Tiger Woods
Height: 6 ft 1 in (185 cm
Weight: 185 lb (84 kg)
Birthdate: December 30, 1975
College: Stanford University
Year turned pro: 1996
Birthplace: Cypress, California, USA
Country: USA
Sponsor: Kowa, Musclepharm, Nike Golf, Rolex, Tatweer: The Tiger Woods Dubai, Upper Deck
Eldrick “Tiger” Woods was born in Cypress, California in 1979 and since then has become arguably the most famous player in the history of golf. Although he has half siblings, Woods is the only child of the marriage of his parents, Earl and Kultida, who was born in Thailand. Woods’ father was a retired lieutenant colonel and met Woods’ mother while he was on a tour of duty. Woods’ nickname is in honor of his father's friend Col. Vuong Dang Phong, who was known by the same nickname.
As many people will be aware, Woods began playing golf before he was even two years old, and even at a young age he displayed an incredible amount of talent. He was encouraged by his father who was an athletic man who played baseball at college and also excelled at amateur golf. Incredibly, Woods shot a 48 when he played nine holes at the Cypress Navy course, at the age of just five. Three years later, Woods triumphed in the 9–10 boys' event, at the Junior World Golf Championships. The first time Woods achieved success at a major national junior tournament was at the Big I in 1989 when he was thirteen. He was US Junior Amateur Champion just two years later, at the age of fifteen. All of this incredible success was achieved before Woods even graduated from high school.
After high school Woods attended Stanford University on a golf scholarship. While there he competed at his first Masters Tournament, at the age of nineteen. He finished in a tie for 41st place. After just two years at college, Woods turned professional, in 1996.
Woods was PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in his first season, and went on to win the Masters for the first time in 1997. In 1999 he won an incredible eight tournaments in one season, including the PGA Championship. The following year, Woods won six consecutive events, including the US Open.
Woods continued to achieve a high level of success until 2003 and 2004 when he failed to achieve success in any of the majors. In 2005 he achieved a return to form, winning six events on the PGA Tour and returning to the top of golf’s World Rankings. The following season Woods was dominant at the start before having to take a break due to the death of his father. He returned to the Tour, and to form, in time to win six consecutive events at the end of the season. In 2008 woods began to have knee problems which resulted in surgery and led to him missing part of the season. Even so, he won the US Open that year.
Woods returned to the Tour in 2009, but later that year news broke of his numerous extra marital affairs, and he announced that he was taking a break from golf. On his return in 2010 Woods suffered from a distinct lack of form, and parted ways with coach Hank Haney. 2011 also went badly for Woods; he parted ways with caddy Steve Williams, and sank as low as 58th in golf’s World Rankings. In 2012 Woods spent time struggling with a leg injury, but he did achieve his first PGA Tour win since 2009, at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He went on to achieve wins at the Memorial Tournament and the AT&T National.
It wasn’t until 2013 that woods really returned to form, achieving several wins on the PGA Tour, including the Farmers Insurance Open and the WGC-Cadillac Championship, and returning to the top of golf’s World Rankings. Despite this return to form he failed to win a major that year, partly due to problems with an injury to his elbow. In 2014 Woods suffered with a back problem and missed many tournaments, while not being successful when he did play. 2015 has been a similarly disastrous year for Woods as he has suffered from both back and wrist injuries. He missed the cut at both the US Open and the Open Championship.
As of the end of 2014, Woods had achieved 79 wins on the PGA Tour, amassing total prize money of $109,612.414.
