The elder Woods helped fuel his son's rise to the top

	Earl Woods said the sky was the limit was for Tiger. AP

There's at least one thing I'm going to remember about Earl Woods: He wasn't wrong.

For a long time, Earl sounded like just another proud parent. All right, an outlandishly proud parent. Nothing wrong with that. Remember what he said after his son, Tiger, won a fourth consecutive major championship at the 2001 Masters? Asked how many majors in a row Tiger might win, Earl smiled and said matter-of-factly, "There's no limit. If he's injury-free, the sky's the limit."

Tiger is now at 10 major championships for his career and counting. No one thinks he is close to being done. Earl wasn't wrong. The sky's the limit.

And remember what Earl said in mid-2000, as Tiger's run was just starting? "I'm just waiting for him to mature physically," Earl said. "Maybe next year he'll be full grown. Then look out. He has so much room to improve."

Earl wasn't wrong.

The statements, the claims, the predictions -- they sounded as brash as a young Muhammad Ali. They smacked of vanity and boasting. In reality, Earl was simply ahead of the curve. He knew, better than anyone, just what his son was capable of. It wasn't a guess. He knew. It was as if Earl had somehow watched the future on television and had already seen what was coming.

There was no surprise when Tiger won his first Masters, in 1997. Earl acted as if he expected it. Probably because he did. He wasn't wrong.

Go back to Earl's most famous and even controversial statements. Sports Illustrated name Tiger its Sportsman of the Year in 1996, after Tiger won a record third straight U.S. Amateur, turned pro, got his first two PGA Tour wins and played his way into the season-ending Tour Championship. SI assigned Gary Smith to write the cover story, but Tiger, a national phenomenon who was besieged with requests and overwhelmed by the attention, gave him a grudgingly brief interview at his home that ended with Smith asking questions that Tiger ignored as he stared at ESPN on his television screen.

So Smith got time with Earl. Lots of time. Thus, by necessity, the story became one of Tiger as seen through Earl's eyes.

"Tiger will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity," Earl told him.

More impact than Nelson Mandela, Gandhi or Buddha? Smith brought those names up, not Earl, but the old man didn't hesitate in his answer.