Posted on 05/03/2006 12:01:27 PM PDT by timsbella
Saw this headline but no link - anyone hear of this yet?
Both Rush & Sean just mentioned it :-(
Yes.. Fox radio news now reporting it. (Rush mentioned also)
Give him a mulligan.
Yes, was also just reported on Fox... Statement by Tiger Woods included that his father was his best friend and role model. He had been ill.
ESPN's got it up.
Earl Woods Passes Away at 74
May 3 2006 6:32PM
I’m very saddened to share the news of my father’s passing at home early this morning. My dad was my best friend and greatest role model, and I will miss him deeply. I’m overwhelmed when I think of all of the great things he accomplished in his life. He was an amazing dad, coach, mentor, soldier, husband and friend. I wouldn’t be where I am today without him, and I’m honored to continue his legacy of sharing and caring. Thank you to all who are sending condolences to my family and our Foundation. We are truly blessed to have so many who care during this difficult time.
http://www.tigerwoods.com/home/default.sps
He raised a man who could be a positive role model. Need more dads like that.
RIP.
He seemed to be a great Dad deserving of such a great son.
Prayers for the family.
Tiger is one of the good ones. I am sure Earl died knowing he did a great job raising his son.
Agreed!
RIP and prayers for Woods and his family.
He taught his son well. An ex military man, strong and lots of class.
Sincere sympathies to Tiger.
We all will get to that point one day where we have to attest our scores before the Great Scorekeeper.
For sure, Mr. Earl had many Eagles.
Earl Woods is one of a kind. He led a simple life with his head on straight, loved his wife and family, and helped raise one really fine young man. For a son to honor his father as Tiger has brought honor to his father and mother, speaks well of the family, and speaks well of America. May God bless him and keep him, and may his family continue to find peace and happiness in life.
Thanks for providing the website info. I went there and found a way to provide feedback via email. I sent them a message of condolence on behalf of my wife and myself.
Updated: 5/3/2006 3:03 PM By: Associated Press
(CYPRESS, Calif.) - Tiger Woods says his father Earl has died.
Earl Woods was a retired Army sergeant who was credited by his son for developing a mental tenacity that led to Tiger Woods' ascension to number one in the golf world.
He was a teacher, philosopher, warrior and loyal friend
Pete McDaniel GolfDigest.com
(May 3) -- Earl Woods once told me, as I complimented him on the sterling rehab of his Windermere, Fla., digs, that he had everything he ever wanted. Fame. Fortune. Family. A room with a view.
There was just one problem: "About 20 years too late," he lamented.
It was the only time in the 12 years of my friendship with Earl, who passed away earlier today after a lengthy battle with cancer, that he revealed even a hint of regret about his life, one that touched and influenced many. Mortality can bring even the seemingly invincible to a screeching halt at the intersection of truth and reality.
Earl never paid much attention to stop signs or road maps. He attended Kansas State University on a baseball scholarship when the Big Eight Conference -- and every other league in this country, for that matter -- withheld the welcome mat to minorities. He survived not one but two tours of duty in Vietnam and a difficult divorce that left him estranged from three children. Earl's marriage to a Thai beauty produced his fourth child (Tiger), and Earl proclaimed him a golf champion unlike any other while he was still in the womb, although the game had a horrid history of exclusion.
Earl Woods Interview: He devoted himself to training Tiger, and he sure likes what he sees.
Earl Woods My Shot: A roaring ride with Tiger's dad as he ponders hobo coffee, demolition men and, of course, his famous progeny.
In search of Tiger Phong: How we followed the trail of the war hero who inspired a father's famous son.
He spoke out against racial intolerance, abhorred ignorance, and took every occasion to celebrate even the most mundane victory, realizing that for every hurdle cleared there were a dozen more waiting. He chain-smoked after two heart bypass surgeries and prostate cancer. He never read the fat- or cholesterol-content labels on the back of packaging. He lived by intuition. He died that way, too.
We met in January of 1995 as a result of that same intuition. A month earlier Earl telephoned to offer his approval of a cover story I had written for Golf World honoring Tiger as the magazine's "Man of the Year."
"Hello there, young blood, nice job on the story about Tiger," he said. "How busy are you?"
After giving Earl what must have seemed to him my schedule for all of '95, I asked why he had inquired.
"Thought I might ask you to help me write a book," he said.
"On second thought, I'm not that busy," I said.
Earl grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and guided me through a myriad minefields. More important, we forged a bond based on mutual respect and trust. Tiger became the youngest Masters winner on Easter Sunday of 1997. The next day he and Tiger appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show trumpeting the release of "Training A Tiger." Instant bestseller for Earl. Instant credibility for me.
Through the years Earl filled my mental notebook with bits of homespun wisdom, brotherly advice and awareness of how to deal with his son. Rarely was he wrong.
He warned me that Tiger's doghouse has one way in and no way out. Several of Tiger's colleagues and more than one ex-girlfriend can attest to the veracity of that statement.
He predicted Tiger's impact on the game and that his philanthropy would endear him to millions. Correct on both counts.
Earl was a teacher, philosopher, warrior and loyal friend. Contrary to his Green Beret training, he had a kind heart and was generous to a fault. When I needed a down payment for a home, it was Earl who loaned me the money. He demanded only one thing: honesty. Don't believe I ever disappointed him. He had a great sense of humor and could laugh at circumstances others might find humorless.
During the final round of the 1996 NCAA Championships in Ooltewah, Tenn., Earl sat on a hill overlooking a hole that Tiger was in the process of butchering. What began as a slight chuckle quickly grew into a side-splitter.
"What's so funny?" I asked, failing to see the hilarity in Tiger's huge lead over Rory Sabbatini slipping away before our very eyes.
"My poor son," he said, shaking his head as if it were an inside joke.
Although Earl loved to flex the muscle afforded him as father of the most influential person in sport, I don't believe he ever took himself seriously. He could be mischievous and downright bawdy in the company of close friends.
He even found humor in his declining health.
"I've been stuck everywhere but the bottom of my feet,” he said. "I feel like a pin cushion."
Whether it was his covert training as a Green Beret or instinctive ability to keep secrets, Earl proved the perfect confidant. There was a sense that he always knew where the bodies were buried, but the most he would relinquish were age, rank and serial number. Your insecurities and shortcomings were in good hands with Earl.
Not too long ago I asked Earl if he ever thought about his legacy. "I don't mean Tiger," I needled. "We both know that Tida had as much or more to do with Tiger being the person he is than you."
He mumbled something under his breath then said, "Legacies are for dead people. Hell, I'm not dead yet."
Truth is, Earl cheated death so many times he thought it was his birthright. I never met anyone more optimistic or determined. He preached dreaming big dreams and life's unlimited potential. It penetrated Tiger's soul. Mine, too.
"Pete," he said upon the release of 'Training A Tiger.' "Do you realize you'll forever be linked with Tiger?"
I'm most proud to forever be linked with father, mother and son.
I never met anyone more courageous than Earl Woods. He battled cancer with the same tenacity he displayed in times of war. Toward the end he eschewed painkillers, depending upon his own will power and God's grace to take him quietly into the night. Before he died, Earl freed those closest to him from any and all guilt. He wanted them to go on with life and cling only to the pleasant memories of a true fighter who loved his family and friends enough to give them his best.
Just as he taught Tiger, his best was always good enough, for Earl's was a life well-lived.
Prayers and warm wishes to Tiger and his family.
Everyone knew how close they were. His most important legacy was his child. He knew it, took the responsibility seriously, and left a legacy any parent would be proud of in the development of his child into a honorable well adjusted man.
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