Tiger Woods

Eldrick "Tiger" Woods

Personal Information
Birth	(1975-12-30) December 30, 1975 Cypress, California
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Nationality	United States
Wife	Elin Nordegren (2004–present)
Residence	Orlando, Florida
College	Stanford University (for two years)
Career
Turned Pro	1996
Current tour	PGA Tour (joined 1996)
Professional wins	79 (PGA Tour: 57, other individual: 20, 2-man team: 2)
Major Championship results Wins: 12
Masters	Won 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005
U.S. Open	Won 2000, 2002
British Open	Won 2000, 2005, 2006
PGA Championship	Won 1999, 2000, 2006
Awards
Rookie of the Year	1996
AP Male Athlete of the Year	1997, 1999, 2000, 2006
PGA Tour Money Winner	1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006
PGA Tour Player of the Year	1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
Vardon Trophy	1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005
Byron Nelson Award	1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
Mark H. McCormack Award	1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

Eldrick "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Currently the World No. 1, Woods was the highest paid professional athlete in 2005, having earned an estimated $87 million. It is estimated that he will become the first ever athlete to become a billionaire from winnings and endorsements. In 2006, at the age of 30, he won his eleventh and twelfth professional major golf championships and has more wins on the PGA Tour than any other active golfer. He is the only active golfer in the top 10 in career major wins or career PGA Tour wins.

Among his achievements, Woods has held the number one position in the world rankings for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks. He has been awarded PGA Tour Player of the Year a record eight times, and he has led the money list seven times (one behind Jack Nicklaus' record). He has been named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year four times, a record he shares with Lance Armstrong.

Woods, who is multiracial, is credited with prompting a major surge of interest in the game of golf among minorities and young people in the United States.

Background and family

Eldrick 'Tiger' Woods was born on December 30, 1975 in Cypress, California to Earl and Kultida Woods. He is the only child of their marriage but has two half-brothers, Earl Jr. (born 1955) and Kevin (born 1957), and one half-sister, Royce (born 1958) from the 18-year marriage of Earl Woods and his first wife, Barbara Woods Gray. Earl, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and Vietnam War veteran was of mixed African American (50 percent), Chinese (25 percent) and Native American (25 percent) ancestry. Kultida (nee Punsawad), originally from Thailand, is of mixed Thai (50 percent), Chinese (25 percent), and Dutch (25 percent) ancestry. This makes Woods himself one-quarter Chinese, one-quarter Thai, one-quarter African, one-eighth Native American, and one-eighth Dutch. He affably refers to his ethnic make-up as Cablinasian (a portmanteau of Caucasian, Black, American-Indian, and Asian), a term he coined himself.

Tiger got his nickname from a Vietnamese soldier friend of his father, Vuong Dang Phong, to whom his father had also given the Tiger nickname. Woods became generally known by that name and by the time he had achieved national prominence in junior and amateur golf was simply known as "Tiger Woods." He grew up in the Los Angeles area, attending high school at Western High in Anaheim.

Marriage

In November 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, during The Open Championship in 2001. They married on October 5, 2004 in the Caribbean island of Barbados and live at Isleworth, a community in Windermere, a suburb of Orlando, Florida. They also have homes in Jackson, Wyoming, California, and Sweden. In January 2006, Woods and his wife purchased a US$39 million residential property in Jupiter Island, Florida, which they intend to make their primary residence. Woods' Jupiter Island neighbors will include fellow golfers Gary Player, Greg Norman and Nick Price, as well as singers Celine Dion and Alan Jackson.

At the end of 2006 Tiger and Elin announced that they are expecting their first child in the summer of 2007. In late January 2007, Woods admitted that he would miss The Open Championship at Carnoustie if it coincides with the birth.

Career

Early life and amateur career

File:Tiger woods on Mike Douglas show.jpg

Woods (age 2) on The Mike Douglas Show (October 6, 1978). From left to right; Tiger Woods, Mike Douglas, Earl Woods, Bob Hope.

Woods was a child prodigy who began to play golf at the age of two. In 1978, he putted against comedian Bob Hope in a television appearance on The Mike Douglas Show. At age three, Woods shot a 48 over nine holes at the Navy Golf Club in Cypress, California, and at age five, he appeared in Golf Digest and on ABC's That's Incredible. In 1984 at the age of eight he won the 9–10 boys' event, the youngest age group available, at the Junior World Golf Championships. Woods went on to win the Junior World Championships six times, including four consecutive wins from 1988 to 1991. At the age of 15, he became the youngest ever U.S. Junior Amateur Champion, was voted Southern California Amateur Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, and Golf Digest Amateur Player of the Year 1991. He successfully defended his title at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, becoming the first multiple winner, competed in his first PGA Tour event, the Nissan Los Angeles Open and was named Golf Digest Amateur Player of the Year, Golf World Player of the Year and Golfweek National Amateur of the Year in 1992.

