"No matter how close a friend you are, you must kill that person. When it is over, you can shake hands and be a friend again," said Kutilda Woods, mother of golf maverick Tiger. No doubt in my mind that Tiger's competitive spirit came from his mother. All of us who heard her say these words on "60 Minutes" knew she did not mean to "kill" literally. She is a play-to-win kind of woman and she instilled this attitude in Tiger.
The game of professional golf is better officiated than any other game. The rules are strict and highly enforced. Tiger has had to play the game by the rules and has been extremely successful. He plays fair.
Two months ago, I attended a meeting in Palm Springs and played in a "best ball" golf tournament. After each person hits the ball, the team of four golfers picks the best-hit ball and then all four hit from that spot. You repeat this process until the hole is finished.
All the four-person teams started with a certain amount of points and then wagered those points at each hole. At the first hole, I convinced my team members to wager only 1,200 points. They agreed and we easily pared the hole.
"If we're going to win this thing, we're going to have to wager a lot more than 1,200 points," said team member Jeff Miller, co-owner and vice president of KHS&S Contractors West Coast.
As we continued playing, Jeff and my other teammates convinced me to wager all of our points. We were going for broke at each hole. We were doubling up our point's hole after hole. We finished somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000,000 points. We turned in our score and were announced the first place tournament winners. I was in a big hurry to catch my flight back to Seattle and was preparing to leave when someone handed me an envelope. I put it in my pocket and later opened it to find $500.
Kutilda Woods and my golf partner Jeff Miller have similar competitive personalities. Tiger's mom feels that one must win fairly at all costs. Miller quickly sees opportunity and determines what it will take to get there fairly. Obviously, Tiger and Miller think a lot alike when it comes to winning fairly.