WINDMERE, FLORIDA – Coming into the end of 2007, Tiger Woods continues to break golf’s most hallowed records. Having recently collected his record ninth Golf Writers Association of America Award and his ninth PGA Player of the Year Award in 2007, the world #1 has also set a new mark in golf history by breaking Jim Thorpe’s long-standing mark of 4,248 consecutive days as a non-white PGA tour player without publically mentioning his own ethnicity.
Tiger’s new PGA record came when he was interviewed by ESPN’s Jaime Diaz on December 24 about his 2007 accomplishments and the pressures of new fatherhood. Tiger failed to mention either being African-American or Thai, marking his 4,240th day (and counting) of making no direct or indirect reference to his ethnic roots.
The so-called “Streak” began on May 6, 1996, when Tiger mentioned at a post-tournament press conference that his mother was on holiday in Thailand, where she was born. Since then, Tiger has managed to win an additional 55 tour events and 13 Majors, and given 159 interviews without bringing up the subject again. Former holder Jim Thorpe said the new record was just further proof of Tiger’s incredible focus. “That kind of consistency takes an almost Zen-like concentration,” he said. “I mean you have to bury it way down deep.”
