Tiger Woods has been the post-horse fry of golf for more than a tenner – which is singular consider he ’s only in his early 30 .
The golf world has not seen anything like Woods since Jack Nicklaus descend onto the panorama nearly five decades ago .
Like Nicklaus , Woods compiled an outstanding amateur record , and exigent success was expected of him when he hit the PGA Tour .
Also like Nicklaus , Tiger delivered , winning a major championship in his first twelvemonth as a professional . And like the untested Nicklaus , Woods hit the ball so much farther than other pros that he seemed to be playing a dissimilar plot .
In fact , Woods has made an even bigger impact on the game than Nicklaus did . For one thing , Woods is part African American ( also part Asian and a little part American Indian ) , which is significant because there were no black players on the Tour full - sentence when he arrived . He also play an exciting , assail elan and has a charismatic smile .
When Woods is in a tourney , attendance andtelevisionratings go through the ceiling . Woods has the kind of aggregative collection that brings new players to the game , much likeArnold Palmerhad .
If any golfer were ever intend for enormousness from an former geezerhood , it was Woods . Tiger , who maturate up in the Los Angeles suburbs and get word to swing theclubby mimicking his Church Father , Earl , made his first trip to the get range at just 18 month . At age two , he come through a 10 - and - under tourney and appeared on the Mike Douglas Show . At eight , he broke 80 for the first time . At 12 , he broke 70 . At 14 , he begin winning national junior tourney for players 17 and under .
Woods ' greatest amateur accomplishments came in USGA events . Before him , no musician had won the U.S. Junior Amateur more than once . Woods won it three meter in a row , beginning at age 15 ( the young ever to win the title of respect ) . He follow up on that by becoming the youngest - ever U.S. Amateur booster , at 18 . When he succeed the U.S. Amateur again at 19 and 20 , he became the first instrumentalist ever to win that event three true time .
Many of those win came in dramatic fashion . In his third U.S. Junior triumph , Woods was two down with two hole to roleplay . He birdie them both , and then won on the first redundant hole of sudden death .
He bewitch his first U.S. Amateur by coming back from six down after 13 holes of the 36 - pickle final to take a 2 - up triumph over Trip Kuehne . He captured his third by charging from five down after 18 to bring home the bacon on the 38th hole against Steve Scott .
By then , Woods had completed two eld at Stanford University , winning one NCAA Championship , and speculation in the golf game world centered on how soon he would turn pro . Woods take that step immediately fall out his third U.S. Amateur triumph , further by many top pros telling him he was quick for the Tour and sensing that college and unpaid golf would no longer hold enough interest for him .
Nike immediately pass on him a $ 40 million blurb contract , and Titleist jactitate another $ 20 million his way . At the fourth dimension , many wondered if Woods deserve it , since he had n’t yet proved himself on the Tour . He quickly demonstrated that he was worth every cent - and more .
He was a phenomenon in every sentience of the Bible . Even his fellow pros were in reverence of his distance off the tee , accomplished with the efficiency of his swing rather than brute forte ( he ’s 6'2 '' , 155 pounds ) . And he bring the spectators flood through the gate , especially youngsters who would n’t have otherwise been interested in golf .
Tigermania continued through 1999 . By the end of the season , Woods had accumulated eight triumph , include win in the final four case . Woods ring in the new class with his fifth win in a dustup . It ferment out to be his practiced season to particular date , as he won three straight majors , nine total PGA Tour events , and set or bind 27 Tour records .
The end of 2000 did n’t halt Tiger ’s winning ways . His victory in the Masters at the beginning of 2001 made him the title - holder of all four major backing issue at one time : the U.S. Open , the PGA Championship , The British Open , and the Masters . And in 2002 , his first - stead finish in the Masters put him alongside Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the onlymento have won back - to - back Masters event .
In 2003 and 2004 , Woods dropped to a more mortal level as he reworked his swing . Although Woods did n’t win a major event during those two years , he still won six events while deal with brutal media literary criticism – hearsay run rampant regarding the alleged tension between Tiger and his swing coach , Butch Harmon .
But while speculation flew as to whether Tiger would ever take back to the top , the man himself was already gearing up for yet another dominant season . Woods kicked off 2005 by win his first major event since 2002 , engage first shoes at the Masters and wowing the gang with a mind - flabbergast chip in on No . 16 at Augusta : The ball dripped down the common , nearly in dim motility , only to hang on the cusp of the muddle for what seemed like an eternity before clinking the bottom of the cup .
Woods was back .
Woods ' 12 - under - equation triumph over Colin Montgomerie at that Masters put him to the top of the Official World Golf Rankings once again . Soon after , Woods appropriate his 10th major form of address , winning the British Open by a gross profit margin of five throw . By the ending of 2005 , Woods had notch first - place finishes in six officialmoneyevents and had topped the money list for the 6th time in his vocation .
While Woods entered the 2006 season at the top of his game , his personal life took a annihilating downswing . His begetter , Earl Woods , died on May 3 of that class after a long turn with prostate cancer , and Woods took a leave of absence for nine weeks .
Still , it did n’t take Sir Henry Joseph Wood long to reverberate . Woods take the 2006 British Open by shooting 18 - under par , just one scene unforesightful of his record of 19 - under solidifying in 2002 . emotion tend high as Woods dedicate the profits to his father .
In 2007 , just 10 years after his first major win , Tiger Woods stand on top of not only his game but the full golf world . The start of year brought news of Tiger ’s prolonged supremacy over the world of golf game : Woods announced he would play host to his own tournament that come July . TheMaryland - based tourney – which is really host by Tiger ’s namesake foundation – was nickname the AT&T National and interchange the defunct International antecedently hold just outside ofDenver . Although the AT&T National did not have Tiger ’s name officially tack on to it , the consequence gather fame as " Tiger ’s Tournament . "
July of 2007 meant big changes for Tiger : His tourney , the AT&T National , was a not bad winner ; he took second place at the U.S. Open on July 17 ; and just one day after the U.S. Open , he and his wife , Swedish model Elin Nordegren , welcome their first tiddler , Sam , into the existence .
The following month , Tiger annunciate plan to contrive his first golf game trend in the United States : The Cliffs at High Carolina , a secret course located in the mountain near Asheville , N.C.
The impact of Tigermania will undoubtedly strike linksman and fans for generations to add up . WhileMichael Jordanis still the most famous athlete on the planet , Jordan might before long be known as the " Tiger Woods ofbasketball . "
