Tiger Woods opens up on the passing of his mother

After withdrawing from the Genesis Invitational after the passing of his mother, Tiger Woods got to speak about her at the event on Sunday.

While on the coverage for CBS at Torrey Pines in San Diego this evening, Woods spoke about Kultida Woods and her passing two weeks ago on February 4th. He noted how hard the last dozen days have been but expressed gratitude to all those, including his fellow golfers taking part in the event this weekend, who have sent messages to him in support at this time.

“Mom was my rock.”

Tiger Woods reflects on the passing of his mother, Kutilda Woods.

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“It’s been, been a tough, tough process to go through,” said Woods.

“I’ve had amazing family support. All the players have reached out that were playing here this week,” Woods continued. “It, the amount of texts and emails and nice messages of support I got has really helped and has really meant a lot to me.”

Kultida Woods passed at the age of 78. That life included marrying Earl Woods and having Tiger as their only child together.

Woods took a moment to recall how his mother raised him both on and off the golf course. She helped make him the all-time player that he became but also forced him to focus on the important things away from sports as well.

“Yeah, Mom was my rock, you know,” Woods said. “My dad worked at McDonnell Douglas at that time and was working on the delta rocket. Mom would take me to every junior event here in Southern California…She’d drive out there and keep score and walk every hole – how many putts I hit, how many fairways I hit, how many greens I hit. She tracked it all.”

“And, oh man, she was hard on me about school, by getting good grades and doing well in school,” Woods added. “To be honest with you, if I didn’t get any homework done, I wasn’t allowed to go play – not with my friends but, I mean, just go play in general. So it was important that I got good grades and, you know, school came first before any sport I was playing.”

It’s been a heavy few weeks for Woods with her death and since having to pull himself from the Genesis after it was moved last month from the Riviera Country Club. It will continue to be too in the time to come for him in her memory.

“She meant everything to me and, um, losing her has been a very hard and difficult process to go through,” Woods said.