I owe that to my mom. By the next afternoon in this new Year of the Ox, he was nothing if not strong as one. The Omega Tour, with its Asian professionals and foreign journeymen, was becoming conspicuous by its lack of resistance. By the weekend, though, Nobilo had caught on. He is transcendent megastar golfer, role model, one-man gate attraction, wealthy heartthrob, symbol of hope, youth and minority golf ambassador, media magnet, golf's liaison for racial harmony, perceived political tool and even subject of controversy regarding his multinational makeup.
Woods clearly is a favorite adopted son.
Cab drivers and street fruit vendors and farmers know his name. When Woods won his record third U.S. Amateur last August, Thai television aired the victory six times in a week. Yet Woods is the not the darling of all, as if anyone is. An Associated Press writer in Bangkok, Robert Horn, asked five Thai women on the street if they think Woods is cute, and all five said no, that he's too dark. Several newspaper letters to the editor, decrying the government's preferential treatment of a half-Thai visitor over local citizens, bear that out.