Before he was the greatest golfer of all time, Tiger Woods eyed a career in a different sport.
Even as a young boy, Woods was a natural athlete, possessing a level of hand-eye coordination that seemed almost supernatural for a boy his age. While the world eventually came to know him for his mastery of golf, his earliest athletic dreams were tethered to another sport.
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It was a sport that his dad played, and in his youth, Woods wanted to follow in his footsteps. But an injury prevented him from doing so, forcing him to the tee box instead.
Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
Tiger Woods could have played baseball instead of golf
The sport that captured Tiger Woods’ heart before golf was baseball.
Growing up in Southern California, Tiger was a standout ballplayer. He played shortstop and was known for having a cannon of an arm.
His father, Earl Woods, was actually a trailblazer in the sport himself. Earl had been the first Black baseball player in the Big Seven Conference while playing for Kansas State.
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Woods once noted that baseball was actually his favorite sport as a child. He loved the team dynamic and idolised his father.
However, the transition away from the plate happened early. In a 1999 interview with the Atlanta Constitution, Woods revealed that he was forced to quit baseball because of an injury to his rotator cuff.
So instead, he turned to golf, and became the greatest to ever play his second sport.
The five-time major winner who wanted to play baseball
Playing baseball is not a uncommon childhood dream among the best professional golfers in the world. There are plenty of transferable skills between throwing a pitch and swinging a golf club.
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Brooks Koepka might be the most famous example. He once stated in an interview that he finds golf boring compared to baseball. He grew up in a baseball family. His great-uncle, Dick Groat, was an NL MVP, Brooks has often admitted he’d much rather be a professional baseball player if he had the choice.
He also suffered an injury as a child. He was in a car accident and was prevented from playing contact sports, so he took up golf instead.
He obviously took to golf, winning five majors as a professional, but has always seemed to long for another sport. He’s a baseball fan forced to play golf at the highest standard.