Tiger Woods

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Eldrick "Tiger" Woods

Personal Information
Birth	December 30, 1975 (age 31) Cypress, California
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Nationality	United States
Spouse	Elin Nordegren (2004–present)
Residence	Orlando, Florida
College	Stanford University (for two years)
Career
Turned Pro	1996
Current tour	PGA Tour (joined 1996)
Professional wins	78 (PGA Tour: 56, other individual: 20, 2-man team: 2)
Major Championship results Wins: 12
Masters	Won 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005
U.S. Open	Won 2000, 2002
British Open	Won 2000, 2005, 2006
PGA Championship	Won 1999, 2000, 2006
Awards
Rookie of the Year	1996
PGA Tour Money Winner	1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006
PGA Tour Player of the Year	1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
Vardon Trophy	1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005
Byron Nelson Award	1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
Mark H. McCormack Award	1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

Eldrick "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975 in Cypress, California) is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Currently the World No. 1, Woods was the highest paid professional athlete in 2005, having earned an estimated $87 million.^[1] In 2006, at the age of 30, he won his eleventh and twelfth professional major golf championships^[2] and has more wins on the PGA Tour than any other active golfer. He is the only active golfer currently in the top 10 in either career major wins (2nd) or career PGA Tour wins (5th).

Among his achievements, Woods has held the number one position in the world rankings for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks. He has been awarded PGA Tour Player of the Year for a record eight times, and he has led the money list seven times (one behind Jack Nicklaus' record). He has been named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year four times, a record he shares with Lance Armstrong.

Woods, who is multiracial, is credited with prompting a major surge of interest in the game of golf among minorities and young people in the United States.^[3]

Contents 1 Background and family 1.1 Marriage 2 Career 2.1 Early life and amateur career 2.2 Professional career 3 Playing style 4 Major championships 4.1 Wins (12) 4.2 Records and trivia 4.3 Results timeline 5 World Golf Championships 5.1 Wins (13) 5.1.1 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship (2) 5.1.2 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (5) 5.1.3 WGC-CA Championship (6) 5.2 Performance summary 5.3 Records and trivia 6 Awards 7 PGA Tour career summary 8 PGA Tour wins (56) 8.1 PGA Tour playoff record (10-1) 9 Other professional wins (22) 10 United States national team appearances 11 In the bag 11.1 Frank 12 Other ventures 12.1 Charity and youth projects 12.2 Golf course design 12.3 Hobbies 12.4 Endorsements 13 Controversy 13.1 Cut streak 13.2 Tiger-proofing 14 See also 15 Notes 16 References 17 External links

Background and family

Woods' father, Earl Woods, was a Vietnam War veteran and a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, and was of mixed African American (50 percent), Chinese (25 percent) and Native American (25 percent) ancestry. He was the chairman of his son's charitable foundation (the Tiger Woods Foundation) before his death at age 74 on May 3, 2006, following a lengthy battle with prostate cancer (see section Charity and youth projects below). Woods' mother, Kultida Woods, is originally from Thailand, and is of mixed Thai (50 percent), Chinese (25 percent), and Dutch (25 percent) ancestry. This makes Woods himself one-quarter Chinese, one-quarter Thai, one-quarter African, one-eighth Native American, and one-eighth Dutch.^[4] He affably refers to his ethnic make-up as Cablinasian (a portmanteau of Caucasian, Black, American-Indian, and Asian), a term he coined himself.

Born Eldrick Woods in Cypress, California, he was nicknamed “Tiger” after Vuong Dang Phong, a Vietnamese friend of his father’s, who served with him in Vietnam. Woods became generally known by that name and by the time he had achieved national prominence in junior and amateur golf was simply known as "Tiger Woods." He grew up in the Los Angeles area, attending high school at Western High in Anaheim.^[5]

Woods was the only child of Earl and Kultida's marriage, but he does have two half-brothers, Earl Jr. (b. 1955) and Kevin (b. 1957), and one half-sister, Royce (b. 1958) from the 18-year marriage of Earl Woods and his first wife, Barbara Woods Gray. Earl Junior's daughter Cheyenne Woods (b. 1991),^[6] Woods' niece, is also a golfer and had received some coaching from Earl Sr.

Tiger's life was profiled in the 1998 Showtime original movie, The Tiger Woods Story, which featured highlights of his upbringing over the background story of his 1997 Masters win. Tiger was played by Khalil Kain. The movie was directed by LeVar Burton.

Marriage

In November 2003, Woods became engaged to Elin Nordegren, a Swedish model. They were introduced by Swedish golf star Jesper Parnevik, who had employed her as a nanny, during The Open Championship in 2001. They married on October 5, 2004 and live at Isleworth, a community in Windermere, a suburb of Orlando, Florida. They also have homes in Jackson, Wyoming, California, and Sweden.. In January 2006, Woods and his wife purchased a US$39 million residential property in Jupiter Island, Florida, which they intend to make their primary residence.^[7] Woods' Jupiter Island neighbors will include fellow golfers Gary Player, Greg Norman and Nick Price, as well as singers Celine Dion and Alan Jackson.

Tiger and Elin are expecting their first child in the summer of 2007.^[8][9][10] In late January 2007, Woods admitted that he would miss The Open Championship at Carnoustie if it coincides with the birth.^[11]

Career

Early life and amateur career

Woods was a child prodigy who began to play golf at the age of two. In 1978, he putted against comedian Bob Hope in a television appearance on The Mike Douglas Show. At age three, Woods shot a 48 over nine holes at the Navy Golf Club in Cypress, California, and at age five, he appeared in Golf Digest and on ABC's That's Incredible.^[12] In 1984, he won the 9–10 boys' event at the Junior World Golf Championships. He was only eight years old at the time, but 9–10 was the youngest age group available. Woods went on to win the Junior World Championships six times, including four consecutive wins from 1988 to 1991. Also in 1991, at the age of 15, he became the youngest U.S. Junior Amateur Champion in golf history. He was voted Southern California Amateur Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, and Golf Digest Amateur Player of the Year. In 1992, he successfully defended his title at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, and competed in his first PGA Tour event, the Nissan Los Angeles Open. The following year, he won his third consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, and remains the event's youngest-ever and only multiple winner. In 1994, Woods became the youngest ever winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship. He was a member of the American team at the 1994 World Amateur Golf Team Championships. Later that year, he enrolled at Stanford University, and won his first collegiate event, the William Tucker Invitational. In 1995, Woods defended his U.S. Amateur title, and was voted Pac-10 Player of the Year, NCAA First Team All-American, and Stanford's Male Freshman of the Year (an award that encompasses all sports).^[13] He participated in his first PGA Tour major, The Masters, and tied for 41st as the only amateur to make the cut. At age 20 in 1996, Woods became the first golfer in history to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles. That year he won the NCAA individual golf championship, and tied the British Open record for an amateur with an aggregate score of 281. He left college after two years to become a professional golfer.

