WRAL Sports Fan

WRALSportsFan

Tiger Woods Holds Golf Clinic At Fort Bragg

Apr 16, 2004

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — For three days, Tiger Woods left golf behind to train with the military.

The training reinforced many lessons he learned from his father, Earl, a retired Green Beret who was stationed in Fort Bragg for three years. It also gave him some perspective.

"I'm just trying to hit the ball into a little bitty cup that's 400 yards away," Woods said Friday. "These people here are putting their lives on the line. That to me is the ultimate dedication. They're doing it for our country to keep all of us safe."

The golf great arrived at Fort Bragg on Monday and was issued a uniform. He participated in training exercises Tuesday through Thursday on the post. During that time, he fired weapons, awoke early for 4-mile runs and even twice jumped from a plane.

On Friday, he gave one-on-one lessons to eight young golfers at Fort Bragg's Stryker Golf Course while 76 other youths received instruction from area professionals.

Woods said he saw many similarities in some of the military training and preparation and his own preparation as a professional athlete.

"My father shared a lot of his military experiences with me as I was growing up," Woods said. "For me it was neat to look back on history. It's not that I didn't understand what my dad did, but to physically see what he did just shed a whole new light on it."