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The following biography
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Eldrick "Tiger" Woods (born
December 30, 1975, Cypress, California), is considered one of the greatest
golfers of all time. In 2005, at the age of 29, he reached the milestone of nine
major golf championships at a younger age than any other player. He also holds
the PGA Tour record for most consecutive tournament cuts made with 142.
Woods, who is of mixed race, is
credited with prompting a major surge of interest in the game of golf,
especially among racial minorities and younger people in the United States.
* * * *
Background and family
Woods is from a comfortable social
background. His father, Earl Woods, is a Vietnam War veteran and a retired U.S.
Army lieutenant colonel, of mixed African American, Caucasian, and Native
American ancestry. He is now the chairman of his son's charitable Tiger Woods
Foundation. Woods' mother Kultida Woods was a Thai citizen of Thai and Chinese
ancestry.
Woods' actual given name is Eldrick.
He was given the nickname Tiger at birth after a Vietnamese war comrade of his
father's and became generally known by that name. By the time he was achieving
national prominence in amateur golf, he was always called Tiger Woods.
In 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. They married in a sunset
ceremony at the Sandy Lane Hotel and Golf Club on Barbados amid armed security
before approximately 200 family and friends on October 5, 2004. They presently
make their home in Windermere, a suburb of Orlando, Florida.
Amateur career
Woods was a child prodigy who began
to play golf at very young age. While still a small child, he demonstrated his
golf skills in a television appearance with Mike Douglas. In 1984 he won the
9-10 boys' event at the Junior World Golf Championships. He was only eight at
the time, but 9-10 was the youngest age group in those days. He went on to win
the U.S. Junior Amateur title in 1991, 1992 and 1993. He remains the youngest
ever winner and the only multiple winner. He followed this with three
consecutive U.S. Amateur titles the next three years. With his first US Amateur
win in 1994, the year that he graduated high school, he became the youngest man
ever to win that event. He attended Stanford University and won one NCAA
individual championship. Woods decided to leave Stanford after two years because
he believed he was ready to succeed as a professional.
Professional career
Woods became a professional golfer
in August 1996 playing his first round of professional golf at the Greater
Milwaukee Open (GMO). He won two events in the three months of the 1996 season
that he played as a professional. The following April he won The Masters by a
record margin of 12 shots, and he has been by far the highest profile golfer in
the world since then. In the summer of 1997 Woods went to number one in the
Official World Golf Rankings for the first time.
Woods formed a close friendship
with leading PGA Tour professional Mark O'Meara, who was almost twenty years his
senior. O'Meara acted as a mentor to him for a time, and the two men won the
World Cup together. The inspiration of working closely with a brilliant young
talent was widely regarded as a catalyst for O'Meara's own career year in 1998,
when he won the only two majors of his career.
Despite suggestions that the other
players would only be competing for second place from now on, Woods' form began
to fade in the second half of 1997, and in 1998 he only won once on the PGA
Tour. At this time he was working on modifications to his swing to adapt to the
maturation of his physique, and to address concerns that the extremely vigorous
and elastic swing he had used in his youth might cause him back problems in the
long term and truncate his career. Woods was careful to avoid using this as an
excuse and instead responded to questions about his wavering form with reminders
that he was still very young, and was hoping to do better in the future.
In June 1999, Woods won the
Memorial Tournament. This was the beginning of a sustained period of dominance
of men's golf. He won seventeen PGA Tour events in two calendar years, and 32 in
five, both of them achievements that hadn't been rivaled for several decades,
and golf in Woods' era is generally seen as having much more strength in depth
than in earlier periods. He won seven out of eleven major championships starting
with the 1999 PGA Championship and finishing with the 2002 U.S. Open. During
this time, he also broke Old Tom Morris' 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.
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, and fell to second in the PGA Tour money
list in 2003 and to fourth on 2004. In September 2004, Woods' record streak as
the world's top-ranked golfer - 264 consecutive weeks - came to an end at the
Deutsche Bank Championship when Vijay Singh won the tournament and overtook
Woods in the rankings. At around this time Woods let it be known that he was
once again working on changes to his swing, and hoped that once the adjustments
were complete he would get back to his best.
