Somewhat earlier John McEnroe also went to Stanford. He of course was one of the top tennis players in the world when he started there. He did not finish largely because his tennis career got in the way.
The way that I look at it both Tiger Woods and John McEnroe were one of the very, very best in the world at what they did well. They got that way by a lot of hard work, some talent, and a strong commitment to their sport. They did not get some relative to pay a lot of money to get them in. They got in due to their own hard work and talent.
A different student might get into Stanford due to their hard work and talent as a mathematician and chess player.
We each do what we do. To get into Stanford whatever you do, you need to do it very, very well. Both Tiger Woods and John McEnroe did exactly this.