Heart of a Tiger

This comeback is unworldly and arguably stands as a greater achievement than even his 15 major wins.

On February 23, 2021, Tiger Woods crashed his car and almost died.

ESPN described it like this:

Tiger Woods was alone in his car, driving to an early-morning shoot, when he hit the median of Hawthorne Boulevard going somewhere between 82 to 87 mph. The speed limit was 45 mph. He crossed two lanes of oncoming traffic, slammed into a tree and rolled his car into a ditch. The injuries he sustained from the accident were so severe, Woods later revealed that doctors considered, in the weeks after the crash, amputating his right leg because of the damage to his arteries.

25 years ago this week, I vividly recall watching Tiger win the 1997 Masters. I was at my buddy Ritzer’s and we were in awe. 

It was Tiger's first major win and it was like we were watching Superman exit a phone booth, leap from the sidewalk and fly.

21 year old Tiger Woods on the cover of the April 21, 1997 edition of Sports Illustrated after winning the Masters.

He destroyed the course and dominated the field, finishing 18 under par and breaking Jack Nicklaus’ Masters Tournament scoring record that had stood for 32 years. 

He was 21 years old.

Nike made this commercial called I Am Tiger Woods and it was an inspiration to people of all backgrounds (and it sold a lot of Nikes).

Early this past Friday evening, 14 months after his near death, and 25 years after his first major win, Tiger walked off the 18th green at Augusta National having made the cut at the Masters.

This comeback is unworldly and arguably stands as a greater achievement than even his 15 major wins.

Again, I watched in awe, but this time it had nothing to do with the game of golf.

We Are All Tiger Woods

I’ll never be as good at anything as Tiger Woods was at golf. I’ll never work as hard at anything as Tiger did since he was 2 years old.

Nobody reading this will ever be as good at anything as Tiger Woods was at golf or work as hard at anything as Tiger did.

This doesn’t matter and it’s not the point.

Oh, and I’m not here to judge him either. I'm not even a judge. He’s made life mistakes and they’ve been publicized and scrutinized.

I’ve done plenty of idiotic things. You probably have too.

Life is hard for all of us, even for the people who seem like they have it all. 

We all do the best that we can and we are all going to die.

Tiger has the heart of a champion and he is a teacher for anyone who wants to learn the wisdom of putting everything into the things that are most important to us. 

For anyone who wants to learn resilience and how to endure life’s inevitable collisions.