Chapter 10

Nissan Los Angeles Open

Riviera Country Club

Los Angeles, California

February 27, 1992

A-student Tiger is in the high school principal’s office. His sophomore-year advanced geometry class conflicts with his tee time at the Nissan Los Angeles Open, so he needs to be excused.

Tiger’s the youngest ever to play a PGA Tour event, and the only amateur among 143 pros in the 1992 matchup, but he hasn’t qualified for the tournament via the usual channels. He’s here at the Nissan by way of a sponsor’s exemption.

The tournament director had looked up the Woodses’ number in the Orange County phone book and placed a call to Earl.

“Hello, Mr. Woods? This is Greg McLaughlin with the Nissan Los Angeles Open. I’d like to know if your son would consider taking an exemption into our tournament?”

“Sir,” replied Earl, “my son would be honored to receive an exemption into the L.A. Open.”

Tiger gets permission from the principal, and geometry teacher Glenn Taylor gives his student a take-home lesson plan that’s “sort of like what he’s doing on the golf course. Except that out there Tiger’s doing it all in his head without a compass.”

During a practice round, Tiger pauses at the 9th tee and imagines playing to a packed gallery. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he says, “already 19 under par for 26 holes—just playing his normal game… the leader… Tiger Woods.”

The hopeful fantasy is broken by harsh news from the clubhouse. Tournament chairman, Mark Kuperstock, has received three anonymous phone calls, including a racist complaint about Tiger receiving the sponsor’s exemption—and a threat on his life.

Earl takes his son aside to explain what’s happened.

Tiger is stunned into silence. After around ten minutes, he says, “Sixteen years old, and I’ve already had my first death threat.”

Security guards escort Tiger to the Riviera Country Club’s iconic 1st tee, elevated seventy-five feet above the fairway on a cliff in Pacific Palisades. The gallery is packed. Three thousand fans are lined six deep, and television cameras are in position to capture the opening drive of LA’s rising star, dressed in a red-white-and-blue-striped polo and a white cap.

GO GET ’UM TIGER reads a sign one fan holds high. “He’s the next Nicklaus, maybe better,” exclaims another. Tiger hits his ball 280 yards and birdies the 501-yard par 5.

The electronic scoreboard lights up:

T. WOODS –1

“That was neat,” Tiger says.

His lead doesn’t last. Tiger scores 72 on the par-71 course. Earl walks alongside while listening to light jazz through his headphones to ease the stress of watching Tiger play against pros his son calls “awesome.” Tida’s there, too, though there’s a new puppy named Joey at home she has to keep an eye on.

The following day, Tiger is treated in the fitness trailer for back pain caused by a growth spurt—five inches in two years. He’s six foot one now and too tall for his driver.

“The first few days of that week, I was hitting the ball so good, it was scary,” Tiger says. “But then all of a sudden, I outgrew my club shaft. It got real whippy on me. I couldn’t control the ball as well.”

It’s an extra challenge to overcome. “I was having a growth spurt… something which I doubt happened to anybody else.”

He’s constantly eating, trying to keep up with what Sports Illustrated calls “his hummingbird metabolism,” devouring whole pizzas and frequenting all-you-can-eat buffets in attempts to fill up and bulk up.

Tiger shoots 72–75 in the first two rounds. With a combined score of 147, he’s missed the cut but gets “more than a thrill” from fans’ shouts, applause, and autograph requests. He signs simply “Tiger.”

The PGA media tent is reserved for tour players, so Tiger gives a press conference behind the 18th green, where hundreds of journalists are waiting.

“I think these were the two best days of my life,” he tells reporters. “I really do. Even when I hit a bad shot, people clapped.”

Fred “Boom Boom” Couples, the 1991 PGA Tour Player of the Year, goes on to win that year’s Nissan Los Angeles Open.

Tiger’s parting words: “I’ve got a lot of growing up to do, both physically and mentally, but I’ll play these guys again—eventually.”