Professional career

With the announcement, "Hello World,"^[14] Tiger Woods became a professional golfer in August 1996, and immediately signed endorsement deals worth $40 million from Nike and $20 million from Titleist. He played his first round of professional golf at the Greater Milwaukee Open. He tied for 60th place in his pro debut, but would go on to win two events in the next three months, and qualify for the Tour Championship. Woods was named 1996's "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated for the impact he had on the game of golf, and PGA Rookie of the Year by the PGA Tour. He is the only golfer to win the PGA Player of the Year award in the year following his rookie season.^[15] The following April, Woods won his first golf major, The Masters, by a record margin of 12 strokes, became the youngest Masters winner, and the first winner of African or Asian descent. He set a total of 20 Masters records and tied 6 others, and has been the highest-profile golfer in the world ever since. He would go on to win an additional three PGA Tour events that year, and on June 15, 1997,^[16] Woods rose to the number one spot in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time. He achieved this in only his 42nd week as a professional — the fastest ever ascent to the No. 1 ranking.

While expectations for Woods were high, Woods' form began to fade in the second half of 1997, and in 1998 he only won one PGA Tour event. Woods answered the critics of his "slump" and what seemed to be his wavering form by maintaining that he was undergoing extensive swing changes with his coach, Butch Harmon,^[17] and was hoping to do better in the future.

In June 1999, Woods won the Memorial Tournament, a victory that marked the beginning of perhaps one of the greatest sustained periods of dominance in the history of men's golf. He would go on to win seventeen PGA Tour events in the two calendar years that followed, and 32 in the next five, achievements that had not been rivaled in several decades. He completed his 1999 campaign by winning his last four starts, and finishing the season with eight wins — a feat that had not been achieved in the past 25 years. He was voted PGA Tour Player of the Year and Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the second time in three years. Also in late 1999, Woods embarked on a record-setting streak of 264 consecutive weeks atop the Official World Golf Rankings. He has been number one in the rankings more weeks than anyone. During the run, Woods won seven out of the eleven major championships, starting with the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah Country Club and culminating with the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. Woods broke Old Tom Morris's record for the largest victory margin ever in a major championship, which had stood since 1862, with his 15-shot win in the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

Woods rang in the new millennium with his fifth consecutive victory and began what would be a record-setting season, where he would win three consecutive majors, 9 PGA Tour events, and set or tie 27 Tour records. He went on to capture his sixth consecutive victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with a comeback for the ages. Trailing by seven strokes with seven holes to play, Woods finished eagle-birdie-par-birdie for a 64 and a two-stroke victory. His six consecutive wins were the most since Hogan in 1948 and only five behind Byron Nelson’s record of 11 in a row. In the 2000 U.S. Open, Woods broke or tied a total of nine U.S. Open records, and became the Tour's all-time career money leader. In the 2000 Open Championship at St Andrews, which he won by eight strokes, Woods set the record for lowest score to par (−19) in any major tournament, and he holds at least a share of that record in all four major championships. With this victory, he became the youngest golfer to achieve the Career Grand Slam, at the age of 24. His major championship streak was seriously threatened at the 2000 PGA Championship, however, when Bob May went head-to-head with Woods on Sunday at Valhalla in Louisville, matching Woods stroke-for-stroke. Woods only escaped with a victory after winning a three-hole playoff, with a heart-pumping birdie on the first hole and pars on the next two. He joined Ben Hogan (1953) as the only other player to win three professional majors in one season. Three weeks later, Woods won his third straight start on Tour at the Bell Canadian Open, becoming only the second man (Lee Trevino in 1971) to win the three national "Opens" (U.S., British, and Canadian) in one year. Of the twenty events he entered in 2000, he finished in the top three an impressive 14 times. His adjusted scoring average of 67.79 in 2000 was the lowest in PGA Tour history, lower than his 68.43 average in 1999. His actual scoring average of 68.17 in 2000 was the lowest in PGA Tour history, besting Byron Nelson's 68.33 average in 1945.

The following season, Woods continued dominating: his 2001 Masters win marked the only time — within the era of the modern "grand slam" — that any player has been the holder of all four major championship titles at the same time. This feat has become known as the "Tiger Slam". Woods was surprisingly not a factor in the three remaining majors of the year, but still finished with the most PGA Tour wins in the season, with five. In 2002, Woods started off strong once again, joining Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) as the only men to have won The Masters in back-to-back seasons. Two months later, Woods was the only player under par at the U.S. Open, and resurrected buzz about the calendar Grand Slam, which had eluded him in 2000. All eyes were on Woods at the Open Championship, but his third round score of 81 ended all hope. At the PGA, Woods nearly repeated his 2000 feat of winning three majors in one year, but bogeys at the 13th and 14th holes in the final round cost him the championship by one stroke. Nonetheless, he took home the money title, Vardon Trophy, and Player of the Year honors for the fourth year in a row.

The next phase of Woods' career saw him remain among the top competitors on the tour, but lose his dominating edge. He did not win a major in 2003 or 2004, falling to second in the PGA Tour money list in 2003 and fourth in 2004. In September 2004, Woods' record streak as the world's top-ranked golfer came to an end at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Massachusetts, when Vijay Singh won the tournament and overtook Woods in the rankings. Even though no one has held the number one ranking for more total weeks than Woods, many commentators were puzzled by Woods' "slump," offering explanations that ranged from Woods' rift with swing coach Butch Harmon to his recent marriage to Elin Nordegren. At the same time, Woods let it be known that he was once again working on changes to his swing — this time in hopes of reducing the wear and tear on his surgically-repaired left knee, which was subjected to severe stress in the 1998–2003 version of his swing.^[18][19] Again, Woods anticipated that once the adjustments were complete, he would return to his previous form.

In the 2005 PGA Tour season, Woods quickly returned to his winning ways. He won the Buick Invitational on January 23, 2005 and on March 6, 2005 he outplayed Phil Mickelson to win the Ford Championship at Doral, and returned to the Official World Golf Rankings' number one position in the process (though Singh displaced him once again two weeks later). On April 10, 2005, Woods finally broke his "drought" in the majors by winning the 2005 Masters in a tie-breaking playoff (after holing a historic chip-in on the 16th hole), which also assured him the number one spot in the World Rankings again. Singh and Woods swapped the number 1 position several times over the next couple of months, but by early July, Woods had established a substantial advantage, propelled further by a victory in the Open Championship, a win that also gave him his 10th major. Woods went on to win six official money events on the PGA Tour in 2005, topping the money list for the sixth time in his career. Woods' 2005 wins also included two at the World Golf Championships.

