Did Tiger Woods want to join Navy SEALs?
Tiger Woods is one of the most prolific names in the sport of golf. He has won 15 Major Championships, the second highest till now after Jack Nicklaus, who has won 18. He is arguably the greatest golfer the world has seen with 82 PGA Tour wins, the highest by any golfer. However, at his peak, in the middle of his career, Tiger Woods nearly walked out of golf to join the military. This may surprise a few, but it's true.
Tiger Woods wanted to join the Navy SEALs
When Tiger Woods turned professional in 1996, he won his first Major Championship and also became the World No. 1 just a year later. Throughout the 2000s, Woods was a dominant force in the sport. Notably, he was just 20 years old at the time.
At the end of 2000, Tiger won nine PGA Tour tournaments, including three Majors. In 2006, he won eight PGA tournaments with two more Major Championships.
However, he took a short break the same year to move on with the loss of his father, Earl Woods, who taught him how to play the sport. Tiger was emotionally affected by the absence of his father, who died due to cancer at the age of 74.
The same year after his father's death, he developed an obsession with the Navy SEALs and began often visiting a military facility called La Posta in San Diego. Tiger Wood's father was a Vietnam War veteran and Green Beret, so training with the Navy SEALs made him feel closer to his father.
Tiger Woods loved his Navy SEAL training
Woods started his training at the group's training facility where he would practice different exercises like shooting, self-defence, skydiving, simulated raids, and combat scenarios. He got very involved and also started watching documentaries and reading stories about the Navy SEALS. He played the video game Call of Duty for several hours every day.
Tiger Woods wanted to follow in his father's military footsteps.
What happened when he trained with Navy SEALs: es.pn/2iwMlCq https://t.co/gaHL1oGMMz
However, such a break was not a good decision when Tiger Woods was at the peak of his career. He began telling his close friends that he wanted to leave golf and join the SEALs. Breaking Jack Nicklaus's record had become secondary for him. He even secretly went for training 25 days after his father's demise and 15 days before the US Open, which cost him a Major title.
Woods' coach at that point, Hank Haney, sent him a strong email encouraging him to stop the training and return to golf. According to Yahoo! Sports, he said,
With the U.S. Open 18 days away, do you think it was a good idea to go on a Navy SEALs mission? You need to get that whole SEALs thing out of your system and stick to playing Navy SEALs on the video games. I can tell by the way you are talking and acting that you still want to become a Navy SEAL. Man, are you crazy? You have history to make in golf and people to influence and help. Focus on your destiny, and that isn't flushing bad guys out of buildings in Iraq. Just play the video games some more. That Navy SEAL stuff is serious business. They use real bullets."
In 2016, the Navy SEALs pointed out that Tiger was beyond the age limit (which is 30) required to become a Navy SEAL. Moreover, former SEALs have also shared the difference between Tiger's training to the actual SEAL training. He used to prefer doing fun things like skydiving but never came forward for tough training like being soaked in hypothermic waters for hours.
Eventually, Woods decided to continue with the sport that his father taught him and not give up on his prolific career.