It’s easy to enjoy the success this week of Tiger Woods, Geoff Marsh and Ray O’Rourke. They cherished something far more than personal sporting glory in watching their sons and daughters excel.

With Christmas presents under their trees at home, there’s unlikely to be anything in wrapping paper quite like what they have just experienced.

It’s the perfect time of year to reflect on just what sons and daughters mean to us all because there’s a moment when their achievements mean far more than anything we might add to our own story.

It’s unlikely to be a “participation ribbon” but it could be that first acknowledgement of success in studies at school, being selected in the 14As for footy or an address with confidence in front of the whole school.

For everything Woods has achieved in golf over nearly 30 years, there have rarely been the unbridled public smiles and enjoyment that he showed in Florida last weekend.

He’s never going to be cartwheeling Tiger or skipping Tiger but there was a big, spontaneous, proud grin when 14-year-old son Charlie chipped in right in front of him.

They were playing in a father-and-son, mum-and-son and father-and-daughter event. There are some rubbish hashtags in sport but #CelebrateFamily isn’t one of them.

Woods enjoyed Charlie time on course together. At times, the young Woods looked liked he’d crammed a month of watching his famous dad’s mannerisms on the golf course into his own game.

He walked putts into the hole, he had a Tigeresque finish to one booming drive when it skipped through the green on a 293m par four and his practice range style was all mini-Tiger.

“It couldn’t have been more special for me,” said Woods, who had teenage daughter Sam acting as caddie. Every incarnation of Tiger down the years hasn’t been as appealing but family-man Tiger certainly was.

Across in Perth, we were celebrating Mitch Marsh. This is a second coming or rather a third or fourth coming that sits well we all who love sport.

A prodigious talent has finally found his way in a demanding sport by being himself…clubbing the ball with freedom, chipping in with a key wicket here and there and playing with fun in his face.

Those who watched Marsh score 90 and 63 not out with blasted fours and three sixes weren’t reminded in any way of his proud dad Geoff Marsh.

Even Mitch had a cheeky response when asked if he’d watched old highlights of his father play during Australia’s 1987 World Cup triumph in India which was the fuse for a turnaround in Australian cricket.

“Yeah. I’d fall asleep watching Dad bat,” Mitch said with tongue firmly embedded in his cheek.

It was different cricket back in the day. “Swampy” Marsh won great plaudits for his pluck in scoring 110 as an opener against England in the losing Ashes Test of late 1986 at the Gabba. His 110 took 392 minutes and 311 balls. Imagine the outcry today at such patience. Mitch would be 250 if he ever racked up that time at the crease in any game.

Mitch had another playful dig during his key role for Australia during the stunning World Cup campaign in India in November.

After scoring 121 against Pakistan in rapid time, he was asked what his father’s reaction might be.

“It would have taken him four days to get that many,” Marsh joked.

“My dad is a man of few words. He was very happy for us. And we always chat after every game. He was pumped.”

“Swampy” Marsh coached Australia to success but he also knew how important it was that it wasn’t the old man who coached his sons Mitch and Shaun at cricket once they were on the rise.

“They never listen to me,” he once quipped.

The first father and son to both win a World Cup in cricket is a unique honour to share. You can only imagine the pride within a father watching a son achieve his own dreams.

The banter is fine but there is a deep respect there as well. Take Max Crow, a favourite son of Essendon where he played for the majority of his 188 VFL games in the 1970s and ‘80s.

He is also the father of Kim Brennan (nee Crow) who you will remember as Australia’s impressive single sculls gold medallist from the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Max is a character and he had all the quips in the world until asked how fit his daughter was.

He would zero in and get serious: “No footballer I ever saw was ever as fit as my daughter.” Some helpful ruckman genes were passed on to his tall 1.88m daughter but he was in awe of her work ethic.

The father and son thing has some interesting dynamics in top sport.

I remember former England batsman-keeper Alec Stewart playing in Test sides under his father Micky, who was the team’s cricket manager in the late 1980s and early ‘90s.

It was always “morning manager” as a greeting in the breakfast room.

It’s a situation that Brisbane Bronco Billy Walters can easily relate to with father Kevin coaching the 2023 NRL grand finalists. He calls him “dad” at home but it’s “Kevvy” at training as it is for the rest of the players.

The AFL has long had one of the most endearing recruitment rules in sports. The father-son rule allows clubs a preferential access to the sons of past players. It is a powerful mechanism to retain history at clubs.

There were few more memorable moments in the Collingwood-Brisbane Lions grand final this year than Collingwood great Peter Moore presenting son and captain Darcy with the premiership trophy after the Magpies’ win at the MCG.

Few of us had heard of Ray O’Rourke until this week. The AFLW quite rightly has a father-daughter recruitment rule. His teenage daughter Bryde was picked up by his old club Geelong in this week’s draft.

O’Rourke played his two games for the Cats back in 1969 but the passing of years never dims club loyalty in that code.

“It was absolutely unreal to be quite honest…just a relief to see those blue and white bloody hoops she had on. I didn’t want her to go to any other club,” O’Rourke said as only a dad can.

Like Tiger or Geoff Marsh, this was one proud dad being thrilled as a spectator with the best view in the house.

Jim Tucker has specialised in sport, the wider impacts and features for most of his 40 years writing in the media.