Tiger Woods letter outlining racism in golf raises thousands for charity

A handwritten letter from Tiger Woods to a fan has been sold at auction.

The note, which was sent to Indiana high school student Chad Jones in June 1994, outlined the racial abuse Woods had encountered in his early days as a promising golfer.

A few months prior, Jones had reached out to Woods – who at this point had won three US Junior Amateur titles in a row but had yet to embark on his US Amateur hat-trick which began that year – having stumbled across an address for the 18-year-old golfer.

In his reply, Woods told Jones he appreciated him “taking the time and interest to write”.

“I completely agree with you that racism is unfortunately part of the game of golf,” he added. “I am excited that you are writing on this topic because this is something that has been a significant part of golf and is something we should start talking about.”

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Woods also revealed that, during his PGA Tour debut at the LA Open in 1992, just three months after his 16th birthday, he was racially abused and received a death threat.

“These are not the only remarks of this kind. I have had other such remarks, but I just can’t seem to remember them clearly,” he wrote.

“This racist remark was brought on because I was a little black kid practicing at the Navy Golf Course.

“You have to understand that the Navy GC is mainly made up of retired Navy officers who are about fifty to eighty years old.

“Back when they were in the military the blacks were either cooks, porters, or low-ranking officers. Then comes along my father who is a retired lieutenant colonel from the Green Berets (a special forces group in the Army) who has the audacity to have a kid who can beat most of the membership and who just happens to be black.

“This brings on jealousy and from that, you can understand how this kind of statement can be made.”

Jones, he told sports collectables website cllct, kept the letter in its original envelope in a drawer for years, bringing out only to show friends and family.

But this year he decided to sell it, and it fetched a whopping $25,620 – around £19,000 – with Goldin Auctions.

And, in an incredible act of kindness, Jones has decided to give all the proceeds to the Tiger Woods Foundation.

“I just thought how cool it would be to send a kid to college using Tiger’s letter to me,” Jones said.

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor