Not long before Tigers time in the spotlight, the only way an African American could see a golf course, was to carry the clubs of a wealthy white man.
The way Tiger leaped into the golfing world in 1996 showed that not only could an African American be competitive in golf, he could be a leader on and off the fairway.
Over the past fifteen years Woods, the son of a former Vietnam Veteran, revolutionised the way golf is perceived and played on a truly global scale.
Tiger transformed the way crowds interact with golfers during tournaments, and I think it's a fair statement to make, that Tiger has also changed the complete fabric of the sport, that is called golf.
Never has a player in a sport been so dominant for so such a long period of time. His feats go over and above most great athletes with legendary status of any era. They go above Michael Jordan in basketball, Don Bradman in Cricket, Carl Lewis on the track and even 'Pistol' Pete Sampras on the court, just to name a few.
We are all well aware 2010 was the year from hell for Tiger. Recently I have previously scripted in past articles about the trend, with high performing American athletes, that the better they perform in their chosen sport the bigger the controversy in their personnel lives, and Tiger Woods has certainly has been no exception to this trend.
The Tiger Woods scandal came as a great shock to all of us. He was just one of those athletes you felt you could trust. On the surface he appeared happily married with kids.
From a sponsors perspective he was a "once in a lifetime" dream. The ultimate athlete, with the ultimate reputation, leading to his demise, Woods was the highest paid athlete in the history of sports worldwide. Shorty before word broke of his troubles; Woods was tipped to be the first sports person to hit one billion dollars a year in sports related earnings.
I'm not going to detail the demise of Tiger Woods, if you want that information I suggest you use a Google search, and you will find what you looking for.
My focus is on pondering how far back can Tiger return from the absolute lows he is facing. Both Tiger the golfer and Tiger the brand have been kicked off the number one perch in rankings.
Can Tiger retake his number one ranking? Can the Tiger brand attract sponsors again after the mess it has created?
Sometimes you have to look at the positives when tough times wear you down. Whatever happens for the rest of 2013 and next year it's going to be an interesting ride. Getting to watch one of the most determined athletes in the modern era trying to comeback from the brink doesn't happen every day.
Observing the human response in extraordinary circumstances of other people's lives is sometimes the by product of being a keen sports fan and enthusiast.
Now three years on Tiger's PGA tour showed some promise, he is back on top of the world rankings, which for any other golfer would be seen as conquering the world, but for Tiger it's not the same.
For Tiger carrying the World Number One tag is just about having a settled swing and playing on a regular basis. I think we would all agree Tiger counts Major tournaments as his drawcard to remaining in the sport and he will judge his career and comeback based on Majors won.
Josh Hinds is a school chaplain on the Gold Coast, a family man and PSI's IT professional. Josh is an experienced writer on international sport.
Josh Hinds' previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/joshua-hinds.html