Earl Woods' dynasty includes granddaughter Cheyenne as well as son Tiger
Tiger Woods is not the only player in the family to have benefited from the development expertise of his father, as evidenced by his niece's success
When Earl Woods was alive and dealing the cards for Team Woods, he had a kingdom's worth of chips riding on his son Tiger Woods' success. The legend of Tiger's dad is almost as significant and remarkable as that of his prodigy son because Earl is the person directly responsible for teaching, guiding, motivating and cultivating the Michael Jackson of golf.
As Tiger's fame reached mythical heights, Earl's approach to busting the golf world and its racial barriers wide open became the blueprint for any parent with dreams of creating a world-class athlete out of their child.
When Earl passed away in 2006, Tiger's PGA Tour dominance slowly morphed into a roller coaster of pitiful performances and flashes of his old brilliance. Off the green, his appetite for sex led to him crashing his car, wrecking his marriage and his reputation as a "perfect" role model. Tiger hasn't regained his dominance over the field and the sheer omnipotence of that watershed 1997 Masters. He's stuck in quicksand with 14 majors and his hopes of catching Jack Nicklaus' 18 titles are slowly waning.
I've been pro for two years and, for the majority of it, people just think of me as Tiger Woods' niece so now I have a game of my own and I have a title now, a win, which is exciting
But Earl Woods' legacy will continue to grow through Tiger's niece Cheyenne Woods, who won the Australian Ladies Masters last Sunday for her first major professional tour victory, capped with an emphatic birdie on the 18th-hole. Cheyenne, 23, won by two strokes and finished with a four-under 69 at Royal Pines to finish at 16-under.
While the event doesn't earn her a spot on the LPGA tour, which is her ultimate goal, Woods' win earned her US$51,000 in prize money and a two-year exemption on the Ladies European Tour events, and was her first personal step towards making a name for herself in the links lane.
"I've been pro for two years and, for the majority of it, people just think of me as Tiger Woods' niece so now I have a game of my own and I have a title now, a win, which is exciting," Woods said. "Growing up with the last name of Woods, there's a lot of expectations and pressure and spotlight on you, but I always knew that I was able to win."
Woods won her first pro event, the 54-hole SunCoast Ladies Series at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 2012.
She's very similar to her uncle in many ways. Both are mixed race. "My mom is white, my dad is black with Asian and native American mixed in," Woods said.