Sports figures have been idolized for years. People look up to these sports stars and want to be like them. Tiger Woods is an idol of many. He is arguably the most dominant sports player of all time. The man has won 14 major championships, 4 of those being in one freakish year- that year was 1997. Earl Woods died in 2006. He had an array of quotes that boasted about his son and also compared him to Gandhi. An example is, “Tiger will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity….he is the Chosen One. He’ll have the power to impact nations. Not people. Nations.” His mother thinks he is the Universal Child seeing as he is Thai, African, Chinese, American Indian, and European. In the article, Gandhi and Tiger Woods are compared in 4 senses; mind/ thought control, heritage, values, religious beliefs, and popularity. The author, Robert Wright, does not sway his opinions to one side. He gives many positives relating to Tiger and his ways, but in the end he still concludes that Tiger is not yet worthy of being put into the same realm in which Gandhi is located. Because he says, “Gandhi was devoted to human understanding and world peace. Tiger is devoted to being the best ball-whacker ever. But give him time. Maybe he’ll branch out.”

Gandhi and Tiger Woods are comparable, but were/are involved in two totally different occupations. Being good at golf requires a lot of mental training and patience. Tiger Woods has taking those requirements and has risen to a level that no other golfer has gone to before. Tiger works for money. Gandhi worked for peace and unity among all.
These two differ in life choices, but contain like minds. Maybe later in life Tiger will switch over his profession and start along the path in which Gandhi walked along his whole life. Gandhi and Tigers mind both work in a similar manner. Gandhi took his values and tried to teach those values to others while Tiger has a vast amount of important values, but he uses those values in order to help himself succeed in a demanding sport. This is not greed in the least bit. It is just a path he chose just like Gandhi chose his own path.
In Wrights third sense he talks about Tigers ability to free his mind when golfing, but does not mention a comparison to Gandhi. This sense seemed to just focus on positive aspects of Tiger and none of Gandhi. Even though the relationship wasn’t directly stated the reader can infer that when Wright discussed meditation and Buddhism he had the ways of Gandhi in mind. Tiger’s mom is a Buddhist. Tiger believes in Buddhism, but not every aspect of it. These are Tiger’s reasons on why he likes Buddhism, “it’s a whole way of being and living. It’s based on discipline and respect and personal responsibility.”
Wright made an excellent inference by stating that Tiger’s and Gandhi’s goals both differ. Tiger was meant to be a golfer. Gandhi was meant to be a peace talker. Yes Tiger can be compared to Gandhi, but only in certain aspects. These aspects were covered well throughout the article. Wright did his research on Tiger and portrayed the knowledge he had gained in an effective manner. Although two people can have two totally different goals/professions in life it doesn’t mean that they can’t work around the same values and mindset as one another. This idea is represented in its entirety when looking at the article.