For Woods, the year 2006 was markedly different from 2005. While he began just as dominantly (winning the first two tournaments he entered on the year) and was in the hunt for his fifth Masters championship in April, Woods surprisingly never mounted a Sunday charge to defend his title at Augusta, allowing Phil Mickelson to claim the green jacket. Shortly thereafter (May 3, 2006), Woods' father/mentor/inspiration, Earl, died after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. The loss was devastating to Woods, who took a nine-week-long hiatus from the PGA Tour to be with his family in the wake of Earl's death. When he finally returned for the 2006 U.S. Open, the rust was evident — he would eventually miss the cut at Winged Foot, the first time he had failed to qualify for the weekend at a major in his professional career, and thereby ending his record-tying streak of 39 consecutive cuts made at major championships. However, a tie for second at the Western Open just three weeks later went a long way toward silencing doubts about his game, and Woods seemed poised to defend his Open crown at Hoylake despite his grief. At the Open Championship, Woods would stage a tour de force in successful course management, putting, and accuracy with irons. Using almost exclusively long irons off the tee (he hit driver only one time the entire week — the 16th hole of the first round), Woods missed just four fairways all week (hitting the fairway 86 percent of the time), and his score of −18 to par (three eagles, 19 birdies, 43 pars, and only seven bogeys) was just one off of his major championship record −19, set at St Andrews in 2000. The victory was an emotional one for Woods, who dedicated his play to his father's memory. Four weeks later, at the PGA Championship, Woods once again won in dominating fashion. He finished the tournament at −18 to par and added more records to his already-impressive résumé, equaling the to-par record in the PGA that he shares with Bob May. Woods holds at least a share of the scoring record in relation to par in all four majors, and also holds the margin of victory record in two majors, The Masters and the U.S. Open. (Old Tom Morris holds this record in the The Open Championship, and Nicklaus in the PGA Championship.) In August 2006 he won his 50th professional tournament at the Buick Open, and at 30 years and 7 months old, became the youngest to the 50-win mark. He ended the year by winning his last six PGA Tour events, and won the 3 most prestigious awards given by the PGA Tour (Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Byron Nelson Awards) in the same year for a record seventh time.

Woods stormed into 2007 with a two-stroke victory at the Buick Invitational for his third straight win at the event and his seventh consecutive win on the PGA Tour. The victory marked the fifth time he has won his first tournament of the season. With this win, he became the third man (after Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead) to win at least five times in three different events on the PGA Tour (his two other events are the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and WGC-CA Championship). Woods earned his second victory of the year at the WGC-CA Championship for his third consecutive win at the event and 13th official World Golf Championships event. He also became the first player to three-peat in five different events.

As of March 2007, Woods has won 56 official money events on the PGA Tour. At the close of his first eleven seasons, Tiger's 54 wins and 12 major wins had eclipsed the all time eleven-season PGA Tour total win record of 52 (set by Byron Nelson) and total majors record of 11 (set by Jack Nicklaus). He also has 20 other individual professional titles, and two team titles in the two-man WGC-World Cup. With his victory at the 2006 WGC-American Express Championship, he became the first player in PGA Tour history to win at least eight times in three seasons. His victory in the Buick Invitational on January 28, 2007 placed him 2nd for the longest PGA Tour win streak at 7 straight. Only Byron Nelson's streak of 11 wins in 1945 is longer. He has successfully defended a title 18 times on the PGA Tour, has finished runner-up 20 times, and has won 27% (56 out of 204) of his professional starts on the PGA Tour. He has a 27-6 record when leading after 36 holes in Tour events, and a 39–3 record when leading after 54 holes. He owns the lowest career scoring average and the most career earnings of any player in PGA Tour history. He has been the PGA Tour Money Winner seven times, trailing Jack Nicklaus by one, the PGA Player of the Year a record eight times, the Vardon Trophy winner a record six times, and the Byron Nelson Award winner a record seven times. Woods is one of five players (along with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player) to have won all four professional major championships in his career, known as the "Career Grand Slam", and was the youngest to do so. Bobby Jones won all four of what were in his era considered major championships. With Woods's win in the 2005 Open Championship, he became only the second golfer (after Nicklaus) to have won all four majors more than once. At the 2003 TOUR Championship, it was widely reported in the print media that he set "an all-time record for most consecutive cuts", starting in 1998, with 114 (passing Byron Nelson's previous record of 113) and that he extended this mark to 142 before it ended on May 13, 2005 at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship.^[20] Many^{[21][22][23][24]} consider this to be one of the most remarkable golf accomplishments of all time, given the margin by which he broke the old record (and against stronger fields in terms of depth than those in Nelson's day)^[25][26][27] and given that during the streak, the next longest streak by any other player was usually only in the 10s or 20s.

When Woods turned pro, Mike "Fluff" Cowan was his caddie until March 8, 1999.^[28] He was replaced by Steve Williams, who has become a close friend of Woods and is often credited with helping Woods with key shots and putts.^[29].

Playing style

When Woods burst onto the professional golf scene in 1996, one of the things that made the biggest impact with fans was his long driving. However, when he did not upgrade his equipment in the following years (insisting upon the use of True Temper Dynamic Gold steel-shafted clubs and smaller steel clubheads that promoted accuracy over distance), many opponents caught up to him, a trend that became all too obvious during the 2002–2003 PGA Tour seasons — Phil Mickelson would even make a joke in 2003 about Woods using "inferior equipment", which did not sit well with either Nike or Woods. During 2004, Woods finally upgraded his driver technology to a larger clubhead and graphite shaft, which coupled with his prodigious clubhead speed to make him one of the Tour's lengthier players off the tee once again.

Despite his power advantage, Woods has always focused on developing an excellent all-around game. Although in recent years he has typically been near the bottom of the Tour rankings in driving accuracy,^[30] his iron play is generally as accurate as any player ever to play (including Jack Nicklaus), his recovery and bunker play is often brilliant (for example, his miraculous 30-foot chip-in at Augusta's 16th during the 2005 Masters), and his putting (especially under pressure) is possibly his greatest asset. He is largely responsible for a shift to higher standards of athleticism amongst professional golfers, and is known for putting in more hours of practice than most.^{[citation needed]}

Early in his professional career, Woods worked almost exclusively with leading swing coach Butch Harmon, but since March 2004, he has been coached by Hank Haney. In June 2004, Woods was involved in a media spat with Harmon, who also works as a golf broadcaster, when Harmon suggested that he was in "denial" about the problems in his game, but they publicly patched up their differences.

While he is considered one of the most charismatic figures in golf's history, Woods' approach is, at its core, cautious. He aims for consistency. Although he is better than any other Tour player when he is in top form, his dominance comes not from regularly posting extremely low rounds, but instead from avoiding bad rounds. To illustrate, the standard deviations of Woods' 18-hole scores are typically lower than those of most Tour players.^{[citation needed]} Woods plays fewer tournaments than most professionals (15–21 per year, compared to the typical 25–30), and focuses his efforts on preparing for (and peaking at) the Majors and the most prestigious of the other tournaments. Woods' manner off of the course is cautious as well, as he carries himself in interviews and public appearances with a carefully controlled demeanor reminiscent of the corporate athlete persona developed between Nike and Michael Jordan. One of the few breaches of Woods' fan-friendly image occurred during the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, on the 18th tee in the second round. Using a driver, Woods snap-hooked his tee shot into the Pacific Ocean, then let loose with a stream of expletives that NBC's microphones broadcast live. The USGA received several calls from offended viewers, and Woods quickly apologized.

Though he is known to be extremely focused and almost machine-like during tournaments, many golfers have mentioned how Woods is easy to get along with and has a good sense of humor. John Daly mentioned in his autobiography that "Tiger Woods is one of my favorite golfers to play with. The kid is an absolute riot and is just hysterical. Everyone who thinks he is just robotic during tournaments needs to walk 18 holes with him to realize how funny and genuine of a guy he really is."

