Tiger Woods got very emotional when his 14-year-old, daughter, Sam, presented him as a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame on Wednesday night. Sam gave a touching speech as she talked about her father’s accomplishments and the car accident that nearly took his life. As mentioned by the New York Post, Woods nearly lost it when he went on stage and embraced his daughter.
“In 2007, my dad got himself in position to make an 18-foot putt to force a U.S. Open playoff, which he missed by a foot,” Sam said in the speech. “He then had to rush to the airport, flew from Pittsburgh to Orlando and drove to the Winnie Palmer Hospital. Within five minutes of walking into the hospital room, still wearing his red golf shirt, on June 18th, I was born. He may have lost that day, but he won the greatest gift of all.”
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And when Sam talked about Woods’ car accident that happened last year, she said, “We didn’t know if you’d come home with two legs or not. Now not only are you about to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but you’re standing here on your own two feet. This is why you deserve this, because you’re a fighter.”
When Woods began his speech, he said, “I just lost a bet to [Steve] Stricker that I wouldn’t cry. Thank you, Sam.” Woods also talked about the sacrifices his parents made to get him to where he is today. “So without the sacrifices of Mom,” Woods said, “who took me to all those junior golf tournaments, and Dad, who’s not here, but who instilled in me this work ethic to fight for what I believe in, to chase after my dreams – that nothing’s ever going to be given to you, everything’s going to be earned.
“If you don’t go out there and put in the work if you don’t go out and put in the effort – one, you’re not going to get the results, and two, and more importantly, you don’t deserve it. You need to earn it. So that defined my upbringing. That defined my career. Woods won a total of 15 majors and 82 PGA Tour events in his career.
