TIGER WOODS BECAME visibly emotional while delivering his acceptance speech for his World Golf Hall of Fame induction.
After being introduced by his 14-year-old daughter Sam, Woods – widely considered as the best golfer of his generation – joked that he had already lost a bet that he would not cry.
As he was ushered into golf’s most revered club on Wednesday night, the 82-time PGA Tour winner and 15-time major champion told those gathered how his love for the game had been ignited when he was just six years old.
By the time he was eight, he was using his skills to win quarters and then dollars off other children at weekend tournaments.
From the very beginning his mother and late-father had been supportive, Woods said, to the point they took out a second mortgage on their home so he could play the junior circuit in California.
“This passion to play the game of golf (drove me). I was never going to be denied to play. I loved it. I had this burning desire to be able to express myself,” the 46-year-old said.
“One of the things dad instilled in me… is that you had to be twice as good to be given half a chance,” Woods added, explaining that his late-father had grown up in the same era as golfing legend Charlie Sifford who was the first African-American to play on the PGA Tour.
