In 1990, Earl Woods truly believed his son would grow up to be the next Jack Nicklaus. Before Tiger went to Stanford and won the U.S. Amateur three times in a row, Earl knew that as a black player with a Thai mother, Tiger would go on to become a global phenomenon. "He can't lose," Earl said, "unless he doesn't win. And I don't anticipate him not winning." And it's plain to see Tiger didn't anticipate losing much either.

To see Tiger Woods at 14 speak so candidly and confidently on the burden of his own enormous talent, the overbearing expectation of challenging Jack Nicklaus (he had a poster of Jack hanging in his room), and the divisive factor of his own race in a sport governed by old white men is astonishing. Even as a teenager, Tiger possessed the same staggering self-assurance which has defined his career, for better or worse.