‘Very Special’: Earl Woods Once Revealed How Tiger Woods Validated His Father's Bold Prediction Before a High-Stakes Golf Round

The entire golf world knows that Tiger Woods has been a skilled golfer from the beginning. But where exactly did that start? When he turned pro in 1996? Or his college days that preceded that? As per his father, Earl Woods, it had been since his son was a child. He once even narrated a story of the golf legend beating a golfer when he was a mere toddler, validating Earl’s faith in him.  As for how old Tiger was when he did so, that shocked the listener.

The golf great and his father were extremely close until Earl passed away in 2006. The two spent loads of time on the course and undoubtedly have some great memories together. This incident too was one of them.

His father’s favorite childhood story of Tiger Woods

In 2002, Earl Woods sat down with Lawrence Donegan from The Guardian for a feature in the Observer Sport Monthly. When Donegan asked Woods Sr. what his favorite story about Tiger was, he recalled the time he was trying to get his son playing privileges at a local golf club. “I said to the pro if Tiger could beat him over nine holes could he play on the course?” said Earl.

The pro sized up the young golf enthusiast and agreed. But Earl hoped to give Woods a little edge in the game. He made the offer a bit more enticing by offering him “a dollar a hole,” provided that he let the now 15-time major winner “play from the ladies’ tees” and have a stroke on each hole. The golfer readily agreed, claiming that no “kid” was going to beat him.

“Tiger went out there and beat him by two or three strokes; I forget which it was,“ said the proud father with a smirk. But the story’s final twist remained. When Donegan asked Earl for Woods’ age at the time, he expected the golf pro to be young. But when the ex-Green Beret said he was “four,” the reporter was shaken.

Earl Woods never doubted his son

The reporter hadn’t expected the golf great to have been so young at all. Despite Woods’ current skill and accomplishments, to him, four was a ridiculously young age. He could not comprehend how Woods could have beaten a grown man at that age, despite the advantages he had.

But Earl’s faith in his son was absolute. He knew he would win on the course that day too. “Tiger was a very special four-year-old,” he said to Donegan. He believed from Early on that Woods would be a force to reckon with, and 

The story was a testament to the entire world not to underestimate the 82-time PGA Tour champion. And to this day, no one dares write him off.