Woods ‘has not inspired black breakthrough’

TIGER WOODS’ 12-shot triumph at the 1997 Masters was about more than one man conquering a golf course and his competition.

It was about a member of a race long mistreated capturing one of the sport’s most prized possessions — the green jacket — for the first time.

It was also about hope.

The Masters, which did not have an African-American participant until Lee Elder in 1975, would never be the same.

Nor, presumably, would the game itself. Soon there would be other black players to join Woods on the PGA Tour, surely within 10 years.

Well, it has been 10 years since Woods’ historic win, and he is still the only black golfer on the PGA Tour. The biggest reason: Money.

“It’s very simple,” said Pete McDaniel, a senior writer for Golf Digest who is black.

“Those with the potential haven’t gotten the financial backing.

“I wouldn’t put the blame on the Fortune 500 companies or the major manufacturers. The blame goes to the African-American community. There’s enough wealth to support these players. We just don’t think it’s a priority.”

Calvin Peete, an 11-time PGA Tour winner who’s also black, concurred. “Money is still the No. 1 handicap,” the 1985 Players Championship winner said.

When Peete joined the tour in the early 1970s, he said his expenses totaled about $20,000 per year. Today, that figure is closer to about $60,000, he estimates. The financial obstacles, however, get in the way much earlier.

Peete, who helps coach the Edward Waters College golf team in Jacksonville, Fla, said many black youths from single-parent homes aren’t able to practice as much as they should because they can’t get rides to the course.

“Moms are working and can’t take off,” said Peete, who didn’t pick up the game until his early 20’s.

But should Tiger be more involved in the cause? McDaniel came to Woods’ defence.

“Tiger has been unfairly criticised,” McDaniel said. “It’s not his job. It’s the African-American community’s job.”