Tiger Woods: Rising from the ashes

It was only the fourth time that the United States had honoured a golf player with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. But, arguably, the most deserved one of all—Tiger Woods. The award is given by the American president to those who have made a meritorious contribution to the country.

Born to Earl and Kultida on December 30, 1975, at Cypress in California, Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods grew up in Orange County. He was introduced to golf when he was around two years old, and he took to the game as duck takes to water. He excelled in the sport at school and in college. A golf scholarship helped him join Stanford University. At 19, he played in his first PGA Tour major. He was the first golfer to win three U.S. Amateur titles consecutively.

Woods turned professional at 20. A year later, he shot to fame after winning the U.S. Masters in 1997— with a record score of 270. All of 21, he was the youngest and the first African-American to win the title. In the next few years, he won four U.S. PGA titles, three Open Championships, three U.S. Open titles, and three U.S. Masters wins.

The ascent to world number 1 ranking was quick. At 24, he became the youngest golfer to achieve a career Grand Slam. In 2001, he became the only player to win four consecutive major professional golf titles—it came to be known as the “Tiger Slam”.

The decline, however, started in 2003. He failed to win a major in two years. In 2005, he returned to the world no.1 position and stayed put till 2007. The next year, he underwent a knee surgery. He returned to winning ways, defeating Rocco Mediate at the U.S. Open in 2008. He then went for an extensive knee surgery and missed the rest of the season. Woods had completed 500 weeks at the top of the world rankings by then.

Woods again failed to win a major in 2009. He was bogged down by health issues and troubles in his personal life. He was forced to take an indefinite break from professional golf. In 2011, he withdrew from the player’s championship, and dropped to 58 in world rankings over the next two years.

By 2014, he had undergone two more surgeries. The next year, Woods missed all four majors, for the first time in his career. He dropped out of the top-500 list, too, in the following year. In December 2016, he came back to play in the Hero World Challenge but next year, in April, he had his fourth surgery and missed another ten months.

He made a remarkable comeback in 2018, tying for second place at the Valspar Championship—his best finish since 2013. He tied for fifth place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. A strong showing at the British Open in July helped Woods enter the top 50 in world golf rankings.

In 2019, he won the Masters—the 15th major title of his career. His last Masters title was in 2008. And on May 6, the 43-year-old was honoured by the White House with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “Tiger was back on top,” said US President Donald Trump during the Rose Garden Ceremony. He called Woods a true legend, an extraordinary athlete who has transformed golf and achieved new levels of dominance. “Woods is a great person. He is a great guy,” Trump remarked.