The Journey of Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods is a golf icon at the peak of his career, but it wasn’t always pretty for him. Tiger Woods has had multiple back surgeries and multiple knee surgeries, that affected his game completely because those are major body parts used in a golf swing.  HBO premiered the documentary, Tiger, on January 10, 2021. It looks at Woods' highs and lows of his career. 

The early episodes of the documentary focus on his relationship with his father, his wife and the strength of his golf game. It looks at his arrests in 2017 on a DUI charge that reportedly did not involve alcohol. Tiger Woods was arrested on May 29, 2017 at 3 a.m, but was released seven hours later at 10:50 a.m. Even though he was arrested, Tiger Woods wanted to make a comeback to golf. It took Tiger a long road back, but when he finally got back to playing golf, and just two years later in 2019, he won the Masters.

Tiger Woods has had many injuries playing golf, dating back to 1994. Tiger has had five back surgeries, and four knee surgeries. That makes nine total surgeries in his golf career, and it has taken a toll on his body. Some of his injuries include ACL, tumors and scar tissue, tibia, cartilage damage, and his achilles. Those are just some of the injuries that Tiger has suffered during his golf career. Through it all Tiger Woods has still stayed dedicated and kept coming back ready to play the game that he loves.

Tiger Woods was booked into a local jail and released on his own recognizance with no bond. A quote from Tiger Woods after he was arrested states, "I realize now it was a mistake to do this without medical assistance," he said. "I am continuing to work with my doctors, and they feel I've made significant progress." At the time, Tiger Woods was taking medication that wasn’t prescribed to him, and was taking drugs that are illegal, unless prescribed by a doctor. Tiger Woods came back from jail and later went on to win the Masters in 2019, which stapled his major comeback to the sport of golf.

An interview from the HBO documentary states “People were constantly projecting things onto him,” Hamachek said. “For Earl (Woods), it was this vision of him transcending the game and uniting humanity. And then Nike sort of carried that vision on and the public took that and ran with it and projected different things onto him.”

Tiger Woods has always had an elite swing even throughout and after having all of the back and knee injuries. “I didn't know if I was going to be able to be here because I couldn't ride in a cart. The bouncing just hurt too much. Driving a car still hurt,” Woods once admitted. “That's all gone now, which is fantastic, and yeah, there were some intrepid times; not just for this golf tournament, but for life going forward.” 

Tiger Woods has been through thick and thin throughout his golf career and throughout his life. HBO stated some of Tigers achievements, and they include 82 PGA Tour victories, which is tied with Sam Snead for the all-time lead, won 15 professional major golf championships, and 12 international victories. Through all of Tiger’s injuries and mental issues, he is still a golf icon and will go down as one of the best golfers in the sport’s history.