All About Tiger Woods' Parents, Kultida Woods and Earl Woods

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: David Cannon/ALLSPORT/Getty

Tiger Woodshas amassed millions of fans throughout his illustrious career, but there’s two supporters who have been there for the pro golfer through it all: his parentsEarlandKultida Woods.

Woods' parents were married for 37 years until Earl died in May 2006 at their home in Cypress.Kultida diednearly two decades later in February 2025 at the age of 81.

Earl and Kultida first met in the 1960s amid the Vietnam War. As a soldier in the U.S. Army Special Forces, Earl was deployed to the same base in Thailand where Kultida, née Punsawad, worked as a secretary.

The pair quickly fell in love, and, smitten with the Green Beret, Kultida followed Earl back to New York, where they married before settling down and starting a family in Cypress, Calif.. In 1975, they welcomed their son, future golf superstar Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods.

Fans looked intimately at the golfer’s upbringing in HBO’sTigerin 2021. The two-part documentary featured home videos and archived audio, including one of Earl recalling the first time he saw Tiger putt a ball. “WhenTiger was 10 months old, I unstrapped him out of his high chair one day and he walked over and hit the ball,” Earl recalled. “I said, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got something special.’ "

Despite growing up with a soldier for a father, Tiger has said it was his mother he was “deathly afraid of” as a child. “My dad was always the person who would plant seeds and give me encouragement but also would say things that would fester inside me that wouldn’t come to fruition for a while. He was very worldly and deep in his thinking,” he toldUSA Todayin 2017.

Kultida, on the other hand, was an “enforcer,” Tiger said. “My dad may have been in the Special Forces, but I was never afraid of him. My mom’s still here and I’m still deathly afraid of her. She’s a very tough, tough old lady, very demanding. … I love her so much, but she was tough.”

Nevertheless, Kultida never missed an opportunity to support her son both on and off the golf course. She joined her grandkids,Sam AlexisandCharlie Axel, at Tiger’s induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. Kultida was often seen on the fairway cheering on Tiger and sporting her signature oversized black glasses and visor.

Here’s everything to know about Tiger Woods' parents, Kultida Woods and Earl Woods.

Kultida moved to the U.S. after falling in love with Earl in Thailand

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He rose through the ranks, eventually landing a position as a Green Beret. During his second tour during the Vietnam War, while stationed in Thailand, he struck up a romance with their office’s secretary. Kultida, who had never traveled outside of Thailand before, followed Earl back to Brooklyn, N.Y., where they married in 1969, according toSports Illustrated.

Earl named Tiger after an old friend of his from the Army

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The couple turned into a family of three when Tiger was born on Dec. 30, 1975. In Vietnam, Earl had bestowed the nickname “Tiger” on his combat partner, Lt. Col. Nguyen Phong, for his courage and bravery. Earl decided he would give his son the same nickname.

Tiger, in his own way, carried on the nickname tradition with his own family. The pro golfer gave his first child another nickname his father called him growing up: Sam. “We wanted to havea name that would be meaningfulto either side of the family, my side or Elin’s side, because she was born [the day after] Father’s Day. It just happened to fit,” Tiger told PEOPLE of his daughter’s first name.

He explained: “My father had always called me Sam since the day I was born. He rarely ever called me Tiger. I would ask him, ‘Why don’t you ever call me Tiger?’ He says, ‘Well, you look more like a Sam.’ "

Kultida and Earl took out a second mortgage to put Tiger through junior golf

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By age 14, Tiger was already teeing up for a collegiate golf scholarship. But in order to compete at the American Junior Golf Association Tour, which would garner him access to premier tournaments and college scouts, his parents had to make some major financial decisions.

“My family made a tough decision, and at the age of 14 and a half, we took out a second mortgage so I could go out and play the AJGA Tour. Mom stayed at home. Dad traveled. And I went out and played the AJGA Tour on our second mortgage,” Tiger recalled during his 2022 World Golf Hall of Fame induction speech,according to the PGA Tour.

Kultida was behind Tiger’s iconic red shirt

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“It goes back to my mom,” he told Smith, per his bookNever Settle: Sports, Family, and the American Soul. “My mom says that my power color is red. And so, in junior golf I won a golf tournament wearing red. She said, ‘See I told you, red.’ "

Testing the waters, Tiger wore a blue shirt to the next tournament and won. “I just kind of made fun of it,” he said of his mom’s superstition. “Poked at her a little bit.” Against Kultida’s advice, Tiger wore blue to the next two tournaments and lost. “[I] switched to red and I went on a hot streak. And, well, I kept it,” he quipped.

In 2009, Tiger doubled down on his mom’s instincts on his website, noting, “You should always listen to your mom.”

Earl is a published author

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Earl published his first book,Training a Tiger: Raising a Winner in Both Golf and Life, in 1997 — the same year Tiger won his first Masters Tournament. The book is a how-to manual for aspiring golfers with tips and tricks for swinging, posture, balance and mental toughness. Earl also dedicated a portion of the book to sharing his firsthand advice with fellow golf parents. “The saddest thing in competitive athletics is to see an athlete competing because he or she is required to compete, not because they desire to compete,” EarltoldGolf Digestin 2001.

He also had the privilege of his son writing the foreword. “The best thing about those practices was that my father always kept it fun,” Tiger wrote. “It is amazing how much you can learn when you truly enjoy doing something. Golf for me has always been a labor of love and pleasure.”

In 1998, Earl released his second book:Playing Through: Straight Talk on Hard Work, Big Dreams, and Adventures with Tiger.

Kultida was married to Earl for 37 years until his death in 2006

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Earl diedon May 3, 2006, from prostate cancer. The announcement came from Tiger himself, who wrote on his website that he “was saddened to share the news” of his father’s death at age 74. Earl was first diagnosed with the illness in 1998.

“My dad was my best friend and greatest role model, and I will miss him deeply. I’m overwhelmed when I think of all of the great things he accomplished in his life,” Tiger said in the post. “He was an amazing dad, coach, mentor, soldier, husband and friend.”

He added, “I wouldn’t be where I am today without him, and I’m honored to continue his legacy of sharing and caring.”

Kultida died in February 2025

On Feb. 4, 2025, Tiger announced that his mother had died that morning in an emotionalpost on social media.

The news came just one week afterNBC Sportsreported that Kultida had attended Tiger’s TGL match in south Florida.

source: people.com