Major championships

Wins (12)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runners Up
1997	The Masters	9 shot lead	-18 (70-66-65-69=270)	12 strokes	Tom Kite
1999	PGA Championship	Tied for lead	-11 (70-67-68-72=277)	1 stroke	Sergio García
2000	U.S. Open	10 shot lead	-12 (65-69-71-67=272)	15 strokes	Ernie Els, Miguel Angel Jiménez
2000	The Open Championship	6 shot lead	-19 (67-66-67-69=269)	8 strokes	Thomas Bjørn, Ernie Els
2000	PGA Championship (2)	1 shot lead	-18 (66-67-70-67=270)	Playoff 1	Bob May
2001	The Masters (2)	1 shot lead	-16 (70-66-68-68=272)	2 strokes	David Duval
2002	The Masters (3)	Tied for lead	-12 (70-69-66-71=276)	3 strokes	Retief Goosen
2002	U.S. Open (2)	4 shot lead	-3 (67-68-70-72=277)	3 strokes	Phil Mickelson
2005	The Masters (4)	3 shot lead	-12 (74-66-65-71=276)	Playoff 2	Chris DiMarco
2005	The Open Championship (2)	2 shot lead	-14 (66-67-71-70=274)	5 strokes	Colin Montgomerie
2006	The Open Championship (3)	1 shot lead	-18 (67-65-71-67=270)	2 strokes	Chris DiMarco
2006	PGA Championship (3)	Tied for lead	-18 (69-68-65-68=270)	5 strokes	Shaun Micheel

¹ Defeated Bob May in three-hole playoff by 1 stroke: Woods (3-4-5=12), May (4-4-5=13)
² Defeated Chris DiMarco with birdie on first extra hole

Records and trivia

Woods always wears a red (or, more recently, red-pink) shirt on the final round (usually on Sundays) of every tournament in which he plays, as he believes the color red symbolizes aggression and assertiveness. ^[31]

In all of his major victories, he has had the outright lead or a share of the lead after the third round.

Woods also won the Silver Medal as leading amateur at The Open Championship in 1996 before he turned professional.

After his victory in the 2000 PGA Championship, Tiger Woods became only the second player in professional golfing history to hold three majors in the same year at the same time. This matched Ben Hogan's feat in 1953.

With his victory in The Masters in 2001, Woods became the only player ever to hold all four professional majors at once (although this did not occur in a calendar year, and is therefore not considered a true Grand Slam). The achievement has been nicknamed "The Tiger Slam".

Tiger Woods and Lee Trevino have been the only two players to have captured the Triple Crown of Golf (U.S., British, and Canadian Opens in one year.)

In the 2006 PGA Championship, Woods made only three bogeys, tying the record for fewest bogeys in a major.

Woods holds at least a share of the record for lowest 72-hole score in relation to par in all four majors, and at least a share of the low-72 holes record in two of them. Note that the "to par" and "low 72-holes" records are not always the same because, while most championship golf courses have a par of 72, or 288 for four rounds, some have a par of 71 or 70:

• The Masters: −18 (270), 1997 (outright to-par and low 72 holes record)
• U.S. Open: −12 (272), 2000 (outright to par record)
  • Woods shares the low 72-holes record with Jack Nicklaus, Lee Janzen, and Jim Furyk.
• The Open Championship: −19 (269), 2000 (outright to-par record)
  • Greg Norman holds the low 72-holes record at 267.
• PGA Championship: −18 (270), 2000; −18 (270), 2006 (to-par record shared with Bob May)
  • David Toms holds the low 72-holes record at 265.

The above performances have also given him the record for victory margin in two majors:

• The Masters: 12 strokes, 1997
• U.S. Open: 15 strokes, 2000 (record for all majors)

Woods is the only player to have won multiple professional majors in consecutive years, 2005 and 2006. Bobby Jones won multiple majors in consecutive years in 1926 and 1927 ^[32], when the U.S. Amateur and the British Amateur were both considered majors.^[33]

Woods has won two or more majors in a year four times. He trails only Nicklaus, who won two majors in a season five times (1963, '66, '72, '75 and '80).^[34][35]

Woods is one of the few players to have finished in the Top 5 in all four majors in a year. He has done this twice, first in 2000 and then in 2005.

Woods and Bobby Jones are the only golfers to have won 10 majors before the age of 30. Jones achieved 13 major victories in 21 attempts,^[36] making his winning percentage 62 percent, while Woods achieved 10 wins in 44 attempts for a winning ratio of 23 percent. When Woods' three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur wins and three consecutive U.S. Amateur wins are included, Woods can be said to have won 16 'majors' before age 30 in 50 attempts for a winning ratio of 32 percent.

Results timeline

Tournament	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Masters	T41 LA	CUT	1	T8	T18
U.S. Open	WD	T82	T19	T18	T3
The Open Championship	T68	T22 LA	T24	3	T7
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	T29	T10	1

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The Masters	5	1	1	T15	T22	1	T3
U.S. Open	1	T12	1	T20	T17	2	CUT
The Open Championship	1	T25	T28	T4	T9	1	1
PGA Championship	1	T29	2	T39	T24	T4	1

LA = Low Amateur
DNP = did not play
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
Summary of major championship performances:

• Starts – 46
• Wins – 12
• 2nd place finishes – 2
• Top 3 finishes – 17
• Top 5 finishes – 20
• Top 10 finishes – 24
• Longest streak of top-10s in majors – 8

World Golf Championships

Wins (13)

WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship (2)

2003 Round Opponent Score One Carl Pettersson 2 & 1 Two K.J. Choi 5 & 3 Three Stephen Leaney 7 & 6 Quarter-finals Scott Hoch 5 & 4 Semi-finals Adam Scott 19 holes Finals David Toms 2 & 1

2004 Round Opponent Score One John Rollins 1 up Two Trevor Immelman 5 & 4 Three Fredrik Jacobson 5 & 4 Quarter-finals Padraig Harrington 2 & 1 Semi-finals Stephen Leaney 2 & 1 Finals Davis Love III 3 & 2

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (5)

Year	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runners Up
1999	5 shot lead	-10 (66-71-62-71=270)	1 stroke	Phil Mickelson
2000	9 shot lead	-21 (64-61-67-67=259)	11 strokes	Justin Leonard, Phillip Price
2001	2 shot deficit	-12 (66-67-66-69=268)	Playoff	Jim Furyk
2005	Tied for lead	-6 (66-70-67-71=274)	1 stroke	Chris DiMarco
2006	1 shot deficit	-10 (67-64-71-68=270)	Playoff	Stewart Cink

WGC-CA Championship (6)

Year	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runners Up
1999	1 shot deficit	-6 (71-69-70-68=278)	Playoff	Miguel Angel Jiménez
2002	5 shot lead	-25 (65-65-67-66=263)	1 stroke	Retief Goosen
2003	2 shot lead	-6 (67-66-69-72=274)	2 strokes	Stuart Appleby, Tim Herron, Vijay Singh
2005	2 shot deficit	-10 (67-68-68-67=270)	Playoff	John Daly
2006	6 shot lead	-23 (63-64-67-67=261)	8 strokes	Ian Poulter, Adam Scott
2007	4 shot lead	-10 (71-66-68-73=278)	2 strokes	Brett Wetterich

Performance summary

Tournament	Starts	Top-10s	Victories	Earnings ($)
Accenture Match Play	8	6	2	3,267,500
NEC/Bridgestone Invitational	8	8	5	6,602,500
American Express/CA	8	8	6	7,312,500
Totals	24	22	13	17,182,500

Records and trivia

• Has won at least one World Golf Championships event every year since they began in 1999
• Has won 13 out of 24 total appearances, for an incredible 54% winning rate
• Only player in WGC history to enter the final round outside the lead and come back to win
• All time money leader in World Golf Championships events ($17,182,500)
• All time wins leader in World Golf Championships events (13)
• Won the WGC-World Cup with David Duval in 2000, an unofficial money WGC event, for a total of 14 World Golf Championships titles.

