Kultida Woods: All About Tiger Woods’ mother

Kultida Woods is the mother of Tiger Woods. Kultida Woods’ son, Tiger is an American professional golfer and entrepreneur. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men’s major championships, and holds numerous golf records. Woods is widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time and one of the most famous athletes in history. He is an inductee of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Kultida Woods: Bio Summary

Who is Tiger Woods’s mother?

Kultida Woods hails from Thailand and was born in Kanchanaburi, a small town outside Bangkok in modern-day, Thailand. She was born on September 30, 1946, and as of 2024, she is 78 years old. She was named Kultida Punsawad at birth and her name changed from Punsawad to Woods when she tied the knot with Earl Woods Snr, the father of the famed golfer in 1969.

According to her IMDb, Kultida’s parents divorced when she was a child. Kultida grew up with three other siblings. Kultida is of mixed ethnicity, with Chinese and Dutch origin, and is a Thai native but has lived in the United States for the majority of her life.

Tiger Woods’s mother, Kultida Woods worked as a social worker and a banker in the past. She also worked as a secretary in a Bangkok-based US Army headquarters. While speaking to ESPN, she said- “I live in U.S. 40 years now, in Thailand for only 25, In that way, I’m more American than Thai.”

Tiger Woods’s mother, Kultida Woods is a Buddhist

Like most Thai people, Tiger Woods’s mother, Kultida Woods grew up in a family whose method of worship was Buddhism. Hence, it does not come as a surprise that she still practices the religion. It is also not surprising that the professional golfer is also a practicing Buddhist, following in the footsteps of his mother.

Importantly, he has credited religion to be behind his success as a golfer. Apart from just raising her son as a Buddhist, Kultida Woods named him “Tont” to pacify her religion and Thai traditions.

How did Tiger Woods’ parents meet?

According to PEOPLE, Tiger’s mother, Kultida first met Earl Woods Snr as a young military officer of the United States Army in 1966 when he was stationed in Thailand where she also worked as a secretary. They got into a relationship soon and officially exchanged their vows and became husband and wife three years after they met in 1969 in Brooklyn, New York.

Tiger Woods was Afraid of his mother

The couple moved to Cypress, California where their son golf superstar Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods was born in 1975. In a two-part HBO documentary featuring home videos and archived audio fans got to catch a glimpse of their favorite golfer.

Although his father was a military man, the golfer revealed he was “deathly afraid of” his mother as a child. He told USA Today in 2017– “My dad may have been in the Special Forces, but I was never afraid of him. My mom’s still here and I’m still deathly afraid of her. She’s a very tough, tough old lady, very demanding. … I love her so much, but she was tough.“

Although Kultida Wood and Earl Woods remained and she always loved her husband till death, Earl cheated on her several times. It was because of this that she was very furious when she found out that Tiger Woods had been cheating on his wife, Elin Nordegren. More so, Kultida Woods had a close relationship with her former daughter-in-law.

It is a thing of joy to see couples keep to their marital vows and enjoy the ride of happiness ever after, through thick and thin they go through their marriage for better or worse and till death do them part. Although they both had their flaws Earl and Kultida Woods remained married until May 3, 2006, when Earl Woods died and his beloved wife Kultida Woods mourned the demise of the love of her life.

ALSO, READ; Royce Renee Woods, Tiger Woods’ sister

Tiger Woods’ father Earl was previously married to Barbara Gary on May 18, 1953, in Abilene, Kansas, but the couple split after 14 years. Earl Dennison Jr, Kevin Dale, and Royce Renee are the names of their three children.

Tiger Woods’s mother is behind his iconic red shirt

While talking to ESPN’s Marty Smith, the Golf champion recalled how his famous Red shirt came to be. “It goes back to my mom,” he told Smith, per his book Never Settle: Sports, Family, and the American Soul. “My mom says that my power color is red. And so, in junior golf I won a golf tournament wearing red. She said, ‘See I told you, red.’ “

To Test his mother’s theory, young Tiger wore a blue shirt to the next tournament and won. “I just kind of made fun of it,” he said of his mom’s superstition. “Poked at her a little bit.” Against his mother’s advice, Tiger wore blue to the next two tournaments and unfortunately lost. “[I] switched to red and I went on a hot streak. And, well, I kept it“. In 2009, the legendary golfer doubled down on Kultida’s advice on his website, noting, “You should always listen to your mom.”

Is Kultida Woods still alive?

Yes, she is still alive. Kultida Woods’ house is located in Jupiter, Florida, USA. Until now, she is barely known because she does not enjoy the spotlight and prefers to remain in the background. Though her late husband was mostly seen when he was alive, granting interviews surrounding his son and his son’s career, Kultida shies away from all of these and this is one trait she has come to be known for.

Kultida Woods also participates in philanthropic events with The Tiger Woods Foundation. Through her initiatives in this foundation, which her son owns, she has been able to assist the least fortunate. One of them is financially assisting students in her home country of Thailand to attend school.

She has also made several appearances on various shows. They include 2006: 60 Minutes, 2004: Tiger: The Authorized DVD Collection, 1997: Tiger Woods: Son, Hero & Champion, and 1992: CBS News Sunday Morning.