At the start of the 2005 PGA Tour
season, Woods returned to his winning ways. On 6 March he won the Ford
Championship at Doral and returned to Number 1 in the World Rankings, but just
two weeks later, Singh displaced him once again. On 10 April, Woods broke his
"drought" in the majors by winning the 2005 Masters in a tie-breaking playoff,
which also assured him of returning to Number 1 in the World Rankings once
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.
To date, Woods has won 43 official
money events on the PGA Tour and 15 other professional titles. He is one of only
five players (along with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player)
in the history of golf to have won all four professional major championships in
his career. At the 2003 TOUR Championship, he set an all-time record for most
consecutive cuts made with 114 (passing Byron Nelson's previous record of 113),
and extended this mark to 142 before it ended on 13 May 2005 at the EDS Byron
Nelson Championship. Many commentators consider this one of the most remarkable
golf accomplishments of all time, given the margin by which he broke the old
record (and against much stronger fields than those in Nelson's day) and given
that during the streak, the next longest streak by another 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 two-time winner as an individual of Sports Illustrated magazine's
"Sportsman of the Year" award (1996, 2000).
Major Championships
Woods' major championship victories are as follows:
-
The Masters
(1997, 2001, 2002, 2005)
-
US Open (2000,
2002)
-
The Open
Championship (2000)
-
PGA Championship
(1999, 2000)
With his victory in The Masters in
2001, he became the only man to have held all four professional majors at once,
although this did not occur in a calendar year, and is therefore not recognized
by some as a true Grand Slam. The achievement has been nicknamed "The Tiger
Slam".
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. The "to par" and "low
72-holes" records are not always the same because while most championship golf
course 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 and Lee Janzen.
-
The Open
Championship: -19 (269), 2000 (outright to-par record)
-
Greg Norman holds
the low 72-holes record at 267.
-
PGA Championship:
-18 (270), 2000 (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 victory margin in two majors:
The Masters: 12 strokes, 1997
US Open: 15 strokes, 2000 (record
for all majors)
Results
|
Tournament |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005s |
|
The Masters |
T41 |
CUT |
1 |
T8 |
T18 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
T15 |
T22 |
1 |
|
U.S. Open |
WD |
T19 |
T18 |
T3 |
1 |
T12 |
T12 |
1 |
T20 |
T17 |
2 |
|
British Open |
T68 |
T22 |
T24 |
3 |
T7 |
1 |
T25 |
T28 |
T4 |
T9 |
|
|
PGA Championship |
DNP |
DNP |
T29 |
T10 |
1 |
1 |
T29 |
2 |
T39 |
T24
|
|
DNP = did not play
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
PGA TOUR career summary
Year Majors Other wins PGA TOUR
wins Earnings ($) Money list rank
Career 9* 34* 43* 50,483,026* 1st
* Updated 4 July 2005
Woods was only a professional for
around one third of the 1996 season. In addition to his PGA Tour wins, he has
won a number of events on professional tours outside North America, and several
professional events which were not part of an official tour schedule.
Woods makes most of his income from
endorsement contracts. He is one of the two highest earning sports people in the
world, alongside Formula One driver Michael Schumacher. In 2004 Forbes Magazine
estimated that the two men both had an annual income of $80 million.
PGA Tour wins
-
1996 Las Vegas
Invitational, Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic
-
1997 Mercedes
Championships, The Masters, GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic, Motorola Western
Open
-
1998 BellSouth
Classic
-
1999 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 Mercedes
Championships, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Bay Hill Invitational,
Memorial Tournament, U.S. Open, The Open Championship, PGA Championship, WGC-NEC
Invitational, Bell Canadian Open
-
2001 Bay Hill
Invitational, The Players Championship, The Masters, Memorial Tournament,
WGC-NEC Invitational
-
2002 Bay Hill
Invitational presented by Cooper Tires, The Masters, U.S. Open, Buick Open,
WGC-American Express Championship
-
2003 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
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship
-
2005 Buick
Invitational, Ford Championship at Doral, The Masters
Other professional wins
-
1997 Asian Honda
Classic (Asian Tour)
-
1998 Johnnie
Walker Classic (co-sanctioned by Asian Tour and PGA European Tour), PGA
Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event)
-
1999 Deutsche
Bank Open-TPC of Europe (PGA 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 Johnnie
Walker Classic (co-sanctioned by Asian Tour and PGA European Tour), World
Cup of Golf: team (unofficial event - with David Duval), PGA Grand Slam of
Golf (United States - unofficial event)
-
2001 Deutsche
Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe (PGA 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 (PGA European Tour), PGA Grand Slam of Golf
(United States - unofficial event)
-
2004 Dunlop
Phoenix (Japan Golf Tour), Target World Challenge (United States -
unofficial event)
Woods' golf game
When Woods burst onto the golf
scene one the things which made the biggest impact on fans was his long driving.
