Woods started his son in golf at a very early age and coached him exclusively over his first years in the sport.

He was previously a U.S. Army infantry officer who served two tours of duty in South Vietnam and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

His father, Miles Woods, had five children by his first wife, Viola, and six more (of whom Earl was the youngest) by his second, Maude Carter.

His father was African-American and his mother, Maude (Carter) Woods, was of mixed African and European ancestry and was lighter-skinned.

[3] The skin tone of Woods's siblings ranged from fairly dark to very light; he remembered that his grandmother Carter, who was of mixed race, was "the prettiest blonde you ever saw."

[1] Woods served two combat tours during the Vietnam War, the first as an infantry officer and the second with the United States Army Special Forces.

[2][verification needed] After graduating from the Defense Information School and being promoted to lieutenant colonel, he was assigned as an instructor of Military Science & Tactics, (Army ROTC) at the City College of New York.

[7] Woods had met his second wife, Kultida Punsawad (Thai: กุลธิดา พันธ์สวัสดิ์; RTGS: Kunthida Phansawat), while stationed in Thailand in 1966.

Woods claimed to be playing close to scratch handicap level when his son Tiger was born in late 1975.

Junior Amateur, his father sought out superstar teacher Butch Harmon to develop Tiger's game further.

[4][7][13] Harmon, upon meeting Tiger for the first time in Houston in summer 1993, praised the coaching which his father, Duran, and Anselmo had undertaken to that point.

Woods hired Connecticut attorney John Merchant in 1996 to help facilitate the path for Tiger to turn professional, and to secure lucrative sponsorship agreements when he did so.

Tiger signed deals with Nike, Titleist, and the International Management Group, which made him a multi-millionaire as soon as he declared professional status in late August 1996.