How good was Tiger Woods’ swing when he was 6 years old?
Rare footage of a nine-hole exhibition match from December 30, 1981 – his sixth birthday – shows the brilliance of the child prodigy. The footage, recently discovered by the Golf Channel, will air for the first time on Monday’s 7 p.m. ET edition of Golf Central Live From The Masters.
The feature includes interviews with Woods’ childhood coach, Rudy Duran, and his opponent that day, 12-year-old Michele Lyford-Sine, who also went on to attend Stanford and compete on the golf team.
“I was nervous,” Lyford-Sine told the Redlands Community News in 2019. “I couldn’t let this 6-year-old beat me. I was twice as old as he was and he was half my size.”
In the end, she rose to the occasion, shooting 41 on the front nine of the par-35 Redlands Country Club in Redlands, California, to beat Woods, who shot 51. She got to eat cake, too.
“I remember,” said Lyford-Sine, “we sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him and he blew out candles on a cake inside the restaurant at Redlands Country Club.”
Click here to watch a preview of the feature.
On Dec. 30, 1981, Redlands Country Club in Southern California held a small exhibition match. One of the participants: 6-year-old @TigerWoods.
This video had rarely been seen…until now.
Check out more Monday night at 7 p.m. ET on Live From The Masters on Golf Channel. pic.twitter.com/uHNzyAovtZ
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) April 4, 2022
