Tiger Woods

Eldrick "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975 in Cypress, California) is an American golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. 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 career major wins.

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]

Background and family

Woods' father, Earl Woods, was a Vietnam War veteran and a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, 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 made up himself.

Golf Tips and Advice at Really Useful

Born Eldrick Woods in Cypress, California, he was nicknamed “Tiger” after Vuong Dang Phong, a friend of his father’s. 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 (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.

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 British Open 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.

Career

Amateur career

Woods was a child prodigy who began to play golf at the age of two. In 1978, he demonstrated his golf skills in a television appearance on The Mike Douglas Show. At age five, he appeared in Golf Digest and on ABC's That's Incredible.^[8] 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. Woods won the U.S. Junior Amateur title in 1991, 1992, and 1993; he remains the event's youngest-ever and only multiple winner. He then won three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles over the next three years, the only person to achieve this feat. He was a member of the American team at the 1994 World Amateur Golf Team Championships. With his first US Amateur win in 1994, he became the youngest player ever to win that event. In 1994, he enrolled at Stanford University where he stayed two years, winning one NCAA individual golf championship. His teammates jokingly nicknamed him "Urkel", a reference to the nerd character Steve Urkel from the 1990s sitcom Family Matters. He left college after two years to become a professional golfer.

Professional career

With the announcement, "Hello World,"^[9] Tiger Woods became a professional golfer in August 1996, playing his first round of professional golf at the Greater Milwaukee Open. Woods tied for 60th place in his pro debut, but he would go on to win two events in the next three months, and was named 1996's "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated for the impact he had on the game of golf. He was also named PGA Rookie of the Year by the PGA Tour, and is the only golfer to win PGA Player of the Year in the year following his rookie season.^[10] The following April, Woods won his first golf major, The Masters, by a record margin of 12 strokes, and in the process set 20 Masters records and tied 6 others. He has been the highest-profile golfer in the world ever since. On June 15, 1997,^[11] Woods rose to the number one spot in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time.

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,^[12] 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. 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 finishing 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 British Open 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. 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 his third straight major after winning a three-hole playoff, with a heart-pumping birdie on the first hole and pars on the next two. The next season, Woods went back to dominating: his 2001 Masters win marked the only time — within the era of the modern "grand slam" — that any player was the holder of all four major championship titles at the same time. This feat has become known as the "Tiger Slam". 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 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.^[13][14] 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. 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 British Open, 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. A tie for second at the Western Open just three weeks later went a long way toward silencing doubts about his game, though, and Woods seemed poised to defend his Open crown at Hoylake despite his grief. At the British Open, 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. Several 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 resume, equaling the to-par record in the PGA that he shares with Bob May. Woods now 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, specifically The Masters and the U.S. Open. (Old Tom Morris holds this record in the British Open, and Nicklaus holds this record in the PGA Championship.)

As of October 2006, Woods has won 54 official money events on the PGA Tour and at 30 years and 7 months old is the youngest to the 50-win mark. He also has 18 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. It also placed him tied for 2nd for the longest PGA Tour win streak at 6 straight, tied with himself (99-00) and Ben Hogan (1948). Only Byron Nelson's streak of 11 wins in 1945 is longer. He has successfully defended a title 16 times on the PGA Tour, and has won 27% (54 out of 200) of his professional starts on the PGA Tour. He has a 38-3 winning record when leading after 54 holes in TOUR events, and owns the lowest career scoring average and the most career earnings of any player in PGA Tour history. Woods is one of five players (along with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player) who competed in the era in which the quartet of professional majors was established to have won all four professional major championships in his career (known as the "Career Grand Slam"). Bobby Jones won all four of what were in his era considered major championships. With Woods's win in the 2005 British Open, he became 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.^[15] Many^{[16][17][18][19]} 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)^[20][21][22] and given that during the streak, the next longest streak by any other player was usually only in the 10s or 20s.

Woods won the "World Sportsman of the Year" award at the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000 and 2001. He is the only individual two-time winner of Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award (1996, 2000).