Bridgestone Invitational

• Lowest 18-hole total – 61 (tied with José María Olazábal)
• Lowest 36-hole total – 125
• Lowest 54-hole total – 192
• Lowest 72-hole total – 259
• Largest margin of victory – 11 strokes
• Only player to record top-10 finishes in each appearances
• Only player to record top-5 finishes in each appearance

Note: All Bridgestone Invitational records were set in 2000, when the tournament was known as the NEC Invitational

CA Championship

• Lowest first 18-hole total 63 set the course record at The Grove
• Tied lowest first 18-hole total – 63
• Lowest 36-hole total – 127
• Largest 36-hole lead – 5 strokes
• Lowest 54-hole total – 194
• Largest 54-hole lead – 6 strokes
• Lowest 72-hole total – 261
• Largest margin of victory – 8 strokes

Note: All CA Championship records were set in 2006, when the tournament was known as the American Express Championship^[37][38]

Awards

1990 1st Team - Rolex Junior All-American Southern California Player of the Year 1991 1st Team - Rolex Junior All-American (2) American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year Golf Digest Amateur Player of the Year GolfWeek National Amateur of the Year Southern California Player of the Year (2) 1992 1st Team - Rolex Junior All-American (3) American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year (2) Golf Digest Amateur Player of the Year (2) GolfWeek National Amateur of the Year (2) Southern California Player of the Year (3) Golf World Player of the Year 1993 1st Team - Rolex Junior All-American (4) Southern California Player of the Year (4) Golf World Player of the Year (2) 1994 Golf World Man of the Year L.A. Times Player of the Year Orange County Player of the Year 1995 Pac-10 Player of the Year NCAA First Team All-American GolfWeek Preseason First Team All-American for 1995-96 Stanford University's Male Freshman of the Year 1996 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Sports Illustrated "Sportsman of the Year" Stanford University Collegiate Player of the Year 1997 PGA Tour Player of the Year PGA Tour Money Winner ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year Golf Writers Association of America Player of the Year Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year 1998 Mark H. McCormack Award ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete (for 1997) 1999 PGA Tour Player of the Year (2) PGA Tour Money Winner (2) Vardon Trophy Byron Nelson Award Mark H. McCormack Award (2) Golf Writers Association of America Player of the Year (2) Anderson Consulting Medal for best performance in WGC events Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year (2)

2000 PGA Tour Player of the Year (3) PGA Tour Money Winner (3) Vardon Trophy (2) Byron Nelson Award (2) Mark H. McCormack Award (3) Laureus World Sports Awards (for 1999) Sports Illustrated "Sportsman of the Year" (2) BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete (for 1999) (2) ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year (2) Golf Writers Association of America Player of the Year (3) Royal Canadian Golf Association Triple Crown Trophy Palm Performance Award as leading money winner on TOUR West Coast Swing PricewaterhouseCoopers Fall Finish Award as leading money winner on TOUR's fall schedule Anderson Consulting Medal for best performance in WGC events (2) Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year (3) 2001 PGA Tour Player of the Year (4) PGA Tour Money Winner (4) Vardon Trophy (3) Byron Nelson Award (3) Mark H. McCormack Award (4) Laureus World Sports Awards (for 2000) (2) ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete (for 2000) (3) 2002 PGA Tour Player of the Year (5) PGA Tour Money Winner (5) Vardon Trophy (4) Byron Nelson Award (4) Mark H. McCormack Award (5) ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete (for 2001) (4) 2003 PGA Tour Player of the Year (6) Vardon Trophy (5) Byron Nelson Award (5) Mark H. McCormack Award (6) 2004 Mark H. McCormack Award (7) 2005 PGA Tour Player of the Year (7) PGA Tour Money Winner (6) Vardon Trophy (6) Byron Nelson Award (6) Mark H. McCormack Award (8) 2006 PGA Tour Player of the Year (8) PGA Tour Money Winner (7) Byron Nelson Award (7) Mark H. McCormack Award (9) Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year (4)

PGA Tour career summary

Year	Wins (Majors)	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
1996	2 (0)	790,594	24
1997	4 (1)	2,066,833	1
1998	1 (0)	1,841,117	4
1999	8 (1)	6,616,585	1
2000	9 (3)	9,188,321	1
2001	5 (1)	6,687,777	1
2002	5 (2)	6,912,625	1
2003	5 (0)	6,673,413	2
2004	1 (0)	5,365,472	4
2005	6 (2)	10,628,024	1
2006	8 (2)	9,941,563	1
2007*	2 (0)	2,467,058
Career*	56 (12)	68,179,382	1

* Complete through the WGC-CA Championship on March 25, 2007.

PGA Tour wins (56)

