Jim McCabe

From his father he inherited a passion for golf and an ability to focus on the matter at hand.

The competitive fire and ferocious determination? Tiger Woods got those traits from his mother, Kultida.

When he tees it up Thursday afternoon in the first round of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Woods will be putting a halt to a nine-week hiatus from golf. Much of that time away was a byproduct of his father’s death.

Earl Woods was 74 when he died May 3 and while the death wasn’t a shock, it created a void in a young man’s life that took time to digest. More than likely, he also wanted time to spend with his mother, to make sure her needs were met. Fortunately, Tiger Woods is involved in a profession that allows him the freedom to take off that much time, but his grieving is over; his purpose is about to be re-directed to a task that is his life.

Being the best golfer in the world.

There has been no end to the speculation as to how he well he will perform, given the fact his last competitive action came April 9, the final round of the Masters. But really, there shouldn’t be.

Woods will not only be competitive, he will be in the thick of the race. Heck, it wouldn’t surprise me if he were to win. Why? Simply because he’s the greatest competitor the game of golf has known, arguably the fiercest on our sports landscape.

For that, he should thank his mother, though she has rarely taken credit. She does, however, concede that Tiger has got an abundance of willpower.

“When my son wants to achieve something,” she once told a reporter, “nothing distracts him. I don’t know why. It’s just in him. He’s a special kid, and that is the most special thing about him.”

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Depending upon at which point of the Woods saga you entered – the first of his six straight U.S. Golf Association victories, the 1997 Masters, the three-major campaign of 2000 – it’s most likely you know Kultida Woods speaks the truth. He is a special person.

What we don’t know is just how he got to be so special, but it’s safe to assume that Earl and Kultida Woods had a huge role in shaping the legend. Both parents, we know, spotted something remarkable in their only son, but it would be short-sighted to assume the father had the lead role.

Even Earl Woods conceded as much when he talked once about those times when he would force his son to take a break from golf. The idea was, Tiger Woods had to show that he wanted to play the game, and usually the hints would come with a simple pick-up of a club.

FREE VIDEO 'I'm always going to miss my dad' June 13: Tiger Woods talks about returning to competition after taking time off for the death of his father. NBC Sports

“He’d dribble a ball over the house,” Earl Woods said. “Then he’d walk around the living room and start hitting these little shots over the chandelier, over the coffee table – cute little shots. His mother saw it and would say, ‘You better not break anything.’ You talk about pressure? That was pressure because he knew he better not break anything in his mother’s house.”

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