Tiger Woods announces mother Kultida's death: 'A force of nature ... my biggest fan'

Doug Ferguson · The Associated Press

· Posted: Feb 04, 2025 3:04 PM EST | Last Updated: February 4

Kultida Woods, the Thai-born parent of Tiger Woods who instilled his ascendant tone and encouraged him to deterioration a reddish garment connected Sunday arsenic his powerfulness colour, died Tuesday.

Woods announced the decease of his 80-year-old parent successful a societal media post. He did not disclose a origin oregon different details. She was astatine his indoor TMRW Golf League lucifer past week successful South Florida, wherever she lived.

He described her arsenic a "force of nature" who was his biggest protagonist from the clip she drove him to inferior play tournaments successful California to being determination for his 15 large championships, often wearing her wide-brimmed visor and sunglasses.

"It is with heartfelt sadness that I privation to stock that my beloved mother, Kultida Woods, passed distant aboriginal this morning," Woods wrote. "My Mom was a unit of quality each her own, her tone was simply undeniable. She was speedy with the needle and a laugh. She was my biggest fan, top supporter, without her nary of my idiosyncratic achievements would person been possible. She was loved by truthful many, but particularly by her 2 grandchildren, Sam and Charlie."

U.S. President Donald Trump was among those who reached retired with a station connected his Truth Social, calling her "an astonishing influence" connected Woods.

Woods's father, Earl, died successful 2006.

"Tida," arsenic she was called by many, was moving arsenic a civilian caput successful the U.S. Army bureau successful Bangkok erstwhile she met Earl Woods, who was stationed there. She spoke minimal English erstwhile she joined him and near Thailand for the archetypal clip successful 1968, archetypal going to Brooklyn, N.Y., and past to Cypress, Calif., wherever Woods was calved successful 1975.

His begetter taught him golf. His parent brought the discipline.

"Everyone thought it was my dada erstwhile I went connected the road, which it was," Woods said past twelvemonth erstwhile helium received the Bob Jones Award from the USGA. "But Mom was astatine home. If you don't know, Mom has been determination my full life. She's ever been determination done heavy and thin.

"She has allowed maine to get here. She allowed maine to bash these things, pursuit my dreams, and the enactment and emotion — I didn't bash this alone. I had the top stone that immoderate kid could perchance have: my mom."

Passing on the Thai practice of Woods was important to his mother. She took him to Thailand for the archetypal clip erstwhile Woods was nine, and helium returned determination to play 3 tournaments aboriginal successful his career, winning each time.

'I americium a loner, and truthful is Tiger'

What they shared was a warring spirit.

"I americium a loner, and truthful is Tiger," she said successful a 2009 interrogation successful Thailand with Jaime Diaz astatine Golf Digest, a uncommon juncture erstwhile she spoke publicly.

"When I was a miss my parent would ever beryllium worried, 'What volition radical say?' And adjacent then, I would think, I don't springiness a damn," Tida said. "I ever archer Tiger: 'You can't bash things conscionable to delight different people. It volition discarded your energy, and you won't beryllium blessed successful yourself. You person to bash what is close for yourself.' And connected that, helium does a bully job."

Inside the ropes, his parent wanted to spot domination, and she got each spot of that. "And then, sportsmanship," she erstwhile said.

She was the 1 liable for him wearing a Sunday reddish garment — Woods present has an apparel enactment named for that — due to the fact that successful Thai it was his powerfulness colour.

"Mom thought being a Capricorn that my powerfulness coloUr was red, so, I wore reddish arsenic a inferior golfer and I won immoderate tournaments," Woods said astatine the motorboat past twelvemonth of the Sun Day Red brand. "I spell to a assemblage that is reddish — Stanford is red. We wore reddish connected the last time of each azygous tournament, and past each azygous tourney I've played arsenic a nonrecreational I've worn red. It's conscionable go synonymous with me."

She besides had a contented of giving Woods a caller Tiger caput screen for his operator each year.

Stitched among the orange-and-black was written successful Thai, "Love from Mom."

Tida moved retired of the location wherever Woods grew up to thing much modern successful Orange County, and she followed him to South Florida aft her hubby died. She didn't get retired to arsenic galore tournaments but seldom missed the Masters. She was determination with her grandchildren erstwhile Woods captured his 5th greenish overgarment and 15th large successful 2019 astatine Augusta National.

She was determination for a agelong time, and Woods ne'er failed to mention her power connected his career. That started agelong ago, driving him to tournaments oregon dropping him disconnected astatine the play people with a dollar — 75 cents to bargain a blistery dog, 25 cents for the telephone telephone to prime him up.

Woods said successful a 2017 interrogation with USA Today that it was his mother's subject helium feared.

"My mom's inactive present and I'm inactive deathly acrophobic of her," helium said. "She's a precise tough, pugnacious aged lady, precise demanding. … I emotion her truthful much, but she was tough."