About the Author

Earl Woods was the first African-American baseball player in the Big Eight Conference. When his parents advised him to put away his baseball glove to pursue a career in education, he listened -- but when his country called, he served two tours as a Green Beret in Vietnam. Woods remained in the army where he taught until he retired with the rank of colonel in 1974. Earl's experiences have uniquely qualified him as a teacher, coach and mentor and he sees his work with son Tiger's golf and academic careers as the culmination of his life's work. Peter McDaniel is an award-winning senior writer at Golf Digest magazine.