However, while he remains a long driver, he is by no means the longest, and does
not attempt to be. He has instead focused on developing an excellent all-around
game. His driving is generally accurate, his approach play accurate, his
recovery and bunker play sometimes brilliant, and his putting is usually
reliable. 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.
Early in his professional career
Woods's worked with the leading swing coach Butch Harmon, but since he has been
coached by the less-heralded Hank Haney. He 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
charismatic, Woods' approach is essentially cautious. He aims for consistency:
although he is better than any other golfer when he is in form, his dominance
comes not from having best rounds that are better then the other leading
professionals' bests, but from having fewer bad rounds. He plays fewer
tournaments than most professionals (twenty or twenty one a year compared to the
typical twenty five to thirty), and focuses his efforts on preparing for and
competing in the majors and most prestigious of the other tournaments. He is
also notable for playing in more international tournaments than most top
American golfers, although it should be pointed out that this only means two or
three a year, besides The Open Championship, and he is said to receive seven
figure appearance fees for most of them.
Charity and youth projects
Tiger Woods has established several charitable and youth
projects.
The Tiger Woods Foundation: The Tiger
Woods Foundation was established in 1996 by Tiger 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 participation 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.
Tiger Woods Learning Center: This is
a 35,000 square foot (3,000 m²) educational facility due to open in Anaheim,
California in 2005. 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. 2005's Tiger Jam VIII will be headlined by Stevie Wonder and Counting
Crows.
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.
Controversy
Early in Woods' career a small
number of golf experts expressed concern about his impact on the competitiveness
and thus the public appeal of professional golf. This issue was most prominent
in around 2001-02 when he was at his most dominant game level. "The question has
been asked, seriously, and more than once: Isn't Tiger Woods actually bad for
golf?" - commented Bill Lyon of Knight-Ridder, before going on to argue that he
wasn't. At first, some feared that Woods could drive all spirit of competition
out of the game of golf, by obsoleting existing courses, and having no
competitors. However, Woods was unable to keep up the winning streak, and the
increases in television ratings and prize money which have occurred since Woods
arrived on the golf scene have discredited the negative view of his impact on
the game. As of 2005 it is no longer heard. The mainstream view is that Woods'
success is one of the most positive things that has ever happened to golf.
Woods has also been mentioned in
relation to certain wider controversies, including the debate about the role of
sport in the aspirations of American youth, especially African American youth,
which some consider to be unhealthy. It should be noted that Woods is only one
quarter African American, and has said that he does not regard it as his primary
identity. Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune decried the "racially charged,
money-linked sports obsession" fueled by a "fixation in which the riches and
fame of such sports heroes as Michael Jordan have caused a wildly
disproportionate number of young black Americans, in particular, to focus on the
brass ring of professional sports at the expense of more realistic and
productive career paths." Woods dropped out of Stanford after two years to
pursue his golf career. Page wrote, "That works out fine for his bank account,
but, for too many others it only reinforces the wrongheaded notion that
academics should take a back seat to athletics." Others see the inclusion of
Woods in this debate as inappropriate, arguing that his main responsibility was
to make the right decision for his own career, that he had the backing of his
parents, who are certainly not feckless, and that subsequent events suggest he
timed his entry to professional golf appropriately. As mentioned above he has
funded university scholarships and is founding a learning centre.
Some activists have criticised him
on certain social and environmental issues. Some of these criticisms concern
golf in general, and the mention of Woods is a device to attract publicity by
utilising the name of a top celebrity. Specific criticisms of things he has done
personally have included those of his endorsement of an SUV (the 2002 Buick
Rendezvous) deemed second-most-dangerous by the IIHS, and of mutual funds which
do not meet certain activists' ethical investment criteria. The publicity which
activists are able to attract for their views about an individual are
proportionate to the individual's fame, so it could be considered that this
negative publicity says little about Woods' personal ethics relative to those of
other golfers, or of members of the general public.
* * * *
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