Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods






Tiger Woods Biography (1975– )

popular name of Eldrick Woods Print this article

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Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman was suspended for two weeks Wednesday (Jan. 9, 2008) for saying young players who wanted to challenge Tiger Woods should "lynch him in a back alley."

Tilghman laughed during the exchange Jan. 4 with analyst Nick Faldo at the Mercedes-Benz Championship. Civil rights activist The Reverend Al Sharpton demanded she be fired immediately.

"Lynching is not murder in general, it's not assault in general," Sharpton said. "It's a specific racial term that this woman should be held accountable for."

Faldo and Tilghman were discussing young players who could challenge the world's No. 1 player toward the end of a broadcast when Faldo suggested that "to take Tiger on, maybe they should just gang up for a while."

"Lynch him in a back alley," Tilghman replied.

The Golf Channel originally said there would be no punishment, but changed its position less than three hours after Sharpton's remarks.

"While we believe that Kelly's choice of words was inadvertent and that she did not intend them in an offensive manner, the words were hurtful and grossly inappropriate," Golf Channel said in its statement. "Consequently, we have decided to suspend Kelly for two weeks, effective immediately."

"On Friday during our golf broadcast, Nick Faldo and I were discussing Tiger's dominance in the golf world and I used some poorly chosen words,” Tilghman said in a statement. “I have known Tiger for 12 years and I have apologized directly to him. I also apologize to our viewers who may have been offended by my comments."

"This story is a non-issue,” said Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg of IMG. “Tiger and Kelly are friends and Tiger has a great deal of respect for Kelly. Regardless of the choice of words used, we know unequivocally that there was no ill intent in her comments. This story is a non-issue in our eyes."

But Sharpton said the fact Woods did not call for punishment of Tilghman does not mean the comment was not offensive to African-Americans.

Tiger was born Eldrick Woods on December 30, 1975, in Cypress, California. Woods started as a young golf wunderkind who grew up to become a master player. The son of an African American Army officer father and a Thai mother, he learned to play as a child. His father, Earl, served as his teacher and mentor. Around the age of eight, Woods showed off his skills on such television shows as Good Morning America.