Woods tees off Fist Pump Challenge
ANAHEIM, California: Twenty-one years ago, Tiger Woods beat his father Earl for the first time on a golf course and celebrated with the exuberant fist pump which has become his trademark.
Prompted by that experience, Woods has announced the launch of his Fist Pump Challenge, an online contest designed to help youngsters identify and share their greatest achievements.
"It's important for young people to celebrate their accomplishments," the American world No 1 told reporters at the Tiger Woods Learning Center on Monday, shortly before he unveiled a statue of his late father.
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Golfer Tiger Woods, his daughter Sam and his mother Kultida pose together in front of a bronze statue bearing the likeness of Tiger with his late father Earl during its unveiling inside the Tiger Woods Learning Center in Anaheim, California, on Monday. Reuters |
"The Fist Pump Challenge allows kids to highlight the moments in their lives that brought them closer to reaching their goals. I believe that small steps can lead to big changes.
"It's going to inspire kids and I think that's where this program is going to be so influential," Woods added.
Shortly after turning professional in 1996, Woods created the Foundation with his father Earl, paving the way for the first Tiger Woods Learning Center where children can develop life skills.
Around 16,000 students have gone through the center since it opened in Anaheim, California, in February 2006 and Woods plans to open a second one in the Washington D.C. area within the next five years.
Father's legacy
"Building on my father's legacy, I am challenging children to make a difference in the world and to reach higher and farther than they ever imagined," Woods, 32, said.
Those words will forever live on at the Tiger Woods Learning Center as they are etched beneath an eight-foot bronze statue of Woods and his father, unveiled on Monday in the lobby of the educational establishment.
The legend reads: "2006 Earl Woods and Tiger Woods. I challenge you to make a difference in the world to reach higher and farther than you ever imagined."
Woods will never forget his own "fist pump moment" as an 11-year-old playing at a navy golf course in Long Beach.
"At the time, my Dad was a one-handicapper, a pretty good player, and we were playing from the back tees. I birdied 16 to go even par for the day and my Dad was already at even par.
"We both parred 17 and 18 is a par-5. I hit a sand wedge up there to about 15 feet. My Dad at the time was a little bit shorter than me and he hit a little longer club in there to about 20 feet. He missed and I made.
"I shot 71 and I went crazy," the world No 1 said with a broad grin. "I punched the air, uppercutting the air and ran off the green. It was the greatest thing I had ever done in my life, beating my dad."
No ill feelings over comment
Woods has described the Kelly Tilghman "lynch" comment made at his own expense as unintentional and believes the matter should be closed.
"It was unfortunate," Woods said on Monday. "Kelly and I did speak and there was no ill-intent. She regrets saying it and, in my eyes, it's all said and done."
Tilghman, who works for American cable television network The Golf Channel, joked in a telecast during the PGA Tour's season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship that players bidding to challenge Woods might have to "lynch him in a back alley".
She apologized to Woods before issuing a public apology four days later and was subsequently suspended by The Golf Channel for two weeks.
Tilghman is scheduled to return to her anchor role at this week's Buick Invitational outside San Diego where defending champion Woods will make his debut on the 2008 PGA Tour.
The "lynch" affair took another twist last week when Golfweek magazine fired its editor Dave Seanor for the controversial decision to depict a noose on its January 19 cover.
Golfweek apologized in a statement for the cover which carried the headline: "Caught in a Noose" with the subtitle: "Tilghman slips up and Golf Channel can't wriggle free."
Woods, who will be bidding this week to win a fourth consecutive title at the Buick Invitational, described the ongoing affair as "media-driven".
He added: "People have called me and e-mailed me and written me saying that they were curious and I just tell them that she is a friend of mine, which Kelly is."
Agencies
(China Daily 01/23/2008 page22)