When Woods turned pro, Mike "Fluff" Cowan was his caddie until March 8, 1999.^[23] 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.^[24]

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,^[25] 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.

Although 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 (20-23 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."

Woods almost always wears a shirt in the shade of various reds on the final round (usually on Sundays) of every tournament in which he plays, as he believes the color red symbolizes aggression and assertiveness.^[26]

Major Championship Performance

Wins (12)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin of Victory
1997	Masters	9 shot lead	-18 270 (70-66-65-69)	12 strokes
1999	PGA Championship	Tied with 1	-11 277 (70-67-68-72)	1 stroke
2000	U.S. Open	10 shot lead	-12 272 (65-69-71-67)	15 strokes
2000	British Open	6 shot lead	-19 269 (67-66-67-69)	8 strokes
2000	PGA Championship (2)	1 shot lead	-18 270 (66-67-70-67)	1 stroke*
2001	Masters (2)	1 shot lead	-16 272 (70-66-68-68)	2 strokes
2002	Masters (3)	Tied with 1	-12 276 (70-69-66-71)	3 strokes
2002	U.S. Open (2)	4 shot lead	-3 277 (67-68-70-72)	3 strokes
2005	Masters (4)	3 shot lead	-12 276 (74-66-65-71)	1 stroke*
2005	British Open (2)	2 shot lead	-14 274 (66-67-71-70)	5 strokes
2006	British Open (3)	1 shot lead	-18 270 (67-65-71-67)	2 strokes
2006	PGA Championship (3)	Tied with 1	-18 270 (69-68-65-68)	5 strokes

* Playoff

Records and Statistics

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 British Open 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 three national opens (U.S., British, and Canadian) in one year: Trevino in 1971 and Woods in 2000.

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)
• US Open: -12 (272), 2000 (outright to par record)
  • Woods shares the low 72-holes record with Jack Nicklaus, Lee Janzen, and Jim Furyk.
• British Open: -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 1926 and 1927,^[27] at a time when the US Amateur was considered a major.^[28] Woods has also 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).^[29][30]

Woods is one of the few players to have finished in the Top 5 and Top 10 in all four majors in a year. He has done this twice, first in 2000 and then in 2005.

Including Woods' three U.S. Amateur Championship wins, he and Bobby Jones are the only golfers to win 13 majors before age 30. Jones achieved this in 21 attempts,^[31] making his winning percentage 62 percent, while Woods achieved 13 wins in 47 attempts for a winning ratio of 28 percent.

World Golf Championships

Wins (12)

• WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship 2003, 2004
• WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006
• WGC-American Express Championship 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006

Tournament	Starts	Top-10s	Victories	Earnings ($)	Scoring Average
Accenture Match Play	7	5	2	3,137,500	--
Bridgestone Invitational	8	8	5	6,602,500	67.53
American Express	7	7	5	5,962,500	68.04
Totals	22	20	12	15,702,500	67.76

Records and Statistics

• Has won at least one World Golf Championships event every year since they began in 1999
• Has won 12 out of 22 total appearances, for an incredible 54.5% winning rate
• Has won at least five times in two different events on the PGA Tour, trailing only Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead, who have won at least five times in three different events
• 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
• All time wins leader in World Golf Championships events
• Won the World Cup with David Duval in 2000, an unofficial money WGC event – a total of 13 World Golf Championships titles.

Bridgestone Invitational

• Lowest 18-hole total - 61 (tied with Jose Maria Olazabal)
• 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 all seven appearances

Note: All Bridgestone Invitational records were set in 2000

American Express

• 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 American Express records were set in 2006^[32][33]

Professional Performance

PGA Tour career earnings

Year	Majors	Other wins	PGA Tour wins	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
1996	0	2	2	790,594	24
1997	1	3	4	2,066,833	1
1998	0	1	1	1,841,117	4
1999	1	7	8	6,616,585	1
2000	3	6	9	9,188,321	1
2001	1	4	5	6,687,777	1
2002	2	3	5	6,912,625	1
2003	0	5	5	6,673,413	2
2004	0	1	1	5,365,472	4
2005	2	4	6	10,628,024	1
2006*	2	6	8	9,941,563	1
Career*	12	42	54	65,712,324	1

* As of October 1, 2006.

