On Wednesday, Tiger Woods, arguably the great golfer ever, was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, USA Today reports.
His 14-year-old daughter Sam officially introduced her father as one of the Hall’s newest inductees.
"About a year ago, you were stuck in a hospital bed at one of your ultimate lows and one of the scariest moments of your life and ours," Sam said, "We didn't know if you'd come home with two legs or not. Now not only are you about to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but you're standing here on your own two feet."
"This is why you deserve this; because you're a fighter,” she added.
During his 17-minute speech, Woods reflected on his upbringing, his success and the enormous obstacles that he had to overcome.
"I had this burning desire to be able to express myself in this game of golf," Woods said. "One of the things that Dad had instilled in me is that he grew up in the same era as Charlie Sifford (the first Black member of the PGA Tour) and why my son is named after Charlie, is that you had to be twice as good to be given half a chance. So that understanding and that drive, as Sam said, train hard, fight easy.”
"I made practicing so difficult, hurt so much, because I wanted to make sure that I was ready come game time. I hit thousands of balls, hands bleeding, aching, just so that I could play in a tournament,” he continued.
Woods also spoke about the influence his parents had on his life and career.
"Without the sacrifices of Mom who took me to all those junior golf tournaments, and Dad, who's not here, but who instilled in me this work ethic to fight for what I believe in, chase after my dreams, nothing's ever going to be given to you, everything's going to be earned," he said. "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, but two, and more importantly, you don't deserve it. You need to earn it.”
Since his highly-anticipated debut in 1996, Woods has transformed professional golf. He won three times on the PGA Tour in his first 10 starts, won the 1997 Masters by 12 shots, becoming the first Black golfer to win at Augusta National Golf Club.
Over the course of his illustrious career, Woods won a record-tying 82 PGA Tour titles, the 15 major championships, and won a record 11 PGA Tour Player of the Year Awards.