Legend Major Championship (12) World Golf Championship (13) Other PGA Tour (31)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runners up
1.	Oct. 6, 1996	Las Vegas Invitational	-27 (70-63-68-67-64=332)	Playoff	Davis Love III
2.	Oct. 20, 1996	Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic	-21 (69-63-69-66=267)	1 stroke	Payne Stewart
3.	Jan. 12, 1997	Mercedes Championships	-14 (70-67-65=202)	Playoff	Tom Lehman
4.	Apr. 13, 1997	The Masters	-18 (70-66-65-69=270)	12 strokes	Tom Kite
5.	May 18, 1997	GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic	-17 (64-64-67-68=263)	2 strokes	Lee Rinker
6.	Jul. 6, 1997	Motorola Western Open	-13 (67-72-68-68=275)	3 strokes	Frank Nobilo
7.	May 10, 1998	BellSouth Classic	-17 (69-67-63-72=271)	1 stroke	Jay Don Blake
8.	Feb. 14, 1999	Buick Invitational	-22 (68-71-62-65=266)	2 strokes	Billy Ray Brown
9.	Jun. 6, 1999	Memorial Tournament	-15 (68-66-70-69=273)	2 strokes	Vijay Singh
10.	Jul. 4, 1999	Motorola Western Open	-15 (68-66-68-71=273)	3 strokes	Mike Weir
11.	Aug. 15, 1999	PGA Championship	-11 (70-67-68-72=277)	1 stroke	Sergio García
12.	Aug. 29, 1999	NEC Invitational	-10 (66-71-62-71=270)	1 stroke	Phil Mickelson
13.	Oct. 24, 1999	National Car Rental Golf Classic Disney	-17 (66-66-66-73=271)	1 stroke	Ernie Els
14.	Oct. 31, 1999	The Tour Championship	-15 (67-66-67-69=269)	4 strokes	Davis Love III
15.	Nov. 11, 1999	American Express Championship	-6 (71-69-70-68=278)	Playoff	Miguel Angel Jiménez
16.	Jan. 9, 2000	Mercedes Championships	-16 (71-66-71-68=276)	Playoff	Ernie Els
17.	Feb. 6, 2000	AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am	-15 (68-73-68-64=273)	2 strokes	Matt Gogel
18.	Mar. 19, 2000	Bay Hill Invitational	-18 (69-64-67-70=270)	4 strokes	Davis Love III
19.	May 28, 2000	Memorial Tournament	-19 (71-63-65-70=269)	5 strokes	Ernie Els
20.	Jun. 18, 2000	U.S. Open	-12 (65-69-71-67=272)	15 strokes	Ernie Els, Miguel Angel Jiménez
21.	Jul. 23, 2000	The Open Championship	-19 (67-66-67-69=269)	8 strokes	Thomas Bjørn, Ernie Els
22.	Aug. 20, 2000	PGA Championship	-18 (66-67-70-67=270)	Playoff	Bob May
23.	Aug. 27, 2000	NEC Invitational	-21 (64-61-67-67=259)	11 strokes	Justin Leonard, Phillip Price
24.	Sept. 10, 2000	Bell Canadian Open	-22 (72-65-64-65=266)	1 stroke	Grant Waite
25.	Mar. 18, 2001	Bay Hill Invitational	-15 (71-67-66-69=273)	1 stroke	Phil Mickelson
26.	Mar. 25, 2001	The Players Championship	-14 (72-69-66-67=274)	1 stroke	Vijay Singh
27.	Apr. 8, 2001	The Masters	-16 (70-66-68-68=272)	2 strokes	David Duval
28.	Jun. 3, 2001	Memorial Tournament	-17 (68-69-68-66=271)	7 strokes	Paul Azinger, Sergio García
29.	Aug. 26, 2001	NEC Invitational	-12 (66-67-66-69=268)	Playoff	Jim Furyk
30.	Mar. 17, 2002	Bay Hill Invitational	-13 (67-65-74-69=275)	4 strokes	Michael Campbell
31.	Apr. 14, 2002	The Masters	-12 (70-69-66-71=276)	3 strokes	Retief Goosen
32.	Jun. 16, 2002	U.S. Open	-3 (67-68-70-72=277)	3 strokes	Phil Mickelson
33.	Aug. 11, 2002	Buick Open	-17 (67-63-71-70=271)	4 strokes	Fred Funk, Brian Gay, Mark O'Meara, Esteban Toledo
34.	Sept. 22, 2002	American Express Championship	-25 (65-65-67-66=263)	1 stroke	Retief Goosen
35.	Feb. 16, 2003	Buick Invitational	-16 (70-66-68-68=272)	4 strokes	Carl Pettersson
36.	Mar. 2, 2003	Accenture Match Play Championship	(see above)	N/A	David Toms
37.	Mar. 23, 2003	Bay Hill Invitational	-19 (70-65-66-68=269)	11 strokes	Stewart Cink, Brad Faxon, Kenny Perry, Kirk Triplett
38.	Jul. 6, 2003	100th Western Open	-21 (63-70-65-69=267)	5 strokes	Rich Beem
39.	Oct. 5, 2003	American Express Championship	-6 (67-66-69-72=274)	2 strokes	Stuart Appleby, Tim Herron, Vijay Singh
40.	Feb. 29, 2004	Accenture Match Play Championship	(see above)	N/A	Davis Love III
41.	Jan. 23, 2005	Buick Invitational	-16 (69-63-72-68=272)	3 strokes	Luke Donald, Charles Howell III, Tom Lehman
42.	Mar. 6, 2005	Ford Championship at Doral	-24 (65-70-63-66=264)	1 stroke	Phil Mickelson
43.	Apr. 10, 2005	The Masters	-12 (74-66-65-71=276)	Playoff	Chris DiMarco
44.	Jul. 17, 2005	The Open Championship	-14 (66-67-71-70=274)	5 strokes	Colin Montgomerie
45.	Aug. 21, 2005	NEC Invitational	-6 (66-70-67-71=274)	1 stroke	Chris DiMarco
46.	Oct. 9, 2005	American Express Championship	-10 (67-68-68-67=270)	Playoff	John Daly
47.	Jan. 29, 2006	Buick Invitational	-10 (71-68-67-72=278)	Playoff	Nathan Green, José María Olazábal
48.	Mar. 5, 2006	Ford Championship at Doral	-20 (64-67-68-69=268)	1 stroke	David Toms, Camilo Villegas
49.	Jul. 23, 2006	The Open Championship	-18 (67-65-71-67=270)	2 strokes	Chris DiMarco
50.	Aug. 7, 2006	Buick Open	-24 (66-66-66-66=264)	3 strokes	Jim Furyk
51.	Aug. 20, 2006	PGA Championship	-18 (69-68-65-68=270)	5 strokes	Shaun Micheel
52.	Aug. 27, 2006	Bridgestone Invitational	-10 (67-64-71-68=270)	Playoff	Stewart Cink
53.	Sept. 4, 2006	Deutsche Bank Championship	-20 (66-72-67-63=268)	2 strokes	Vijay Singh
54.	Oct. 1, 2006	American Express Championship	-23 (63-64-67-67=261)	8 strokes	Ian Poulter, Adam Scott
55.	Jan. 28, 2007	Buick Invitational	-15 (66-72-69-66=273)	2 strokes	Charles Howell III
56.	Mar. 25, 2007	CA Championship	-10 (71-66-68-73=278)	2 strokes	Brett Wetterich

PGA Tour playoff record (10-1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1.	1996	Las Vegas Invitational	Davis Love III	Won with par on first hole
2.	1997	Mercedes Championships	Tom Lehman	Won with birdie on first hole
3.	1998	Nissan Open	Billy Mayfair	Lost to birdie on first hole
4.	1999	NEC Invitational	Miguel Angel Jiménez	Won with birdie on first hole
5.	2000	Mercedes Championships	Ernie Els	Won with birdie on second hole
6.	2000	PGA Championship	Bob May	Won 3-hole playoff by 1 stroke: Woods (3-4-5=12), May (4-4-5=13)
7.	2001	NEC Invitational	Jim Furyk	Won with birdie on seventh hole
8.	2005	The Masters	Chris DiMarco	Won with birdie on first hole
9.	2005	WGC-American Express Championship	John Daly	Won with par on second hole
10.	2006	Buick Invitational	José María Olazábal, Nathan Green	Won with par on second hole over Olazábal (Green was eliminated when he bogeyed the first hole)
11.	2006	WGC-Bridgestone Invitational	Stewart Cink	Won with birdie on first hole

Other professional wins (22)

