Born on December 30, 1975, to Earl and Kultida Woods, He was nicknamed Tiger after a Vietnamese soldier and friend of his father, Vuong Dang Phong, to whom his father had also given that nickname. Eldrick Woods grew up in Cypress, California. He was not out of the crib before he took an interest in golf, at age 6 months, watching as his father hit golf balls into a net and imitating his swing. He appeared on the Mike Douglas Show at age 2, putting with Bob Hope. He shot 48 for nine holes at age 3 and was featured in Golf Digest at age 5. He won the Optimist International Junior tournament six times at ages 8, 9, 12, 13, 14 and 15. Woods compiled one of the most impressive amateur records in golf history, winning six USGA national championships, plus the NCAA title, before turning professional on August 27, 1996. He concluded his amateur career by winning an unprecedented third consecutive U.S. Amateur title, finishing with a record 18 consecutive match-play victories. An achievement which ranks with any of his professional records, Woods won the U.S. Junior Amateur three times and was the first to win that title more than once. He was the youngest ever to win the U.S. Junior Amateur (age 15 in 1991) and the youngest ever to win the U.S. Amateur (age 18 in 1994). With his U.S. Open victory, Tiger became the first ever to hold that title along with the U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Amateur titles.

Tiger played in his first professional tournament in 1992, at age 16, the Nissan Los Angeles Open and in three more PGA TOUR events in 1993. He made the 36-hole cut and tied for 34th place in the 1994 Johnnie Walker Asian Classic in Thailand, and had three additional PGA TOUR appearances. He entered Stanford University in 1994 and in two years he won 10 collegiate events, concluding with the NCAA title. His other amateur victories included the 1994 Western Amateur. He represented the United States in the 1994 World Amateur Team Championships in France and the 1995 Walker Cup Match in Wales. He played his first major championships in 1995, making the 36-hole cuts in the Masters and the British Open, but had to withdraw from the U.S. Open because of an injured wrist. Tiger also made the cuts in the Motorola Western Open and Scottish Open. He played in three more major championships in 1996, making the cuts in two. After missing the cut in the Masters, he led the U.S. Open after 13 holes of the first round before finishing tied for 82nd place. Tiger posted a 281 total to tie the record for an amateur in the British Open, and his 66 in the second round equaled the lowest ever by an amateur. He tied for 22nd place. Starting 1997 in spectacular fashion, Tiger won the season-opening Mercedes Championships with a birdie in a playoff over Tom Lehman with a six-iron shot that drew perfectly to the flag, landing two feet right of the hole and spinning back to within inches.

Including the Masters, Woods won four PGA TOUR events in 1997, plus one overseas, and was the leading money winner (Arnold Palmer Award) with a then-record $2,066,833. He won $2,440,831 worldwide in 25 events. He achieved No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking for the most rapid progression ever to that position. On June 15, 1997, in his 42nd week as a professional, Woods became the youngest-ever No. 1 golfer at age 21 years, 24 weeks. The previous youngest was Bernhard Langer, age 29 years, 31 weeks in 1986. In 1998 Woods won one event on the PGA TOUR, and three times overall. He was fourth on the money list with $1,841,117 and earned $2,927,006 worldwide in 26 events. His most dramatic triumph was over Ernie Els in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand. Tiger rallied with 65 in the final round after starting tied for 18th place, eight strokes behind Els, whom he beat with a birdie on the second playoff hole. He had been 11 strokes behind Els after two rounds. In 1999, Woods won eight times on the PGA TOUR, including the PGA Championship, and earned $6,616,585. He had a margin of $2,974,679 over runnerup David Duval, a figure greater than the previous single-year PGA TOUR record. His dominance was such that Woods won 52 percent of all the prize money he could have won. He won 81.7 percent more than the runnerup, the highest margin since Byron Nelson in 1945 (87.2 percent) and Hogan in 1946 (85 percent). He was the first to have as many as eight PGA TOUR victories in one year since Johnny Miller won eight in 1974. Tiger won four consecutive PGA TOUR events to end 1999 and started 2000 with two more victories for a total of six in succession. He had to come from behind for the fifth and sixth victories. He played the last three holes in four under par at the Mercedes Championships, then defeated Els in a playoff with a 40-foot birdie putt. He trailed Matt Gogel by seven strokes with seven holes left in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, then played the last four holes in four under par to win by two strokes. His nine PGA TOUR victories in 2000 equaled the fifth highest total ever and were the most since Sam Snead won 11 in 1950. He had eight PGA TOUR victories in 1999, and 11 victories worldwide while winning $7,681,625. In 2000, Woods matched the record of Ben Hogan in 1953 in winning three professional major championships in the same year. Hogan won the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. Tiger also became the first since Denny Shute in 1936-37 to win the PGA Championship in consecutive years. In winning the British Open, Woods became the youngest to complete the career Grand Slam of professional major championships and only the fifth ever to do so, following Hogan, Gene Sarazen, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus. Tiger also was the youngest Masters champion ever, at the age of 21 years, three months and 14 days, and was the first major championship winner of African or Asian heritage. Woods won five times on the PGA TOUR in 2001 and eight times worldwide. He won five times on the PGA TOUR again in 2002 and seven times worldwide, and was the PGA TOUR’s leading money winner for the fourth consecutive year with $6,912,625 ($8,417,188 worldwide). Sports Illustrated selected Woods as the 1996 and 2000 Sportsman of the Year. He was the first to win that award more than once. L’Equipe (France) selected him as 2000 World Champion of Champions. The Associated Press chose Woods as the Male Athlete of the Year for 1997, 1999 and 2000. He and Michael Jordan are the only athletes to win that award three times. He was selected as Reuters 2000 Sportsman of the Year. He was chosen as ESPY Male Athlete of the Year in 1997 (tied with Ken Griffey, Jr.), 1999 and 2000. The founding members of the World Sports Academy, in voting for the Laureus Sports Awards, also selected Tiger as 1999 and 2000 World Sportsman of the Year. Woods was selected as 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 Player of the Year by the PGA TOUR (Jack Nicklaus Award), the PGA of America, and the Golf Writers Association of America. His adjusted scoring average in 2000 of 67.79 strokes was the lowest ever – breaking his record of 68.43 in 1999 – and earned the Byron Nelson Award on the PGA TOUR and the Vardon Trophy from the PGA of America. He also had an actual scoring average in 2000 of 68.17 strokes, breaking Nelson’s record of 68.33 strokes in 1945. Woods won 11 tournaments in 2000, nine on the PGA TOUR, one on the PGA European Tour and the PGA Grand Slam. In addition, Woods and David Duval won the World Cup team title for the United States. He earned $9,188,321 on the PGA TOUR ($11,034,530 worldwide) and broke the PGA TOUR record of $6,616,585 which he set in 1999. Eldrick (Tiger) Woods, now 30 years of age, has had an unprecedented career since becoming a professional golfer in the late summer of 1996. He has won 72 tournaments, 54 of those on the PGA TOUR, including the 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005 Masters Tournaments, 1999, 2000 and 2006 PGA Championships, 2000 and 2002 U.S. Open Championships, and 2000, 2005 and 2006 British Open Championships. With his second Masters victory in 2001, Tiger became the first ever to hold all four professional major championships at the same time. He is the career victories leader among active players on the PGA TOUR, and is the career money list leader.

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