Earl Woods saw ‘that look’ in the eyes of 4-year-old Cheyenne Woods

Cheyenne Woods had such a competitive drive early on that her grandfather, Tiger’s dad Earl, suggested that the management firm IMG recruit her.

Cheyenne must have been a late bloomer because she was four at the time -- two full years older than Uncle Tiger was when he made his national debut on the Mike Douglas Show.

Woods, who returned home to Phoenix for this week’s LPGA Founders Cup, relayed a story on Tuesday about how her grandfather would evaluate and recommend junior golfers to his and Tiger’s former company. She learned of his assessment of her when she was about 10, but did not uncover its contents until much later.

“I asked him what he had written, and he wouldn’t tell me,” she said. “He’s like, ‘you’ll find out one day when they come to recruit you and you’ll be going to the LPGA and you’ll be able to read it.’”

Sure enough, when Woods was a senior at Wake Forest, IMG representatives visited her and brought the handwritten letter with them.

“We copied it, we framed it, and so I have it and I always think about that because that’s the one thing that’s really pushed me over the years,” Woods, who actually signed with Tiger’s current agent, ex-IMG executive Mark Steinberg, when she turned professional. “My grandfather passed away when I was, I think, 14, but I know how much he believed in me, so that belief in me really has pushed me throughout the years to really just get through anything.”

The story of how Cheyenne Woods picked up her first golf club -- one of Tiger’s old ones, cut down to her size -- in her grandfather’s garage when she was about two is well-documented. Since neither of her parents played golf, Earl took it upon himself -- as he did with Tiger -- to counsel the youngster in the ways of the game.

“My grandfather really told us what to do, what programs to be a part of, how to go about having fun with the game while still improving, so my mom would chauffeur me around to lessons,” she recalled. “I started with lessons and then we’d go see my grandpa during the summer and he might come and watch me play, but really he was there for guidance.”

While she played with Earl only a few times, stories about Tiger’s junior career and other words of advice inspired her to take up the family occupation.

So, what did Earl Woods see in a four-year-old Cheyenne Woods that prompted him to predict her future as a professional golfer?

“He spoke about how I swung the club, the look in my eyes when I had the club in my hand, and things that he thought I would do once I turned professional and once I was on LPGA, the effect I would have on the game,” Woods told reporters. “The gist of it was the impact and pretty much what he thought I would do once I was on LPGA and what he thought I was capable of doing.”

Pretty heady stuff, even for a youngster who grew up with one of the most recognized names in all of sports.

Woods, who won her first professional event at the 2014 Australian Ladies Masters, heads into the Founders Cup seeking her first tour victory as an LPGA rookie. Last month, she finished 66th at the Honda LPGA Thailand and T44 at the Aussie Open.