Tiger Woods,딸 Sam양과 함께 'World Golf Hall of Fame induction'에 함께 참석, 감격스런 모습은 오랫동안 골퍼들뿐만이 아니고, 전세계의 그를 사랑하는 사람들의 기억속에 오래 남을, 유명골퍼 헌정식의 순간을 잊지 못할 것이다.
이보다 며칠전에는 현대자동차 회장 정의선과 함께 식사를 하고난 Tiger Woods가 식사비를 지불했었다는 뉴스가 화제에 오르기도 했었다. 아마도 지난번 자동차 사고가 났을때 타고 있었던, 현대가 제작한 G80의 성능이 좋아 생명을 구한것은 물론이고, 다시 회복하여 정상적인 골퍼로서 다시 삶을 살아갈수 있었음에 감사한 마음을 전했던 것으로 알려 졌었다.
http://mbiz.heraldcorp.com/view.php?ud=20220305000051
지난 수요일 저녁에, 그의 생애에서 가장 뜻깊은, 가장 훌륭한 골퍼에게 수여하는" World Golf Hall of Fame" 에 헌정되면서 그의 살아온 인생역정에 대한 이야기를 나누었다.
Woods는 그의 기록인 82번의 PGA TOUR우승, 그중에서 15번의 메이저우승, 또는 여덟번의 수술을 받았던 어려움에 대해서는 일체 언급을 하지 않았었다.
Woods는 지금은 은퇴한 PGA TOUR코미셔너 Tim Finchem, 세번이나 U.S. Women's Open 챔피언 Susie Maxwell Berning과 여성골퍼로서는 처음으로 골프코스를 개발한, 지금은 고인인된 Marion Hollins과 함께 항상 골프헌정 명단에 오르내리곤 했었다. Woods는 2년전에여러명의 후보자들 명단에 오르기도 했었다. Woods를 제외하고 모두가 한번씩만 올랐었다. 그의 경력은 영향을 많이 줬었고, 새로운 팬들에게 수많은 영향을 끼쳤었고, 텔레비젼 시청율과 상금의 규모를 크게 증가 시킨 공로가 컸기에 그에 대한 설명을 굳이 별도로 할 필요가 없었다.
THE PLAYERS챔피언쉽 상금의 모금은 이번주에 20백만 달러를 넘었고, 그것은 필드에서 뛰는 골퍼들에게 실망을 주지 않은것이된것이다. 1997년에 Woods가 처음 데뷰했을때의 전체 상금은 겨우 3백5십만 달러였었다. 이번주 챔피언쉽 우승자는 3백6십만 달러를 거머쥐게된다. 격세지감이다. 엄청나게 늘어난 금액이다.
확실히 Woods는 금세기에서는 그의 기록을 깨기는 쉽지 않을것 같다는 생각이다. 아래 사진은 그의 딸 Sam양과 함께 헌정식에서 함께 찍은 사진이다. 아름답다. 더욱 그가 빛나는것은, 그는 어머니는 태국계 여성이었고, 아버지는 흑인으로, 이런조건에서 그가 유난히 빛나는 이유는 그의 능력이 아무도 그를 따를수없을 정도의 특출난 골퍼로 명성을 날렸기 때문이었다. 축하한다.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The greatest of his generation, Tiger Woods took his place among the best of all time Wednesday night when he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame and shared a life story of a passion to play and a work ethic that made him feel like he earned it.
RELATED: Transcripts from induction ceremony | Woods, Finchem enter together after parallel careers
Woods didn't touch on any of his 82 victories on the PGA TOUR or his 15 majors, or the eight surgeries he endured along the way.
He spoke of his parents taking out a second mortgage that allowed him to play the junior circuit in California, choking up when he mentioned his late father who told him he would have to earn everything he wanted.
“If you don't go out there and put in the work, you don't go out and put in the effort, one, you're not going to get the results,” Woods said. “But two, and more importantly, you don't deserve it. You need to earn it. So that defined my upbringing. That defined my career.”
