Rhetoric Project

Tiger Woods, the greatest golfer of all time, had a tremendous impact on the game. He achieved numerous records, including the most PGA wins, lowest scoring average, and youngest player to win all major championships. He brought excitement to golf and attracted a global audience, revitalizing the sport. Tiger's success elevated the PGA's popularity, increasing prize money for players. He also established the TTR Foundation, helping young people pursue their dreams. Tiger's influence inspired many, including the podcast host, who credits him for their love of golf and valuable life lessons learned from the sport. Hello everyone, this is your host Evan Reynolda and on today's episode we will be discussing Tiger Woods and his impact on the game of golf. For the people that might not be familiar with Tiger Woods, he was arguably the greatest golfer of all time. Tiger, who was raised in Cypress, California, started playing golf at the age of 9 with his father. He attended Stanford University for 2 years before turning pro in 1996. Tiger amassed a total of 82 PGA wins which is tied for first in PGA history. He has the lowest scoring average in PGA history and he is the youngest player to ever win all 4 major championships and is the only player to ever win them in a row. When his career was over, he finished with 11 PGA Player of the Year awards, 10 PGA Money Leader trophies, as well as 142 consecutive cuts made, 30 more than second place. On top of this, he has the most career earnings in PGA history, 9 Varden and 9 Brian Nelson trophies which are the trophies awarded to the player with the lowest score at each year. Tiger Woods' greatness cannot be understated. He was able to immediately dominate his competition from the second he turned pro. Now I'm going to play an audio clip from an interview that he did before his first professional tournament in 1996. What would be a successful week for him at Milwaukee? Two things. I think if I played four solid rounds, I would off to a good start today. If I can do that for three more days, I would be very happy and my victory would be an awesomeness too. No victory. Do you think, to me that comes off as a little cockier, brash, especially talking to the other guys on tour that have been out here for years and years and years and certainly an incredible record, but what do you say to those guys? When you come out here, you know what I'm saying? Your first pro tournament, you say, I can win. I understand that. I've always figured that if I go to a tournament, if you're not going there to try and win, there's really no point in me going. That's the attitude I've had my entire life and that's the attitude I've always had. As I would explain to my dad, second sucks and third's even worse. That's just a feeling on tour that's not too bad sometimes. That's not too bad, but I want to win. That's just my nature. You'll learn. Even with all of Tiger Woods' accolades and trophies, what makes Tiger Woods the greatest golfer and maybe even athlete of all time is what he did for the game of golf. In the 1990s, golf was a dying sport. It was viewed as an old person sport with little skill and excitement. When Tiger Woods entered the PGA, he instantly changed that. He brought excitement to the game that no one had ever seen. People from all over the world who used to criticize golf as a slow and unexciting game started following it just because of Tiger Woods. The sport, which was mainly played in the U.S. and Europe, grew throughout the world. He succeeded in taking the sport to new heights, and it's now thriving more than ever. Tiger took the game of golf to the next level, making them one of the richest leagues in the world in less than 10 years. With golf, it is unlike every other professional sports league where the players get paid a salary. In the PGA, players have to cover their own traveling and lodging expenses to compete in the top tournaments, and only the top 50 get a paycheck. When Tiger Woods first entered the league, an average golfer was making $140,000 per win. Just nine years later, the average golfer winnings were up to $620,000 per win. The excitement in the PGA skyrocketed with Tiger as the face of their league. They were able to land big TV deals and open up venues to host tournaments all over the world with their growing popularity. Even today, golf continues to grow with there being a new golf league opening up, and the popularity of the sport continues to grow. Tiger's biggest drawing point for his audience was his age. In his first year, the average age of the players on the tour was 36 years old. Tiger was 20 years old, fresh out of college, and as dominant as a player anyone had seen. In my opinion, his most important impact on golf was how he brought youth, athleticism, and swagger into the game. Golf had been dying for Tiger since he was a kid. He was able to get the youth excited about the sport and was able to grow its following immensely. Later in his career, he launched his own foundation named the TTR Foundation that was aimed to improve kids' health, education, and welfare. The foundation provided young adults with the resources they needed to become the best versions of themselves. The TTR Foundation was founded by a group of young men and women who were passionate about the sport. The foundation provided young adults with the resources they needed to become the best versions of themselves. Tiger wanted the foundation to be able to give whatever was necessary for someone to be able to chase their dreams, and that's exactly what he was able to accomplish with the TTR Foundation. Tiger also became a role model for young people with different backgrounds from all around the world. Tiger was one of the first African American golfers ever, breaking down countless barriers in his career. This made him a role model for young people all around the world. Tiger Woods also impacted me greatly. He was one of the first athletes I remember watching and influenced me in many ways. Growing up, I wanted to be just like Tiger Woods, and he was one of the people that got me into and excited about golf. I have a lot of great memories with family and friends playing golf. Golf taught me a lot of skills like patience and precision that I can still keep with me today. I feel that without Tiger's influence on me at a young age, I wouldn't have created some of these memories or learned some of these lessons, and that's what makes Tiger the greatest golfer of all time. That wraps up this week of the podcast. Come back next week for the next episode. Thank you for listening.