When someone said the word "tiger," fifteen years ago, one would think of the animal, and its extreme ferociousness. However, since 1998, the word has brought on a new meaning, one of dedication, heart, and desire. The word now brings to mind the golfing phenomenon of Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods first picked up a golf club and gave it a swing when he was only nine months of age. He putted against Bob Hope on the "Mike Douglass Show" at age 2. Tiger shot a 48 for nine holes at the age of 9, which is better than most adult amateur players in the world. At the age of 15, Tiger became the youngest player to win the US Junior Amateur Championship for the first of three times; no other person has won the title twice. These are just some of Tiger's feats before he turned professional in 1996. Tiger has left his mark on many people across America, impressing people everyday with his ability and his drive. Tiger has brought golf back from its once boring image. A pop icon is someone who is not only admired by people, but also has an effect on the lifestyle. Tiger is a pop icon not only because of what he has accomplished, but also for the work and effort he has put into achieving these things. .
Through the years, Americans have picked people to follow, examples of leaders are, Babe Ruth, JFK and more recently Tiger Woods. People have rallied behind these icons and these icons have had a great effect on how our country has formed culturally. An icon is someone who not only gives to their discipline, such as politics or sports, but they also give to the society, and everyday people. Babe Ruth made baseball America's past time, he brought the game out of the dead-ball era, and transformed the game into the highly offensive slugfest that we know of as baseball. JFK took over the presidency in what I believe to be the third hardest time that a president had to deal with, behind only Lincoln and Washington.