“What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here” - When 14-year-old Tiger Woods opened up about his experience with racism

The sport of golf has changed dramatically since Tiger Woods first debuted in 1996. Back then, Woods was a bit of a minority, something he understood even before he turned pro. In 1990, when he was 14 years old, the future star was already prominent enough to be getting interviewed, and the interviewer asked him a few poignant questions.

Woods was asked about prejudice and racism in golf, specifically whether or not he'd experienced it first-hand. The young Woods traveled to different places to play and the interviewer asked about his experiences there.

An excerpt of the interview was posted on X (formerly Twitter):

"14 year-old Tiger Woods speaking on racism in golf, 1990."

The young Woods said he had felt some prejudice at different places:

"Every time I go to a major country club, I always feel it. I always sense it. People are always staring at you, 'What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here.' When I go to Texas or Florida, you always feel it because they say, 'Why are you here? Are you supposed to be here?' That's probably because that's where all the slavery was."

Woods was asked if he could change that in any way by becoming the next Jack Nicklaus:

"Since I'm black, it might be even bigger than Jack Nicklaus. I might be even bigger than him. I might be sort of like a Michael Jordan in basketball."

Woods aimed to make it so that any other black golfer wouldn't experience what he experienced. While it's impossible to say whether he was successful in doing so, it cannot be argued that Woods followed through on his ambition to be so big that it might make a difference.

---

Tiger Woods became arguably the biggest golfer ever

Despite battling health issues for the last several years (he's had some struggles for more than a decade), Tiger Woods is one of the most accomplished golfers of all time. His 15 Major titles stand above everyone but Jack Nicklaus. His 82 PGA Tour wins stand atop the all-time leaderboard.

Tiger Woods became one of the best ever golfers.

In the same interview, the 14-year-old Woods mentioned that he wanted to become bigger than Jack Nicklaus to help eradicate racism and prejudice in the sport of golf. Whether Woods managed to do so can be argued, but his stature cannot.

Determining whether or not he's truly bigger than Nicklaus is an exercise in futility, but he is easily one of the biggest and best golfers of all time. Injuries might have sapped a few more wins that would cement that idea even further.

Whether or not he changed how black golfers are viewed is difficult to tell. There is certainly still prejudice in the world today and there's no telling how minority golfers are treated everywhere they go.

Nevertheless, even if he didn't change that, Woods did all he could to do so. Whether it was enough or not wasn't his responsibility, as he lived up to his word that he'd be like the Michael Jordan of the golf world. Perhaps Woods can still add to that as he's back and healthy once more.