Tiger Woods told Harold Varner III after learning that he snubbed his request for an autograph as a child
It would be startling to learn just how many current members of the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf were inspired mostly by Tiger Woods, with the 15-time major champion completely changing the game when he burst onto the scene in the 1990s.
There is absolutely no question that Tiger Woods simply has to be in the conversation when it comes to the greatest golfers of all-time. He came along at a time when the game was crying out for a new superstar, and became one of the biggest names sport has ever had, let alone golf.
Had it not been for injury, it is likely that Woods would have gone on and overtaken Jack Nicklaus‘ tally of 18 major championship wins. The two men are the only players to ever achieve more than one career grand slam.
It is because of Woods that golf now boasts a number of fascinating characters. Not only did they grow up dreaming of being the next Tiger Woods, but many probably took on some of his mannerisms without realising they were doing so.
How Tiger Woods reacted when he learned he snubbed Harold Varner III when he was a kid
And it seems that some were completely unaware of just how important Woods was in setting them on the path to becoming a professional golfer.
Speaking on Tiger Tales, Harold Varner III once explained how a snub from Woods turned out to be a significant moment in his development – even if he did not realise it at the time.
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“I would have been 11, 12. I walked through and I waited right there on the road, and I was like, dude, come on. He walked right by me. P—–, so mad,” he said.
“And I’ll never forget the first time we played together. We’re walking up 18, I was like, ‘man, you didn’t even sign my autograph’. He’s like, ‘that’s probably why you’re here right now. You probably got mad’.”
Tiger Woods is golf’s master of the mind games
Of course, there is absolutely no chance that Woods snubbed Varner III because he felt that it would help him become a professional golfer. But his reaction when he learned of the incident shows how he read the game probably better than anyone from the last 30 years.
The amount of times Woods would be duelling with one other player and come out on top was frightening. Woods lost just one playoff in his PGA Tour career. And it must, in part, have been down to how he knew exactly what it would take to win each time; the shots he would need to hit as well as the way he would need to carry himself.
And while many other factors probably played a much more significant role in Varner III’s journey to the highest levels of the game, Woods probably took some satisfaction from the idea of making some of those who came through after him even hungrier to succeed.