• 1997 (1) Asian Honda Classic (Asian Tour)
• 1998 (2) Johnnie Walker Classic (co-sanctioned by Asian Tour and European Tour), PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event)
• 1999 (4) Deutsche Bank Open-TPC of Europe (European Tour), World Cup of Golf: individual (unofficial event), World Cup of Golf: team (unofficial event - with Mark O'Meara), PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event)
• 2000 (2) WGC-World Cup: team (unofficial event - with David Duval), PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event)
• 2001 (4) Johnnie Walker Classic (co-sanctioned by Asian Tour and European Tour), Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe (European Tour), Williams World Challenge (United States - unofficial event), PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event)
• 2002 (2) Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe (European Tour), PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event)
• 2004 (2) Dunlop Phoenix (Japan Golf Tour), Target World Challenge (United States - unofficial event)
• 2005 (2) Dunlop Phoenix (Japan Golf Tour), PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event)
• 2006 (3) Dubai Desert Classic (European Tour, won by playoff), PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event), Target World Challenge (United States - unofficial event)

United States national team appearances

Amateur

• Eisenhower Trophy: 1994
• Walker Cup: 1995

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006; (Ryder Cup Record W-L-H: 7-11-2)
• Dunhill Cup: 1998
• The Presidents Cup: 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005
• WGC-World Cup: 1999, 2000

In the bag

• Driver: Nike SasQuatch Tour 460 cc driver (8.5 degree)

• Fairway Woods: Nike SasQuatch 2, 3Wood (15 degrees) and Nike T40 5 Wood (19 degrees) *Tiger will put his 5 Wood or 2 Iron in the bag depending upon the course setup and conditions During is season opening win at the Buick Invitational he was said to be using the Nike SQ2 fairway wood -- a new product from Nike in 2007.

• Irons: Nike Forged Irons (2-PW) (all irons are 1 degree upright, have D4 swingweight, standard size Tour Velvet Cord grips and True Temper Dynamic Gold X-100 shafts)

• Wedges: Nike 56 degree Pro Combo SW and 60 degree Flatback TW LW

• Putter: Scotty Cameron By Titleist GSS Newport 2 putter (standard loft and lie, 35 inches long) with PING putter grip (Tiger has used the same exact putter since 1999, and has won 11 of his 12 majors with it.) This is the only club in his bag that he's not paid to use, and has said several times that it gives him a confidence that he's never had with another putter.

• Ball: Prototype Nike One Platinum (only ones with TIGER on them)

• Golf Glove: Nike Dri-FIT Tour glove

• Golf Shoes: Nike SP 8 TW Tour^[39]

Frank

"Frank" is the name given to the club cover always on Tiger's bag. It is a plush tiger head created by his mother Kultida. On it is stitched, "from mom with love" in Thai.

An animatronic version of Frank, created by M5 Industries,^[40] was used in several Nike Golf commercials starting in 2003, voiced by actor Paul Giamatti. In these commercials, Frank would give advice to Tiger, or even seem to be more a nuisance than a help, much in the same vein as the "Lil' Penny" commercials Nike did with Penny Hardaway in the mid-1990s. In one commercial, Frank was talking trash at Charles Barkley during a pro-am. In another, when Tiger thought Frank was giving bad advice, Tiger told Frank, "You can be replaced." (Tiger's mom makes him a new "Frank" every year.)

Other ventures

Charity and youth projects

Woods has established several charitable and youth projects.

• The Tiger Woods Foundation: The Tiger Woods Foundation was established in 1996 by Woods and his father Earl. It focuses on projects for children. Initially these comprised golf clinics (aimed especially at disadvantaged children), and a grant program. Further activities added since then include university scholarships, an association with Target House at St. Jude Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee; the Start Something character development program, which had had over one million participants by 2003; and the Tiger Woods Learning Center. The Tiger Woods Foundation recently has teamed up with the PGA Tour to create a new PGA tour event that will take place in the nation's capital (Washington, D.C.) beginning in July, 2007.
• In The City Golf Clinics and Festivals: Since 1997, the Tiger Woods Foundation has conducted junior golf clinics across the country. The Foundation began the “In the City” golf clinic program in 2003. The first three clinics were held in Indio, Calif., Wilkinsburg, Pa., and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and were targeted to all youth, ages 7-17, and their families. Each three-day event features golf lessons on Thursday and Friday of clinic week and a free community festival on Saturday. Cities are selected to participate in the clinics through a formal bid process. Winning cities may invite 15 junior golfers to participate and receive instruction from local PGA professionals. Top junior golfers from each In The City Clinic are selected to participate in the annual Tiger Woods Foundation Youth Clinic. This three-day junior golf event includes tickets to Disney Resorts; a pitch, putt and drive skills tournament; a junior golf clinic; and an exhibition by Tiger Woods. As part of the junior golf clinics, TWF works with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to bring at least one Make-A-Wish child to each clinic. These children are given the opportunity to meet Tiger, take some photos with him and talk to him about anything they choose.
• Tiger Woods Learning Center: This is a 35,000 square foot (3,000 m²) educational facility in Anaheim, California which opened in February 2006.^[41] It is expected to be used by several thousand students each year, with a day program for grades 4 to 6 and an after school program for grades 7 to 12. There will also be summer programs, weekend and community outreach programs and online learning programs. The center's website states, "Our mission is to provide an interactive enrichment program that will improve individual aptitude in reading, math, science and technology". The centre will feature extensive multi-media facilities and an outdoor golf teaching area.
• Tiger Jam: An annual fundraising concert. 2006's Tiger Jam IX was headlined by Sting.
• Target World Challenge: An annual off-season charity golf tournament. The event also carries generous prize money, but Woods donates his winnings to his foundation.
• Tiger Woods Foundation National Junior Golf Team: An eighteen member team which competes in the annual Junior World Golf Championships.

Woods has also participated in charity work for his current caddy, Steve Williams. On April 24, 2006 Woods won an auto racing event that benefited the Steve Williams Foundation to raise funds to provide sporting careers for disadvantaged youth.^{[citation needed]}

Golf course design

Woods announced on December 3, 2006 that he will develop his first golf course in the United Arab Emirates. The Tiger Woods Dubai will feature a 7,700 yard, par-72 course, a 60,000 square foot clubhouse, a golf academy, 320 exclusive villas and a boutique hotel with 80 suites. Tiger Woods Dubai is a joint venture between himself and Tatweer, a member of the government-affiliated Dubai Holding. Woods chose Dubai because he was excited about the "challenge of transforming a desert terrain into a world-class golf course." The development is scheduled to be finished in late 2009 at Dubailand, the region's largest tourism and leisure project. ^[42]

Hobbies

Outside of golf, Woods enjoys working out, boating, water sports, fishing, cooking and car racing. He has never owned an airplane, with his sponsor NetJets providing that as part of his sponsorship package.

In February 2004, Woods signed a contract with Christensen Shipyards for summer delivery of a 155 foot Trideck Motor Yacht known as Hull 026. The 4,000 nautical mile range boat was about two-thirds complete, and after Woods agreed a purchase price of around $20 million, his then fiancee Elin would travel regularly to the Vancouver, Washington, yard to make interior decorating decisions.

