Homework Before Golf -- Again

Within yards of an inviting 18-hole course, Tiger Woods had no interest in talking about golf.

Asked if he would always be identified with the sport that made him one of the world’s highest-paid athletes, the top-ranked golfer on the planet replied bluntly, “Hopefully not.”

What Woods wanted to talk about Friday was education and why he donated $5 million and raised an additional $20 million to build the Tiger Woods Learning Center in a low-income neighborhood of Anaheim, next to the golf course where the Orange County native learned the game.

“Everyone knows how much I love golf and love to compete, but this is bigger than golf because we’re able to shape lives,” Woods said at the dedication ceremony attended by former President Clinton, California First Lady Maria Shriver and a host of local political and community leaders.

“You can look around at this area; it’s not Beverly Hills,” he said. “The kids I grew up with in high school, a lot of them didn’t have two parents at home, they didn’t have a support structure.... Today is more gratifying than any of the wins I’ve had this year. Golf is what allowed me to do something like this.”

Classes began last month at the 14-acre learning center, located next to the city-operated Dad Miller Golf Course on land donated by the county. Open after school to fourth through 12th-grade students, the 35,000-square-foot facility has a forensics classroom (a request from student “CSI” fans) and a recording studio, as well as 2,000 computers and an airy, sun-filled foyer. Not a clunky desk in sight.

Woods said he decided to build the center shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The American Express Championship tournament in St. Louis had been called off, airline flights were canceled and Woods had two days on the road to think while driving to his home in Florida.

“I was reflecting on my life and I thought we weren’t doing enough,” he said, referring to the Tiger Woods Foundation, which he and his father, Earl, founded in 1996. At the time, they were sponsoring golf clinics throughout the country for underprivileged kids.

“Hitting golf shots, and being a circus that comes through one week and gone the next wasn’t giving kids something they could touch and call their own,” he said. “I thought, ‘We need to build a learning center, not to develop golf shots but to develop minds, to teach kids how to build a career and chase a dream.’ ”

Also attending the dedication was former Supervisor Cynthia P. Coad, who helped the center obtain the county land. She and her husband, Tom, put up the first $300,000 of outside money. “I am just euphoric,” she said.

Woods said he was thrilled to be opening the center next to the golf course. Woods played tournaments there while attending Western High School in the 1990s.

“This is where I’ve always considered home,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons the learning center had to be here. It wouldn’t have had the same impact to do it somewhere else.”

Shriver said she discarded her prepared speech after Woods’ mother, Kultida, told her about raising her son in nearby Cypress. The cardinal rule: No golf until Tiger’s homework was done.

“Today really was her proudest moment in the entire life of her son because he has come home and he’s sharing what he’s learned and all the great things that have happened to him with people who don’t have as much,” Shriver said.

When Clinton came to the microphone, he quipped, “I learned another law of child-rearing today: In the background of every great man was a boy who was terrified of his mother.”

Woods had hoped both of his parents would be on hand Friday. His mother waved to the crowd, but did not speak. Earl Woods was unable to attend because of illness.

Clinton talked about the importance of successful people giving back to their communities. “I’m impressed Tiger decided to do this when he was 30 rather than 60,” he said.

Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle later announced the city’s tribute to Woods: The stretch of Gilbert Street in front of the center was renamed Tiger Woods Way.

During a news conference inside the center, radio talk-show host John Ziegler took note of Democrats Shriver and Clinton, and asked Woods if he were interested in politics. “No,” Woods said.

“This is my belief: You’re sitting in it.... It’ll be pretty interesting to see where this goes.”