He was introduced by Sam, his 14-year-old daughter who said her father preaches to her and 13-year-old brother Charlie the same message he learned from his late later.
“Train hard, fight easy.”
Woods was the headliner in an induction class that included retired PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem, three-time U.S. Women's Open champion Susie Maxwell Berning and the late Marion Hollins, a visionary who became the first woman to develop prominent golf courses.
Woods was on a slate of candidates two years ago, all of them introduced one at a time with a list of their accomplishment — except for Woods. There was no need to bring up what he achieved, who he influenced and the enormous impact he had on his sport in attracting new fans, spiking television ratings and increasing prize money.
THE PLAYERS Championship prize fund this week is $20 million, and that’s not lost on the players in the field. The entire purse was $3.5 million in 1997 when Woods made his debut. The winner this week gets $3.6 million.
“I think every pro out here owes a debt of gratitude to Tiger because this sport wouldn’t be where it is today without his impact,” Patrick Cantlay, who won the $15 million prize last year as FedExCup champion, said earlier this week.
Woods, the first player of Black and Asian heritage to win a major at the 1997 Masters when he was 21, also spoke of the discrimination he felt as a youth. He told one story about going to a country club to play a tournament, and he wasn't allowed in the clubhouse like the other juniors because of the color of his skin.
“So I was denied access into the clubhouses. That's fine. Put my shoes on here in the parking lot,” he said. “I asked two questions only, that was it. Where was the first tee, and what was the course record? Not complicated.”
The room at the PGA TOUR Global Home, which only held about 500 people, burst into applause.
The ceremony was moved from the World Golf Village, which held previous ceremonies in Florida, to the new PGA TOUR headquarters located about a mile away from where Woods first rose to fame.
Sure, there was the appearance on the Mike Douglas Show when he was a 2-year-old prodigy, and the three straight U.S. Junior Amateur titles. It was on the famous par-3 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass in the 1994 U.S. Amateur when Woods first delivered the uppercut that would define his celebration.
That was the first of an unprecedented three straight U.S. Amateur titles, and it only got better.
Much better.
His record is so strong that Woods had three World Golf Hall of Fame careers in one. After four full years as a pro, he already had the career Grand Slam and 24 victories on the PGA TOUR. The first major was the 1997 Masters, which he won by 12, one of 20 records.
When he was 30, he already had 46 wins on tour and 10 majors, including a sweep of the majors, a feat no one had ever accomplished.
Woods now has a record-tying 82 wins on the PGA TOUR, along with 15 majors, three behind the gold standard set by Jack Nicklaus.
More than his wins was his influence.
Woods never wanted to be looked upon as a golfer but rather an athlete. He wasn’t the first to find the gym, but his devotion to strength and fitness created a template for others to follow.
“Tiger changed people’s perception of golf from a game to a sport,” Padraig Harrington said.
Woods' popularity, his showmanship, was so great that Finchem was able to turn that into television contracts that sent purses soaring.
Finchem also created the World Golf Championships events, and a Presidents Cup to give the burgeoning group of International players from outside Europe a chance to compete in team matches. And he kept the PGA TOUR strong with sponsors during the recession of 2008.
Maxwell Berning won only 11 times on the LPGA Tour, but she played in an era when juggling family and golf led to short careers.
She won the U.S. Women’s Open three times — only five others have won at least three — in a six-year span. She also won the Women's Western Open, a major in her era. She noted she earned a total of $16,000 from her three Women's Open titles.
“I was wondering if you’d like to swap checks,” Berning said to Woods.
Hollins financed and developed a golf course for women in New York and was the brains behind two fabled golf courses in California — Cypress Point and Pasatiempo. Hollins, who died in 1944 at age 51, was a visionary in golf course architecture, a confidante of Alister Mackenzie and a U.S. Women’s Amateur champion.
Renee Powell was honored with the inaugural Charlie Sifford Award for her spirit in advancing diversity in golf, while the Lifetime Achievement recognition went to Peter Ueberroth and the late Richard Ferris, both part of the ownership group at Pebble Beach.
The induction brought the Hall of Fame to 164 members.
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