The toys on the boat include: three Sea-Doos, two oceangoing kayaks, and a pair of Vespa scooters. She also has six helium tanks (when combined with oxygen and nitrogen, helium creates trimix, a breathable blend that lets one dive deeper than traditional tanks full of compressed air). The boat also has an inflatable decompression chamber, an important safety measure for divers who go deeper than the standard 120-foot recreational limit.^[43] All the gear is for spear fishing, with Woods once explaining his passion for diving on his website: "The fish don't know who I am."^[44]

Part of the contract Woods agreed with the yard was confidentiality — although pictures of the boat could be used, its name and interior details, through final fittings, were not to be disclosed. After his marriage of 5 October, the couple used the boat, now called "Privacy" on a honeymoon cruise to Puerto Rico — where on 14 October, the boat was boarded by customs officials for not giving the required four days entry notice.^[45]

On his return from honeymoon, Woods sued Christensen for more than $75,000 in damages, because his privacy was violated. But because of Woods' celebrity and how much clout he carries in the advertising world, compensatory damages could have reached $50 million. The action was settled out of court, and it is believed that Christensen paid Woods around half the cost of his yacht in compensation.

Endorsements

Shortly after his 21st birthday, Woods began signing numerous endorsement deals. Some of the companies that Woods signed with included General Motors, General Mills, American Express, Accenture and Nike. Woods signed a 5-year, $100 million endorsing contract with Nike, which at the time, was the largest endorsing deal ever signed by an athlete. Some of the famous Nike advertising campaigns featuring Woods include the "I am Tiger Woods" spots, in which children claim they are the golfing superstar. Another featured Woods doing a trick with a golf ball in which he bounces a ball on a club several times then hits it baseball style. This is a routine that Woods often performs during golf exhibitions.

On Father's Day after the passing of his father in 2006, Nike released a commercial featuring home movie clips from Tiger's childhood, usually showing Tiger as a child receiving training and support from his father. The commercial was dedicated to Earl Woods and "fathers everywhere." His talent, looks, youth appeal, and personality have made him a bankable celebrity and the highest valued athletic spokesperson numerous years in a row. Only Michael Jordan and Arnold Palmer have had longer tenures at the top for endorsements and have made more money from them overall than Woods.^{[citation needed]}

Woods also endorses the 'Tiger Woods PGA Tour' series of video games; he has done so from 1999 up to 2007 and it is likely that he will continue to do so.

Woods collaborated with TAG Heuer to develop the world's first professional golf watch, released in April 2005.

The PGA Tour prohibits paying players appearance fees but it is common elsewhere. Initially, people speculated that Tiger’s appearance fees were one million dollars each appearance and in 2006 had escalated to three million dollars.

Controversy

Cut streak

In both Nelson's and Woods's eras, "making the cut" has been defined as receiving a paycheck. However, in Nelson's day only players who placed in the top 20 in an event won a paycheck^[46] whereas in Woods's day only players who reach a low enough score within the first 36 holes win a paycheck. Several golf analysts argue that Woods did not actually surpass Nelson's consecutive cuts mark, reasoning that 31 of the tournaments in which Woods competed were "no-cut" events, meaning all the players in the field were guaranteed to compete throughout the entire event regardless of their scores through 36 holes (and hence all "made the cut," meaning that they all received a paycheck). These analysts argue that this would leave Woods's final consecutive cuts made at 111, and Nelson's at 113.^[47]

At least ten of the tournaments in which Nelson played did not have modern day cuts; that is, all of the players in these events were guaranteed to compete past 36 holes. The Masters, for example, did not institute a 36 hole cut until 1957 (which was well after Nelson retired), the PGA Championship was match play until 1958^[48][49] and it is unclear whether or not three other events in which Nelson competed had 36 hole cuts. Therefore, these analysts remove "no 36 hole cut" events from both cut streak measures, leaving Nelson's consecutive cuts made at 103 (or possibly less)^[50] and Woods's at 111.

However, in the tournaments in which Nelson competed that did not have 36 hole cuts (that is: the Masters, PGA Championship and the possible 3 other tournaments) only the top 20 players received a paycheck^[51] even though all players in these events were guaranteed to compete past 36 holes. Hence in these no 36 hole cut events, Nelson still placed in the top 20, so Nelson's 113 cuts made is reflective of his 113 top 20 finishes.^[52] Woods achieved a top 20 finish 21 consecutive times (from July 2000 to July 2001)^[53] and, in the 31 no-cut events in which he played, he won 10 and finished out of the top 10 five times.^[54] Others, including Woods himself,^[55] argue that the two streaks cannot be compared, because the variation of tournament structures in the two eras is too great for any meaningful comparison to be made.^[56]

Tiger-proofing

Early in Woods' career, a small number of golf experts expressed concern about his impact on the competitiveness of the game (and thus the public appeal of professional golf). This issue was most prominent from 1999–2002. Sports writer Bill Lyon of Knight-Ridder asked in a column, "Isn't Tiger Woods actually bad for golf?" (though Lyon ultimately concluded that he was not).^[57] At first, some pundits feared that Woods would drive the spirit of competition out of the game of golf by making existing courses obsolete and relegating opponents to simply competing for second place each week.

Many courses in the PGA Tour rotation (including Major Championship sites like Augusta National) began to add yardage to their tees in an effort to slow down long hitters like Woods, a strategy that became known as "Tiger-Proofing". Woods himself welcomed the change as he believes adding yardage to the course does not affect his ability to win.^[58]

In 2006 Tiger demonstrated his "intelligence game", as he won both The Open and PGA Championships without out-driving his playing partner. In fact, during The Open Championship, Tiger only used his driver once, instead choosing long irons off the tee to hit fairways more consistently.

See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• Golfers with most major championship wins
• Most PGA Tour wins in a year
• Longest PGA Tour win streaks
• Most wins in one PGA Tour event
• Official World Golf Rankings
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour (computer game)

Notes

References

External links

• Tiger Woods Official Site
• Tiger Woods Profile on PGA Tour site
• Tiger Woods at TV.com
• Tiger Woods Foundation
  • Tiger Woods Learning Center

• Tiger Woods at the Internet Movie Database
• Tiger Woods Official World Golf Rankings site
• Tiger Woods Swing in Slow Motion

Preceded by -	Laureus World Sportsman of the Year 2000-2001	Succeeded by Michael Schumacher
Preceded by Michael Johnson	Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year 1997	Succeeded by Mark McGwire
Preceded by Mark McGwire	Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year 1999-2000	Succeeded by Barry Bonds
Preceded by Lance Armstrong	Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year 2006	Succeeded by Incumbent

Official World Golf Rankings | World No. 1's in men's golf since 1986.
Severiano Ballesteros | Fred Couples | David Duval | Ernie Els | Nick Faldo | Bernhard Langer | Tom Lehman | Greg Norman | Nick Price | Vijay Singh | Tiger Woods † | Ian Woosnam
† Tiger Woods (USA) is the current World No. 1, and has spent most weeks in that position, currently over 400.

Persondata
NAME	Woods, Eldrick Tont
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Woods, Tiger
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Golfer
DATE OF BIRTH	December 30, 1975
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH