Tiger Woods is a living legend of golf, the most successful golfer of all time. Tiger Woods has had 623 weeks as world No. 1. He is currently the only golfer currently competing in the top 10 of Career major wins (ranked 2nd) and career PGA Tour wins (ranked 5th).
Things to know about golfer Tiger Woods
Real name: Eldrick Tont Woods
Date of birth: December 30, 1975
Place of birth: Cypress, California, USA
Height: 1.85 m
Title:
14-time champion of majors
18-time champion of World Golf Championships
82 PGA Tour championships
In 1996 Woods began playing professionally and it only took one year to win his first major (Masters). At the age of 21, he even became the youngest golfer to win this prestigious tournament with an impressive 12-stroke victory. That same year, precisely in June, he took the highest position in the world rankings.
Woods won the second major of his career at the 1999 US PGA Championship to begin a series of 264 consecutive weeks reigning at the top of the world, before being usurped by Vijay Singh in September 2004. During that sublime period, the American golfer won another series of majors – starting with the US Open 2000 with a record of 15 strokes at Pebble Beach…
There were periods of stumbling in 2003 and 2004, but the championship at the 2005 Masters opened a “flood” of major titles that pulled back to Woods’ traditional room. He thereby quickly regained the number one position in the world.
During this period, injuries began to loom and affect the legendary golfer – at one point causing him to miss eight months. But Woods is still praised now – especially after winning the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines. This was his 14th major title – his last to date.
The real storm came in 2009, when information surfaced that Woods was secretly having sex with many women.
Early one morning in November of that year, after being discovered by his wife, a former Swedish model – Elin Nordegren – of his adultery, Woods angrily drove out of the house and had an accident. He was not injured, but the image of a successful man who loved his wife and children began to crumble.
His marriage broke down and his body deteriorated after a series of surgeries, but the fans never once turned their backs on him like the sponsors did.
When Woods sat out for two years, the greatness of “Super Tiger” became even greater, because all everyone had were memories and images that no one had ever done on the court. For many people, remembering golf means remembering Tiger Woods.
When Woods returned to competition with five years without a title, everyone still watched, even though he could not dominate like before.
That’s why fans went crazy over the victory at the 2019 Masters. The memories have now become real again. The red polo shirt on Sunday sparkled like never before. The excitement has come, from young people who have never seen Woods win a major, to the older generation who always thought that the American golfer would not be able to win again.
The moment the 43-year-old star was crowned at the Masters was when everything seemed like old times, despite the fact that 22 years is enough to make golf change so much.
Woods made amends with those who loved him, who forgave him for his past mistakes. Fans probably cannot forget that Woods was addicted to sex and cheated on his wife, and was addicted to alcohol and stimulants, leading to accidents and arrests. No one will forget how depressed Woods was after rounds of over 80 strokes in 2015 and wanted to give up everything. But in the end, they still want Tiger Woods to be the greatest golfer in history, not Jack Nicklaus or Sam Snead.
As Finchem puts it, people want to watch Woods play, but they also want to love him as a person – the person who brings the future, and also the past, to the world of golf.