The following year, he won his third consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, and remains the event's youngest-ever and only multiple winner. In 1994, Woods became the youngest ever winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship. He was a member of the American team at the 1994 Eisenhower Trophy World Amateur Golf Team Championships and 1995 Walker Cup.. Later that year, he enrolled at Stanford University, and won his first collegiate event, the William Tucker Invitational. At Stanford he majored in Economics and was nicknamed "Urkel" by his college teammates. In 1995, Woods defended his U.S. Amateur title, and was voted Pac-10 Player of the Year, NCAA First Team All-American, and Stanford's Male Freshman of the Year (an award that encompasses all sports). He participated in his first PGA Tour major, The Masters, and tied for 41st,the only amateur to make the cut. At age 20 in 1996, Woods became the first golfer to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles and won the NCAA individual golf championship. In winning the Silver Medal as leading amateur at The Open Championship, Woods tied the record for an amateur aggregate score of 281. He left college after two years and turned professional.

Professional career

Tiger Woods giving a driving demonstration aboard the USS George Washington.

With the announcement, "Hello World," Tiger Woods became a professional golfer in August 1996, and signed endorsement deals worth $40 million from Nike and $20 million from Titleist. He played his first round of professional golf at the Greater Milwaukee Open tying for 60th place, but went on to win two events in the next three months, and qualify for the Tour Championship. Woods was named Sports Illustrated's' 1996 Sportsman of the Year and PGA Rookie of the Year. He began his tradition of wearing a red shirt during the final round of tournaments, a link to his college days at Stanford and a color he believes symbolizes aggression and assertiveness.

The following April, Woods won his first golf major, The Masters, by a record margin of 12 strokes, became the youngest Masters winner, and the first winner of African or Asian descent. He set a total of 20 Masters records and tied 6 others. He won another three PGA Tour events that year, and on June 15 1997, in only his 42nd week as a professional, rose to number one in the Official World Golf Rankings, the fastest ever ascent to world No. 1. He was named PGA Player of the Year, the first golfer to win the award the year following his rookie season.

While expectations for Woods were high, Woods' form faded in the second half of 1997, and in 1998 he only won one PGA Tour event. Woods answered critics of his "slump" and what seemed to be wavering form by maintaining he was undergoing extensive swing changes with his coach, Butch Harmon, and was hoping to do better in the future.

In June 1999, Woods won the Memorial Tournament, a victory that marked the beginning of perhaps one of the greatest sustained periods of dominance in the history of men's golf. He completed his 1999 campaign by winning his last four starts, and finished the season with eight wins — a feat not achieved in the past 25 years. He was voted PGA Tour Player of the Year and Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the second time in three years.

Woods rang in the new millennium with his fifth consecutive victory and began a record-setting season, where he would win three consecutive majors, 9 PGA Tour events, and set or tie 27 Tour records. He went on to capture his sixth consecutive victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with a comeback for the ages. Trailing by seven strokes with seven holes to play, Woods finished eagle-birdie-par-birdie for a 64 and a two-stroke victory. His six consecutive wins were the most since Hogan in 1948 and only five behind Byron Nelson’s record of 11 in a row. In the 2000 U.S. Open, Woods broke or tied a total of nine U.S. Open records with his 15-shot win, including Old Tom Morris's record for the largest victory margin ever in a major championship, which had stood since 1862, and became the Tour's all-time career money leader. In the 2000 Open Championship at St Andrews, which he won by eight strokes, Woods set the record for lowest score to par (−19) in any major tournament, and he holds at least a share of that record in all four major championships. At 24 he became the youngest golfer to achieve the Career Grand Slam. His major championship streak was seriously threatened at the 2000 PGA Championship, however, when Bob May went head-to-head with Woods on Sunday at Valhalla Golf Club. Woods only escaped with a victory after winning a three-hole playoff, with a birdie on the first hole and pars on the next two. He joined Ben Hogan (1953) as the only other player to win three professional majors in one season. Three weeks later, Woods won his third straight start on Tour at the Bell Canadian Open, becoming only the second man after Lee Trevino in 1971 to win the Triple Crown of Golf (U.S., British, and Canadian Opens) in one year. Of the twenty events he entered in 2000, he finished in the top three 14 times. His adjusted scoring average of 67.79 and his actual scoring average of 68.17 were the lowest in PGA Tour history, besting his own record of 68.43 in 1999 and Byron Nelson's average of 68.33 in 1945, respectively. He was named the 2000 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.

