Cover Story: Tiger Woods Tackles A Different Course

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - If this golf thing doesn’t work out for Tiger Woods, maybe he should trade his driver for an M-16.

The world’s most famous golfer impressed soldiers at the world’s largest Army base last week, parachuting from planes, shooting bull’s-eyes in target practice and breezing through a four-mile run in 31 minutes -- five minutes faster than the Fort Bragg standard.

His only case of nerves took place Thursday when he climbed aboard a Twin Otter plane to jump with the Army’s famed Golden Knights skydiving team. As the plane climbed to 13,500 feet, Woods’ excitement grew, said a team spokeswoman.

After free-falling for 45 seconds harnessed to a team member, Woods asked for more.

"He’s like a little baby, "Daddy, can we do it again?’ " said Woods’ father, Earl.

As with golf, Earl Woods inspired his son’s military visit. The father, who put a club in his son’s hands before his first birthday, is a former Green Beret who once served at Fort Bragg.

"To actually, physically, see what he did, it just sheds a whole new light on that," the son said Friday.

The training could help Woods’ golf game. When the right-hander first fired a sniper rifle, he discovered he was more successful squeezing the trigger with his left hand because his left eye is dominant. That realization should give him an edge reading greens, Earl Woods said.

Where he will test his new putting skills remains unclear. A soldier said Woods told him he would compete in Charlotte at the Wachovia Championship, May 6-9 at Quail Hollow Club. But Woods and his agent later said he had not decided whether to enter the event.

When Woods announced plans to visit Fort Bragg, some questioned why he could train with soldiers during a war when the military is stretched thin. But Bragg officials said the visit did not interfere with training. Instead, they said, it boosted morale and recruiting.

Besides, they said, they owed a favor to his father.

"The number one thing is his dad is a member of the Special Forces," said Kevin Walston, a spokesman for the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Bragg. "Once you are a Green Beret, you enter a status -- whether you’re active duty or retired -- that you never lose."

It’s not unprecedented for athletes to join the military. Ted Williams and other big leaguers left baseball to serve during World War II.

Boxer Riddick Bowe joined the Marine Corps Reserves in 1997 to fulfill a lifelong dream, although he quit three days into boot camp at Parris Island, S.C.

And after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman abandoned an NFL career and a three-year, $3.6 million contract to make $18,000 a year as an Army Ranger. He deployed overseas last year.

Woods’ week was more of a glorified USO visit, but no one at Bragg could recall a celebrity training to this extent. Woods wore a camouflage uniform with his name stitched on the chest and stayed in VIP housing. Mostly, he spent time with Special Forces units.

Woods has said he would have opted for the Army if he couldn’t play golf. He did not allow the media to watch him with the troops, partly to greater duplicate his father’s experience. But hundreds of soldiers across the base got to meet him in the mess hall or during his dawn runs.

About 400 troops ran with the golfer Thursday. He set the pace and sang Army cadences to keep people in step. The soldiers were impressed by his interest and with a short speech afterward, in which Woods thanked them for their sacrifices.

"He almost made me cry," said Sgt. Jose Serna of the 2125th Garrison Support Unit.

Friday afternoon, Woods gave a shot-making exhibition at a base golf course. He entered dramatically, parting a smokescreen, standing in the machine-gun turret of a Humvee. He offered pointers, performed trick shots and told stories about his tournament wins.

He had asked to make an airborne arrival, but it was too windy to parachute. Instead, he settled for launching golf balls into orbit.

Republished with permission of The Charlotte Observer. Copyright owned by The Charlotte Observer.