In fact, in many ways he’s the model child, the one who is asked to do more than all the others. That’s certainly true with media requests, because while the usual PGA Tour protocal calls for only the leading scorers to stop and talk with the media, Woods is asked to meet with reporters after every single round he plays. He does so. As for pretournament press duties, he does those, too.

No, he doesn’t stop and sign every autograph stuffed into his face, but he signs far more than he is given credit for and besides, he’d need three lifetimes to fulfill the requests, most of which are made, if you want to know the truth, so that a financial gain can be made.

In an athletic world filled with athletes who jog to first base and give half-hearted efforts, Woods stands out for his consistent excellence each and every time he steps on the stage. The fact that he has carried himself with such impeccable manners and decorum off said stage is even more impressive, because we know in this regard, he’s the exception, not the rule.

Certainly, outrageous wealth and lasting notoriety has come his way, but while his piles are bigger than most, a good many athletes can also boast of fame and fortune. But how many of them have their own foundation to help children in need? How many of them can point to a learning center that is committed to improving the quality of life for inner-city kids? How many of them have poured their own money and time into social causes like he has?

Few, if any, I would suggest, and these are the aspects to Tiger Woods’s life — more than his major golf championships and records — that made Earl Woods most proud. The father had a vision of what his son someday could do and it is starting to take shape. The Tiger Woods Foundation has been up and running for a few years; the Tiger Woods Learning Center opened back in February.

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“Golf is important,” said Earl Woods back at that youth clinic prior to the DBC in 2003, “but other things are important to me. I don’t even think about golf except when Tiger’s playing. We’re going to make a difference. We need to help inner-city kids. We want to give them the opportunity to start to dream again. We want to empower them to be the best they can be.”

Cynics might scoff, but don’t they always look for reasons to offer ridicule? Of course they do. Woods knows that, which is why when criticism is sent his way, he more times than not has the fortitude to brush it off and maintain the great character that his father instilled in him. The ways in which Earl Woods taught life’s lessons to his son are legendary. For two shining examples, consider:

• Tiger was in charge of his clubs. That was the rule. So when they prepared to leave their home in Cypress, Calif., for a tournament and the father knew that his son hadn’t put the clubs in the car trunk, Earl Woods didn’t say a word. He drove to the tournament, popped the trunk, and when Tiger realized the clubs weren’t there, there was silence. Then Earl Woods told his son to get in the car, because they were going home. There would be no tournament. There was only a lesson learned about responsibility.
• As Tiger Woods stood over short putts, his father would stand a short distance away and rattle his key chain and cause a minor stir. The son could not back off; the son was told to focus even more and go through with the swing. Considering how few putts Tiger Woods has missed, again, it was a lesson learned.
• With so many trips to so many golf tournaments, hotels were always in order and as a young teenager, Tiger Woods was entrusted with the duties of checking in. Not because Earl couldn’t be bothered, but because Earl knew there’d be a time when he wouldn’t have to be there.

“I don’t have to be there for Tiger to know I’m with him,” said Earl Woods. “I taught him to play golf, with or without me. He knows I’m just a telephone call away.”

At 15, Tiger Woods won the first of his six straight U.S. Golf Association titles.

At 20, he won the last of his three straight U.S. Amateur crowns.

At 21, he won the Masters in record fashion, by a whopping 12 shots.

At 24, the onetime phenom completed the Grand Slam.

At 29, he earned his fourth Masters green jacket and his 10^th major title.

All of those feats are owed to majestic talents with which he was born with.

The dignity and humility that have accompanied this incomparable success? That is owed to a legacy left by Earl Woods.

May he rest in peace.

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