Bramlett on a similar path to Tiger - ESPN article

Stanford junior All-American Joseph Bramlett is the subject of this article By Ron Kroichick
Special to ESPN.com
Feb 11, 2009
Dino Vournas/Getty Images

As a golf-consumed child growing up in Northern California, Joseph Bramlett openly admired Tiger Woods.

Joseph Bramlett drew attention at a young age. When Bramlett was 10, John Kennaday -- who was the Santa Clara golf coach at the time and now leads San Jose State -- offered him a scholarship to wherever he was coaching when he was ready for college.
Bramlett and his father, Marlo, traipsed around Stanford Golf Course when Joseph was 7 or 8 to watch Woods play in a college tournament. Not long thereafter, Bramlett plastered two posters of Woods on his bedroom wall, including one from the 1997 Masters.

But what separates Bramlett from other Woods fans is the road he has traveled and the parallels he shares with the world's top player. Bramlett also comes from a multiracial family and learned the game from a devoted, disciplined African-American father. Bramlett also defied his age, becoming the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Amateur, at age 14 in 2002, and helped his college team win the NCAA championship during his freshman season (something even Woods didn't pull off).

It's hardly coincidence Bramlett landed at Stanford. The school's academic prestige and proximity to his family's Saratoga, Calif., home were appealing, but it didn't hurt that Woods spent two years with the Cardinal before soaring into his otherworldly realm.

"Tiger has meant a lot to Joseph as a role model and pioneer," said John Kennaday, one of Bramlett's instructors during his younger days and now the coach at nearby San Jose State. "It's a good opportunity to follow in your hero's footsteps."
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