Tiger Woods Up Close And Personal

Golf Superstar Talks To Ed Bradley About Planning A Family

(CBS) 
Tiger’s talent was undeniable. He won every national amateur championship for six years running, a first in the history of golf. At age 20, he dropped out of Stanford University to turn pro and Nike immediately signed the rookie to an unprecedented $40 million endorsement deal.

The Nike deal generated resentment and jealousy on the tour, but Tiger in his rookie year proved with spectacular shots that he was more than the frontman for an ad campaign.

With his passion for the game, Tiger drew huge crowds who couldn’t get enough of his star power, a phenomenon that became known as "Tigermania." Having won two tournaments, he rode a wave of excitement into Augusta, Georgia in 1997, to his first major championship, the fabled Masters.

"You still remember that day?" Bradley asked.

"Nine years, golly. Time flies, goes by quick, doesn't it?" Tiger replied. "That was a great moment in my life."

At age 21, with the lowest score ever, Tiger became the first African-American and the first Asian-American to win a Major.

"Your perspective on that win, has it changed over the years?" Bradley asked.

"I guess the whole win was bigger than I thought, because I thought it was just winning a golf tournament, but it ended up being more than that," says Tiger. "You know, socially, Augusta denied access to minorities. You know Charlie Sifford had to qualify and they kept changing the rules on him. Lee Elder was the first one to break that barrier. And [to] have him there on Sunday, saying 'good luck,' it meant a lot. These guys sacrificed so much. And I end up winning the tournament that some of them couldn’t play."

But for Tiger, the win had personal significance. "Yeah, I won, and it was by a big margin. But there's more to it than that. Dad shouldn't have been there."

But Earl Woods was there, against doctor's orders. He was supposed to be home recovering from bypass surgery after a serious heart attack. Instead, he went to the tournament to be there for his son.

"I went to see Dad, and I say, 'Dad, hey Pops, I'm struggling here. I'm hitting it good. I just can't shake it in.' So he sat up and he said, 'Why don't you try to do this?' So I said, 'All right, I'll try.' 'How's that feel?' And, 'It looks pretty good,'" Tiger recalls.

Earl Woods told his son, 'Let the legend grow,' and Tiger has. Between the 2000 and 2001 seasons he won all four of golf’s major championships in a row, something no one else has ever done. It ranks as one of the greatest accomplishments in sports history.

"Any time you can do something that no one's ever done in your sport and it's sitting right on your mantle, it's pretty cool," says Tiger.

Asked if he takes issue with those people who say it wasn't really a grand slam because the wins weren't all in the same year, Tiger says, "They can say whatever they want. They didn't have all four trophies sitting on the mantle, did they?"

As much as Tiger savors his victories, he's willing to risk losing to improve his game. He has changed his swing twice to make it more consistent. After the last time, in 2002, he went more than two years without winning a major and lost his number one ranking. All of a sudden, Tiger looked vulnerable.