PGA Tour wins (54)

• 1996 (2) Las Vegas Invitational, Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic
• 1997 (4) Mercedes Championships, The Masters, GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic, Motorola Western Open
• 1998 (1) BellSouth Classic
• 1999 (8) Buick Invitational, Memorial Tournament, Motorola Western Open, PGA Championship, WGC-NEC Invitational, National Car Rental Golf Classic Disney, The Tour Championship, WGC-American Express Championship
• 2000 (9) Mercedes Championships, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Bay Hill Invitational, Memorial Tournament, U.S. Open, British Open, PGA Championship, WGC-NEC Invitational, Bell Canadian Open
• 2001 (5) Bay Hill Invitational, THE PLAYERS Championship, The Masters, Memorial Tournament, WGC-NEC Invitational
• 2002 (5) Bay Hill Invitational presented by Cooper Tires, The Masters, U.S. Open, Buick Open, WGC-American Express Championship
• 2003 (5) Buick Invitational, WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Bay Hill Invitational presented by Cooper Tires, 100th Western Open presented by Golf Digest, WGC-American Express Championship
• 2004 (1) WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship
• 2005 (6) Buick Invitational, Ford Championship at Doral, The Masters, British Open, WGC-NEC Invitational, WGC-American Express Championship
• 2006 (8) Buick Invitational, Ford Championship at Doral, British Open, Buick Open, PGA Championship, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Deutsche Bank Championship, WGC-American Express Championship

Major championships are shown in bold.

Other professional wins (20)

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

United States national team appearances

Amateur

• Eisenhower Trophy: 1994
• Walker Cup: 1995

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006
• Dunhill Cup: 1998
• The Presidents Cup: 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005
• WGC-World Cup: 1999, 2000

Memorable shots

The following are generally regarded to be the most memorable shots of Woods' career.

• 2006 British Open - Royal Liverpool - second round - 14th hole - 4 iron - 206-yard second shot, carries 196, lands on the green and bounces into the cup for an eagle, out of Woods' view.
• 2006 Masters - Augusta National Golf Club - first round - 14th hole - 8 iron - 163 yards for an eagle, his first-ever on a par-4 in the tournament.
• 2005 Masters - Augusta National Golf Club - final round - 16th hole - lob wedge - chip from 30 feet, from side of green, with 2nd cut of rough interfering with ball, rolled down steep slope, nearly stopped millimeters before the cup, then dropped in for birdie.
• 2003 U.S. Open - Olympia Fields Country Club - second round - 6th hole - 3 wood - fade from semi-rough around a tree, from the wrong side of the fairway and on to the green.
• 2003 Buick Invitational - Torrey Pines South - final round - 15th hole - 4 iron - 203 yards under branches over bunkers to green.
• 2002 PGA Championship - Hazeltine National Golf Club - second round - 18th hole - 3-iron - 202 yard carry over tall trees from fairway bunker.
• 2001 Players Championship - TPC at Sawgrass - third round - 17th hole - putter - 60 foot downhill putt on famous island green; eventually won by 1 stroke. Known as the "better than most" putt due to NBC announcer Gary Koch initially proclaiming the putt as merely "better than most," and then excitedly repeating the phrase as the ball wound its way towards the hole.
• 2000 WGC - Firestone Country Club - final round - 18th hole - 8 iron - 168 yards - Tiger hits the ball 'stiff' while playing in darkness to seal the championship. Reporters later said that they struggled to see just where Tiger actually was.
• 2000 PGA Championship - Valhalla Golf Club - final round - 18th hole - putter - 6 foot putt to force playoff and later win.
• 2000 Bell Canadian Open - Glen Abbey Golf Club - final round - 18th hole - 6-iron - 218 yards, from a bunker, over a large pond to within 18 feet of the cup to win the tournament. Many competitors called it "the kind of shot that I wouldn't even try, let alone stick."
• 2000 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am - Pebble Beach - final round - 15th hole - wedge - holed out from 97 yards to eventually win from 7 strokes down with 7 holes to play.
• 1997 Grand Slam of Golf - Poipu Bay Golf Course - final round - 16th hole - sand wedge - blast from a buried, wet, downhill lie, through a grass embankment and onto the green.
• 1997 Masters - Augusta National Golf Club - first round - 12th hole - 9-iron - chip-in from behind the green.
• 1997 Phoenix Open - TPC of Scottsdale - third round - 16th hole - 9-iron - ace from 155 yards.
• 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open - Brown Deer Park Golf Course - 14th hole - 6-iron - ace from 202 yards
• 1996 U.S. Amateur - Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club - final round - 11th hole - putter - 35 foot eagle putt while 2-down with 8 holes to play.

