it so good.”

Hailed as a child prodigy, Woods appeared on an American television show. The Mike Douglas Show He played golf with golfer Bob Hope when he was two years old and scored his first goal. Golf Summary Thanks to his extraordinary talent, he started writing at the age of five. He played his first professional tournament at the age of 16 and went on to play for Stanford University before capturing the Masters title in 1997 at just 21 years old, cementing his status as one of the best while yet to reach adulthood.

Cowen credits Woods with attracting young people’s attention to golf, which has made it so commercially successful. “He brought golf to the masses, kids adored him. He made the game beautiful. He was untouchable. Every professional golfer should thank Tiger for what he did. Prize money has skyrocketed for golf, and that’s down to his influence over the years. Even I’m grateful to him and I’m just coaching.”

‘He was quite open when he started… he was really kind. Until you realize how good it is. And then he realized that to be great you have to be selfish.’

Pete Cowen, golf coach

Rory McIlroy told (London) Telegram Sports Last year I told you how Woods inspired his growth. “I remember watching him on TV in the U.S. Amateur when I was a very young kid. And all of a sudden he’s 50 years old. I think a lot of people will feel that, and certainly that huge fan base.”

But Woods’ success, and perhaps the pressure that accompanied it, changed him. Cowen, who says he has been in Woods’ orbit since the late 1990s, explains: “He’s very individualistic. He doesn’t like people around him outside of his own team. It was pretty obvious when he first started, as a young lad in 1997.” [Lee] Westwood and [Darren] clark [both of whom Cowen coached]And he was actually quite kind. Until you realize how good it is. And then he realized that to be great, you have to be selfish.”

Indeed, as Woods’ star rose, his anger began to burn – Steve Williams, his longtime assistant and best man at his 2004 wedding to Swedish model Elin Nordegren, recalled in his 2015 memoirs that Woods “arrogantly tossed a club in the general direction of the bag, waiting for me to go there and retrieve it. When I bent to pick up the club he threw, I felt uneasy; it was as if I was his slave. The other thing that disgusted me was that if he missed the putt, he would go to the hole.” “It was a habit of spitting.”

The duo ended their professional partnership in 2011 when Woods fired Williams.

His subsequent affair in 2009 was reported in US and UK tabloids, ultimately leading to his divorce from Elin Nordegren, the mother of his two children, in 2010. He made a televised apology after taking a break from the sport due to the collapse of his personal life, saying: “I thought I could get away with anything I wanted… I felt that I had worked hard all my life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt that I was right. With money and fame, I didn’t have to go far to find them. I was wrong. I was stupid.”

Notably, Woods has since dated US skier Lindsey Vonn, who is also known for being hyper-competitive; He qualified for the Winter Olympics this year at the age of 40, but crashed during the competition and nearly lost a leg. Woods is currently dating Vanessa Trump, President Donald Trump’s former daughter-in-law.

After the hiatus, Woods returned and continued to make history in the sport, becoming one of the highest-paid professional athletes of all time. Forbes In 2009, he confirmed that he was the first person to earn over a billion dollars during his career.

Things were looking high once again until the injuries began to bother him and the cocktail of painkillers he allegedly used to treat them emerged as a potential explanation for his many recent car accidents.

A mixture of Vicodin, Dilaudid, Xanax, Ambien and THC was found in Woods’ system after he was found asleep at the wheel of his car in 2017. In Friday’s crash, Wood passed a breathalyzer test but refused a urinalysis; The sheriff’s office later said at a news conference that Woods showed “signs of impairment.”

“Injuries are the only thing stopping him,” predicts Cowen. “If Tiger Woods had stayed in shape his entire career, I think he could have easily gone through 20 Majors. Injuries probably caused a lot of problems.”

Woods has had multiple back surgeries since 2014 and went under the knife earlier this year to repair his Achilles tendon. It has now been cut and replanted many times; All because he still believes he can win.

“I don’t believe it right now [he could win]” says Cowen. One wonders if it’s time for him to focus on his mental health and hand that task over to younger players, including his son Charlie, who is showing promise as a professional golfer.

Cohen adds the crucial point: “But he thinks he can win.” And in Woods’ world, that’s probably the only opinion that matters.

Telegraph, London

Get notes directly from abroad reporters about things that make headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What’s on in the World Newsletter.