It isn’t that shocking that a tragic Tiger Woods car crash is the lead story on NBC’s Nightly News as he has changed golf and has had a successful but tragic career.

Tiger Woods played in his first professional tournament at age 16. The official Tiger Woods website states, “Tiger played in his first professional tournament in 1992, at age 16, the Los Angeles Open, and made the 36-hole cut and tied for 34th place in the 1994 Johnnie Walker Asian Classic in Thailand, He entered Stanford University in 1994 and in two years he won 10 collegiate events, concluding with the NCAA title.”

Tiger Woods then shocked the world as he started to win many majors in his 20s. The National Club Golfer website says “ Woods’ 46 PGA Tour wins while in his 20s alone would put him eighth on the all-time list. Jack Nicklaus is second on that list with 30 wins in his 20s.”

Tiger Woods then continued his momentum and became one of the best golf players of all time. “ From 1997 to 2013 Woods was a combined 126-under-par in major championships. Among the players with 90 or more rounds played in that same timeframe, guess who is next on the list? That’s right, Steve Flesch, who was a whopping 251 strokes behind Woods at 125-over-par. Phil Mickelson is third on +128 and Hunter Mahan fourth on +137,” National Club Golfer website said.

But then everything changed for Tiger Woods. The People magazine website says, “In 2009, Tiger Woods — then the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer — almost lost it all. Woods crashed his Cadillac Escalade outside of his Florida mansion on the day after Thanksgiving. Elin Nordegren, his wife at the time, used two golf clubs to break the rear windows of the vehicle.”

When news of the accident came out, it shocked the world as well as changed how he was viewed by the public. “That accident was the beginning of a public spiral for Woods, whose life and career are explored in HBO’s new two-part documentary Tiger. Dozens of women soon came forward, alleging that they had sexual relationships with the married golfer,” the People magazine website said.

This not only affected his life off the course, but it also affected Woods’ life on the course. “Within months, Woods had lost most of his sponsors, and his golf game began to suffer — both due to his physical ailments and a loss of focus on the course. In August of 2010, Nordegren filed for divorce, and received a reported $100 million settlement,” the People website said.

With that scandal and a bunch of back surgeries, Woods failed to win another major until 2018. In fact, Woods never thought he would actually play golf again. Woods was quoted on the CBS Website saying, “Coming back and playing golf was never in my thoughts. It was just, ‘how do I get away from this pain? How can I live life again?’ That was driving my life. I felt like I couldn’t participate in my own life.”

Woods not only came back but won the Masters in 2019. On Bleacher Report, Woods was quoted saying, “It’s overwhelming, because of what has transpired. Last year I was lucky to be playing again. At the previous champions dinner, I was really struggling. To now be the champion. Unreal for me to experience this. I couldn’t be more happy and excited. I’m at a loss for words.”

So that brings us to Feb. 23 when Woods got into another car crash. Wootton Community member Mike Berman said “My first thought was that I was really sad — I love watching him golf. I was afraid he wouldn’t be able to even walk again.”

Woods is currently back at his house in Florida. Woods was quoted on ABC saying “”Happy to report that I am back home and continuing my recovery,” … “I am so grateful for the outpouring of support and encouragement that I have received over the past few weeks.”