In the bag

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

• Fairway Woods: Nike Ignite T60 3 Wood (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

• 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 Studio Stainless Newport 2 putter (standard loft and lie, 35 inches long)

• Putter grip: PING

• 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^[34]

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,^[35] was used in several Nike Golf commercials starting in 2003, where 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."

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.
• 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.^[36] 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 will be 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]}

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.^[37] 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."^[38]

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.^[39]

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 reach $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 the one he is most known for – 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.

Controversy

Also in 1996, Woods drew harsh criticism from the media (and his fellow Tour pros) when he broke protocol and withdrew from the Buick Challenge tournament in Pine Mountain, Georgia;^{[citation needed]} he also failed to attend a dinner held in his honor the night before (he later apologized to those in attendance).^{[citation needed]} In 1997, a GQ article portrayed Woods as using profanity and telling racist and sexist jokes [11].

Also in 1997, fellow pro Fuzzy Zoeller referred to Tiger as "that little boy" and urged him not to order fried chicken or collard greens for the Masters traditional Champion's dinner. This occurred shortly after Tiger won his first green jacket in 1997.^[40]

Shortly after winning the Masters in 1997, Woods declined an invitation from then United States President Bill Clinton to attend a ceremony at Shea Stadium honoring baseball great Jackie Robinson, who had broken the color barrier in baseball 50 years earlier. Woods instead went to Atlantic City and to Myrtle Beach to attend ribbon cuttings at openings of the All-Star Cafe and then left on vacation. One of Woods' managers Hughes Norton defended his action, saying that "It's no disrespect by Tiger to Jackie Robinson, who is without question one of Tiger's heroes. Nor is it any disrespect to President Clinton. But it's a good indication of how important off-time is to Tiger."^[41]

In 2006, following the US Masters, Woods referred to himself as a 'spaz' in a post-tournament interview, in reference to his putting during the tournament. While the comment brought little notice in the United States, he was criticized for his use of the word spaz, particularly outside of the United States, where the word has a more negative connotation, including by Paralympian Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson.^[42] His manager promptly apologized for the remark on his behalf.^[43] Woods did not speak directly about his comments.

Also in 2006, The Dubliner Magazine published nude photographs purportedly depicting his wife. During a Ryder Cup press conference, Woods vehemently denied that the nude photos contained his wife, saying "to link her to porn Web sites and such is unacceptable, and I do not accept that at all. Neither does our team." The magazine issued an apology, calling it pure satire, and a parody of tabloids. According to his agent, Woods is studying the merits of a lawsuit.^[44]

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^[45] 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.^[46]

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^[47][48] 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)^[49] 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^[50] 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.^[51] Woods achieved a top 20 finish 21 consecutive times (from July 2000 to July 2001)^[52] and, in the 31 no-cut events in which he played, he won 10 and finished out of the top 10 five times.^[53] Others, including Woods himself,^[54] 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.^[55]

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, when Woods was at his most dominant. 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 wasn't).[12] 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 doesn't affect his ability to win.[13]

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

Notes

References