With Tiger Woods turning the ripe old age of 40 on Wednesday, maybe the statute of limitations has passed for the NCAA to sanction his alma mater.
To honor Woods' 40th birthday, ESPN presented 40 facts about the famous and infamous golfer whose career is on hold as he attempts to recover from three back procedures in two years.
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No. 10 on the ESPN list -- "The College Choice" -- was of special interest to Woods' college suitors when he was attending Western High School in Anaheim, Calif.
Woods ended up at Stanford, although UNLV and Arizona State were high on his list, according to ESPN. Other schools that recruited him included Arizona, Florida, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, UCLA, USC and Wake Forest.
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But the factor that tipped the scales in Stanford's favor, ESPN reported, was the school's willingness to invent a field of study for him.
"Tiger was interested in majoring in accounting, something Stanford doesn't offer at the undergraduate level," ESPN indicated.
It quoted Woods as saying, "The dean, the athletic director and the business director said, 'We'll work with you. We'll create you a major.' I said, 'OK.'"
Stanford's reputation may make Tiger's assertion seem less seedy, but it's still a red flag in terms of a school's recruiting process of a student-athlete. The rules may have been different back in 1994 when Woods was being recruited.
For the record, the Cardinal finished second in the NCAA men's golf championship in 1995 -- his freshman season. He won the NCAA individual title as a sophomore in 1996, but the Cardinal finished fourth. ASU won the event, and UNLV finished second.
Woods left Stanford after his sophomore season, so his major theoretically did not matter.
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