Tiger Woods celebrates his 50th birthday. We look back at a professional career that remains nearly unrivaled.
Eldrick Tont Woods was born on December 30, 1975, in Cypress, California, to Kultida Woods, originally from Thailand, and Earl Woods, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army. Nicknamed \”Tiger\” by his father in honor of a comrade from the Vietnam War, Woods grew up on the West Coast near Los Angeles with two half-brothers and a half-sister. At six months old, young Tiger was said to mimic his father’s golf swings, and just before his second birthday, he appeared on the Mike Douglas Show as a golf prodigy, demonstrating swings and putts alongside his father and comedian Bob Hope.
From College Star to Amateur Champion
Tiger Woods achieved his first major amateur victory at eight years old by winning the 1984 Junior World Golf Championship. More junior amateur titles followed until 1994, when he won the NCAA title at Stanford University in California while studying economics, gaining nationwide recognition in the US.
Woods turned professional in August 1996, signing then-record lucrative endorsement deals, including a $40 million contract with Nike. He won two tournaments in his debut season, qualifying for the Tour Championship. After that season, he was named Sports Illustrated’s \”Sportsman of the Year\” and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.
His first Major victory came in 1997 at the Masters Tournament at Augusta National, where he won by 12 strokes at 18 under par. Woods was the first Masters winner with a dark skin tone in a predominantly white professional golf landscape. In June 1997, just 42 weeks into his professional career, he became the world’s number one ranked golfer.
Tiger Woods first Masters win 1997. (Photo: Getty)
The Tiger Slam: Unprecedented Dominance
Woods’ subsequent achievements have been unparalleled. Following his 1999 PGA Championship win, he completed the \”Tiger Slam\” by holding all four major titles simultaneously in 2000 and 2001, the only modern-era player to do so. Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, Woods dominated the PGA Tour, securing 14 major titles by 2019, the year he added his 15th Masters title. He shares the PGA Tour record of 82 victories with Sam Snead. Although competing in eight Ryder Cups for the US team, he only achieved victory once, in 1999.
His playing style, marked by raw power, precision, and mental toughness, redefined professional golf with his aggressive and technically