Trump Awards Highest Honor to 'True Legend' Tiger Woods

He's the youngest golfer to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 7, 2019 1:12 AM CDT
Woods Becomes Youngest Golfer to Earn Medal of Freedom
President Trump presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tiger Woods during a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, May 6, 2019.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Trump awarded golfer Tiger Woods the nation's highest civilian honor on Monday, describing the 43-year-old as a "true legend" who transformed golf and then fought through years of injury to return to the sport's summit. Trump awarded Woods with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He's the fourth golfer to earn that distinction and certainly the youngest. While Woods dominated the sport for more than a decade, he won his first major in nearly 11 years at last month's Masters Tournament, a comeback that captivated the sporting world. "Tiger was back on top," Trump declared during the Rose Garden ceremony. If there were a Mount Rushmore for golfers, Woods would almost certainly be on it: He ranks second in PGA Tour wins and in major tournament victories.

But the president's decision to award the nation's highest civilian honor to Woods also raised scrutiny about whether the president should be boosting the profile of a business associate of the Trump Organization, the AP reports. Trump has been using Woods' cachet to attract fans to his properties for decades, and has also struck business deals with Woods. Christopher Devine, an associate professor of political science at the University of Dayton, says Trump may have a business angle, but when he stacks up Woods' accomplishments against other recipients, he believes Woods deserves it. Woods was joined at the ceremony by his mother, Kutilda; daughter, Sam Alexis, 11; son, Charlie Axel, 10; and girlfriend Erica Herman. Woods' longtime caddie, Joe LaCava, also attended. (More Tiger Woods stories.)

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