In my hands a golf club is worth about 50¢... in HIS hands it's worth MILLIONS!

Meet Tiger Woods...

He's the world's top ranked golfer and it's first player to pass the $40 million mark in career earnings... and he's only 28!

(UPDATE - 8-30-2007) - Tiger Woods achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Currently ranked #1 in the World, Tiger was the highest paid professional athlete in 2006, having earned an estimated $100 million from winnings and endorsements. In August 2007, at the age of 31, he won his 13th professional major golf championship and has more career wins on the PGA Tour than any other active golfer. He is the only active golfer in the top 10 in career major wins (2nd) and career PGA Tour wins (5th).

Among his other achievements... he has held the #1 position in the world rankings for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks. He has been awarded PGA Tour Player of the Year a record 8 times, and he has led the money list 7 times (1 behind Jack Nicklaus' record). He has been named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year 4 times... a record he shares with Lance Armstrong.

Selected 6 times Player of the Year by both the PGA of America and Golf Writer's Assoc. of America. Chosen 1996 and 2000 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated - first person ever to win that award more than once. The Associated Press chose him Male Athlete of the Year for 1997, 1999, and 2000. (Michael Jordan is the only other athlete to win that award 3 times) Tiger was the first golfer to hold all four professional major championships at the same time.

Born on December 30, 1975, Eldrick "Tiger" Woods grew up in Cypress, California. At the age of 6 months, he would watch his dad hit golf balls into a net, and by the time he was 9 months old, he was hitting balls using a golf club his dad had sawed off. He was only 18 months old when his dad starting taking him to the golf course so he could hit buckets of balls on the driving range.

He putted with Bob Hope on the "Mike Douglas Show" at age 2, shot a 48 for nine holes at the Navy Golf Club in Cypress, CA, at age 3. And was featured in a "Golf Digest" story at age 5.

Tiger's dad, Earl Woods, was his first Coach and is the one who taught him to focus, no matter what the distraction. He would stand in front of Tiger, and Tiger would have to hit the ball over him... or he would jingle coins in his pocket... or roll a ball in front of him. Anything to teach him to concentrate on his game... to KEEP HIS EYE ON THE BALL!

Butch Harmon, Tiger's former coach, says that Tiger's advantage on the golf course is not his physical abilities, though they are pronounced.. his edge is MENTAL.

"Tiger works to develop a control of everything mental, including his heart rate under pressure. He is completely disciplined, more so than any player ever to strike the ball."

Let's take a look at 3 of his autographs... (the only handwriting I could find!)

First, let me make a general statement about signatures...

As any handwriting analyst will tell you... the more handwriting you have available... the more accurate the analysis. You should never judge anyone by looking at only one aspect of their personality. It's the same when looking at handwriting, it's always better to see a variety of the writing.

Celebrity signatures are especially unique... not only are they asked for their signatures dozens of times a day, but they are often asked to sign on various surfaces... t-shirts, napkins, golfballs, basketballs, whatever. So, the sample may or may not look like their normal writing.

Another thing you take into consideration is the speed and size of their signature. Most sign their names very quickly because they're in a hurry... which translates into sloppy handwriting. Tiger's signature, in all three examples, qualifies as being written in a hurry, that much is certain!

But, there is one thing that remains the same in analyzing ANYONE'S handwriting... the larger the size of the signature... the larger the size of the ego. It's no surprise that superstars can have big egos!

And IF Tiger has one... he has good reason!

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

The Upper and Lower Zone letters... B, T, g, t, W, h, and d...
(Upper zone relates to the mental... ambition, intellectual pursuits, principles and spirituality. The lower zone relates to the physical... material needs, energy and productivity levels, and even sexual needs.)

These upper and lower zone letters are much larger than the other letters in Tiger's name telling us that his high ambition is matched by his physical stamina. But, because the middle zone letters in his writing (e, s, i, r, and o) are smaller in porportion to the upper and lower zone letters, we also know that he may not be content with his current success and is always pushing himself for greater acheivement.

The letters in his words are all connected together...
Tiger's thoughts and actions are "connected"... he sees the logical order in which things should be done and DOES them in that order. He's organized and orderly in all things... appearance, conduct, practicing, or playing.

The letters in his first and last name are all jammed together.
This trait indicates a person who enjoys people and being in the limelight. He's an up-close-and-personal guy who is comfortable with physical contact... shown by the hug he gave his Dad, in front of millions, when he won his first Master's.

The second stroke of the "W" is higher than the first... and hooks backwards.
Tiger has a fear of being ridiculed, so he puts a "umbrella" (the backward hook) over himself to protect himself and his reputation.

His writing slants uphill...
The uphill slant shows optimism and his striving to achieve his dreams and goals.

General conclusions:

For those of you who play golf, you know the term "playing through." And using golf as a metaphor for life... the term takes on a broader, more powerful meaning.

Playing through means getting down to business... not letting anything get in your way... dealing with the task at hand... accomplishing your goals... not getting distracted by things that don't really matter... knowing yourself, and drawing on that sense of self, to get you through difficult times.

Tiger can't stand to lose. But, when he does... he doesn't go into a tirade OR make excuses... he simply goes out and practices even harder than before to make sure that he doesn't make the same mistakes again.

His clear goal is the attainment of every golf record in the books, and he's willing to let everything else become secondary to that goal. And the way he eats, sleeps, studies, trains and practices are all means to the end of obtaining that goal.

We SHOULD all learn from his successes!

Till next time...