Tiger Woods
Height: 6-1
Weight: 185
Birthdate: December 30, 1975
Birthplace: Cypress, CA
College: Stanford University
Turned Pro: 1996
Eldrick “Tiger” Woods was born in December 30, 1975 in Cypress, California. With one of the most recognisable names in the sporting world, Tiger is the number one Golfer in the world and it’s not surprising - he’s been playing since he was two!
Tigers father, Earl Woods was a big influence in his career. He was a Vietnam War veteran and retired U.S Army lieutenant colonel (so maybe that’s why Tiger is so disciplined in everything he does!) Tiger has quite a mixed heritage. His father was of mixed African American (50%), Chinese (25%) and Native American (25%) -a pretty good mix already! But, then we have his mother - Kultida Woods from Thailand who is of mixed Thai (50%), Chinede (25%) and Dutch (25%)! This makes Tiger one-quarter Chinese, one-quarter Thai, one-quarter African, one-eighth Native American and one-eighth Dutch! Wow!
Woods fondly refers to his heritage as Cablinasian (Caucasian, Black, American-Indian, and Asian) well I suppose it’s a lot easier than explaining!
Going back to Tiger’s Golfing, we go back to 1978, when at the age of two, he putted against Bob Hope in a television appearance on The Mike Douglas Show. It didn’t stop there! One year later, at three, Tiger shot a 48 over nine holes at the Navy Golf Club in Cyress, California.
At five years old, he appeared in Golf Digest and on ABC’s That’s Incredible. One year younger than the age group, Tiger won the 9-10 boys’ event at the Junior World Golf Championships, which he went on to win six times including four consecutive wins from 1988 to 1991.
Skipping to 1996 where Tiger Woods turned Professional Golfer. Introducing himself with the announcement “Hello World”. Immediately, he signed endorsement deals worth $40 million from Nike and $20 million from Titleist. It was at the Greater Milwaukee Open where Tiger played his first round of Pro golf. He tied for 60th place in his debut, but it didn’t phase him and he went on to win two other events in the next three months, qualifying him for the Tour Championship.
In that year Woods was named as Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated for the impace he had on the game of golf. He is the only golfer to win the PGA player of the year award following his rookie season. April 1997 saw Woods win his first golf major, The Masters, by a record margin of 12 strokes.
A number of successes followed Tiger after his first few years as a pro golfer. Some of these are highlighted below:
1997, the Masters (winning score -18)
1999, PGA Championship (tied for lead, score -11)
2000, U.S. Open (winning score -12)
2000, The Open Championship (winning score -19)
2000, PGA Championship (winning score -18)
2001, The Masters (winning score -16)
2002, The Masters (tied for lead, score -12)
2002, U.S Open (winning score -3)
2005, The Masters (winning score -12)
2006, The Open (winning score -18)
2006, PGA Championship (tied for lead -18)
Tiger Woods - Quick Fact File
Woods always wears a red (or, red-pink) shirt on the final round of every tournament in which he plays, as he believes the colour red symbolizes aggression and assertiveness.
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.
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