Tiger Woods

Lore & Background

Woods turned professional in 1996 at age 20. He won his first major, the 1997 Masters, by 12 strokes. He reached number one in the Official World Golf Ranking in June 1997. At the 2000 U.S. Open he won by 15 strokes. After winning the 2001 Masters he became the only player to win four consecutive major championships in a one-year period, known as the 'Tiger Slam'. He held the world's top ranking from August 1999 to September 2004 (264 consecutive weeks) and again from June 2005 to October 2010 (281 consecutive weeks). He took a hiatus from December 2009 to April 2010. He fell to number 58 in November 2011 before returning to number one between March 2013 and May 2014. Four back surgeries occurred between 2014 and 2017. He won the Tour Championship in September 2018 and the 2019 Masters. He has 15 major championships and 82 PGA Tour wins. He is one of six men to complete the career Grand Slam, the youngest to do so, and one of two to achieve it three times. He was a member of the winning U.S. team at the 1999 Ryder Cup and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in May 2019. On February 23, 2021, he was hospitalized after a single-car collision and underwent emergency surgery for compound fractures in his right leg and a shattered ankle. In a November 2021 interview, he stated his full-time professional career was over, though he intended to play a limited schedule. He returned to the PGA Tour at the 2022 Masters. In 2026, he was involved in another car crash and was charged with driving under the influence and causing property damage.

In Their Own Story

The air over the 17th hole at Augusta was still and thick with pine resin, the kind of late-April humidity that makes the grass look wet even under a clear sky. The crowd had gone quiet in that particular way Augusta crowds go quiet—not bored, but holding their breath, waiting for the next swing. He stood over a 14-iron, the flagstick a thin white line in the distance, the green a perfect emerald oval framed by the famous Rae's Creek. The gallery on the right had been silent for eleven holes. He set the ball on the tee, felt the familiar groove of the grip, and the swing came out as smooth as it had in '97, in '00, in '05. The ball tracked low, kissed the air, and stopped four feet from the cup. A murmur. Then a roar. He did not celebrate. He simply walked to the next hole, because there was still a round to finish and a standard to hold.

Reader's Guide

Woods was born in Cypress, California, the only child of Earl and Kultida Woods. He has two half-brothers and a half-sister from his father's first marriage. His ethnic background is described as 'Cablinasian' (Caucasian, Black, American Indian, and Asian). He was introduced to golf before age two by his father. He won the Junior World Championships six times, including four consecutive titles from 1988 to 1991. At age 15, he became the youngest U.S. Junior Amateur champion. He won three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur titles. In 1994, he became the youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur. He graduated from Western High School in 1994.

Did You Know?

• Woods has spent the most consecutive weeks and the most total weeks as the world's number-one player.
• He has been named PGA Player of the Year a record 11 times.
• He led the PGA Tour money list in 10 seasons.
• He was awarded AP Athlete of the Year four times and AP Athlete of the Decade of the 2000s.
• He was among Time's 100 most influential people in 2004, 2009, and 2019.