LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, FEBRUARY 10, 2006
 
THOUSAND OAKS � Orange County has a new part-time resident.

His name is Tiger Woods.

	Tiger Woods tours Tiger Woods Learning Center - LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER ©

During a rare one-on-one interview Tuesday at Sherwood Country Club, where he is the celebrity host and defending champion in this week's Target World Challenge, Woods confirmed he has purchased a home "close to mom and dad" where he and wife Elin stay when they visit Southern California throughout the year.

His primary residence remains Isleworth, the gated community outside of Orlando, Fla., in the other Orange County - but we all know that primarily is for tax purposes. It's obvious Woods' heart remains in this Orange County.

It's where Woods was born and raised, where he started his meteoric ascent toward becoming the world's top-ranked golfer and now, arguably, the most famous professional athlete on the planet.

This Orange County also is where the nonprofit organization bearing his name is based and through which he has chosen to give back to his first community by establishing a state-of-the-art educational center for underprivileged students that perhaps will become his legacy off the golf course.

The Tiger Woods Learning Center, a $25 million complex built on the site of the former driving range at H.G. "Dad" Miller Golf Course in Anaheim, will open its doors to selected local elementary and high school students next month, for after-school programs (grades 7-12) and daytime programs (grades 4-6).

Not surprising, Woods was eager to talk about the Learning Center during an interview conducted in the boardroom of the Sherwood clubhouse, seated at the end of a long conference table near a roaring fire that took the chill off from his morning practice round.

His eyes brightened while he discussed the Learning Center, and he laughed often while reminiscing about playing golf in Orange County.

To say Woods is proud and excited about the upcoming grand opening of the TWLC ... well, let's just say it felt like he had just won his 11th major during his most recent tour of the facility, accompanied by students from Brookhurst Jr. High and Savanna High who are in the pilot programs at the center.

"I got chills as we walked through," Woods said of the facility, which features seven classrooms with wireless Internet connections, a computer lab, a multimedia center, an auditorium for lectures and a cafe. "And the kids, to have them come there with all of us, it blew their minds, too.

"The Learning Center is a dream come true, because it's something I wanted to have happen ... and to create something that's actually beyond my own expectations is inspiring."

It's not a coincidence the center is located in Anaheim, because Woods is a graduate of Western High, which played its home golf matches at Dad Miller Golf Course against rivals such as Savanna, Magnolia and Valencia.

"I wanted a place in Southern California where I grew up, a place we could call home and give back to where it all started for me," he said. "None of this (his success) would ever have happened without the influence of some of my teachers and some of the people who influenced me here in Southern California.

"I didn't want to do it any other place, and we got lucky because the city of Anaheim got behind it and the people at Dad Miller wanted to have this happen."

The Learning Center is targeting students whom Woods calls "under-served," essentially high-potential youngsters who don't have the resources to pursue their dreams or tap their potential. There will be classrooms in after-school programs dedicated to engineering, communications and robotics, for example, and daytime programs for grade-schoolers dedicated to forensic science.

He laughed as he recalled the old, clunky computer he first used in seventh grade, compared with the state-of-art technology available at the center.

"It's unreal, to see how far they've come and what the kids have access to now," he said. "Now the kids will be designing their own programs, writing their own. It's so remarkable."

He said he was even more impressed after getting a chance to talk to some of the pilot-program students in October.

"To be able to sit there and talk to them and hear their focus and dedication, at such an early age, it was very impressive," he said, flashing his trademark ear-to-ear grin. "That's where my (enthusiasm) comes from. These are the kids we're going to have come through the program and then lead afterward and become mentors in their own right. ... They can strive toward whatever goal they want, but we want them ultimately to lead."

The Learning Center at Dad Miller also has a golf practice facility and par-3 course, but Woods emphasized the golf is merely a recreational opportunity for those who want to play.

"We're not a golf foundation; we're an educational foundation, based on trying to help the under-served," Woods said. "We're basically trying to get these kids to become productive citizens who become leaders ... so they can become mentors (for others) and create a better society for the future."

Who knows? The Learning Center might produce accomplished engineers and scientists someday. Or it might provide an opportunity for some scrawny youngster to develop his golf skills, the way it did for a bespectacled kid from Cypress named Eldrick who won almost every junior tournament in Southern California while setting local course records along the way.

I still think the greatest day of golf I've ever witnessed was the day during the 1996 Pac-10 Championships ...

"By far," Woods said, interrupting when he recognized the topic.

... when Woods shot 61 and 65 carrying his own Stanford golf bag in the 90-degree heat, en route to running away with medalist honors in the conference tournament at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach.

"It was my single best day of golf," said the winner of 46 PGA Tour events and 10 majors. "Made two bogeys and shot 18-under that day. ... It is the greatest 27 holes I've ever played, because I went out in 30-31-31 (during the first 27 of 36 holes). I was chipping in and holing out all over the place."

He laughed loudly.

"Not bad, huh?" he asked.

Not bad at all.

But it pales in comparison with the work he's doing through, and the millions he has donated to, the Tiger Woods Foundation. The Learning Center is a magnificent and magnanimous way for an Orange County resident, past and now present, to give back to his community.