The following season, Woods continued dominating. His 2001 Masters win marked the only time within the era of the modern "grand slam" that any player has been the holder of all four major championship titles at the same time, a feat now known as the "Tiger Slam". It is not viewed as as a true Grand Slam, however, because it was not achieved in a calender year. Surprisingly, Woods was not a factor in the three remaining majors of the year, but finished with the most PGA Tour wins in the season, with five. In 2002, Woods started off strong, joining Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) as the only men to have won back-to-back Masters. Two months later, Woods was the only player under par at the U.S. Open, and resurrected buzz about the calendar Grand Slam, which had eluded him in 2000. All eyes were on Woods at the Open Championship, but his third round score of 81 ended Grand Slam hopes. At the PGA Woods nearly repeated his 2000 feat of winning three majors in one year but bogeys at the 13th and 14th holes in the final round cost him the championship by one stroke. Nonetheless, he took home the money title, Vardon Trophy, and Player of the Year honors for the fourth year in a row.

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, falling to second in the PGA Tour money list in 2003 and fourth in 2004. In September 2004, Woods' record streak of 264 consecutive weeks as the world's top-ranked golfer came to an end at the Deutsche Bank Championship, when Vijay Singh won and overtook Woods in the Official World Golf Rankings. Many commentators were puzzled by Woods' "slump," offering explanations that ranged from Woods' rift with swing coach Butch Harmon to his marriage. At the same time, Woods let it be known that he was again working on changes to his swing, this time in hopes of reducing the wear and tear on his surgically-repaired left knee, which was subjected to severe stress in the 1998–2003 version of his swing. Again, Woods anticipated that once the adjustments were complete, he would return to his previous form.

In the 2005 PGA Tour season, Woods quickly returned to his winning ways. He won the Buick Invitational in January and in March he outplayed Phil Mickelson to win the Ford Championship at Doral and temporarily return to the Official World Golf Rankings number one position (Singh displaced him once again two weeks later). In April Woods finally broke his "drought" in the majors by winning the 2005 Masters in a playoff (after holing a chip-in on the 16th hole), which regained him the number one spot in the World Rankings. Singh and Woods swapped the number 1 position several times over the next couple of months, but by early July, Woods had established an advantage, propelled further by a victory in The Open Championship, a win that gave him his 10th major. Woods went on to win six official money events on the PGA Tour in 2005, topping the money list for the sixth time in his career. Woods' 2005 wins also included two at the World Golf Championships.

Woods on the green at The Masters in 2006.

For Woods, the year 2006 was markedly different from 2005. While he began just as dominantly (winning the first two tournaments he entered on the year) and was in the hunt for his fifth Masters championship in April, Woods never mounted a Sunday charge to defend his title, allowing Phil Mickelson to claim the green jacket. Shortly thereafter (May 3, 2006), Woods' father/mentor/inspiration, Earl, died after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. Woods took a nine-week-long hiatus from the PGA Tour to be with his family. When he returned for the 2006 U.S. Open, the rust was evident — he missed the cut at Winged Foot, the first time he had missed the cut at a major as a professional, and ending his record-tying streak of 39 consecutive cuts made at majors. A tie for second at the Western Open just three weeks later showed him poised to defend his Open crown at Hoylake.

At the The Open Championship, Woods staged a tour de force in course management, putting, and accuracy with irons. Using almost exclusively long irons off the tee (he hit driver only one time the entire week — the 16th hole of the first round), Woods missed just four fairways all week (hitting the fairway 86 percent of the time), and his score of −18 to par (three eagles, 19 birdies, 43 pars, and seven bogeys) was just one off of his major championship record −19, set at St Andrews in 2000. The victory was an emotional one for Woods, who dedicated his play to his father's memory. Four weeks later, at the PGA Championship, Woods again won in dominating fashion making only three bogeys, tying the record for fewest in a major. He finished the tournament at 18 under par equaling the to-par record in the PGA that he shares with Bob May. In August 2006 he won his 50th professional tournament at the Buick Open, and at 30 years and 7 months old, he became the youngest to do so. He ended the year by winning his last six PGA Tour events, and won the 3 most prestigious awards given by the PGA Tour (Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Byron Nelson Awards) in the same year for a record seventh time. At the close of his first eleven seasons, Tiger's 54 wins and 12 major wins had eclipsed the all time eleven-season PGA Tour total win record of 52 (set by Byron Nelson) and total majors record of 11 (set by Jack Nicklaus). He was named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for a record-tying fourth time.

Woods and tennis star Roger Federer, who share a major sponsor, have developed a friendship and first met at the 2006 U.S. Open tennis final. Since then, they have attended each other's events and have voiced their mutual appreciation for each other's talents.

Woods stormed into 2007 with a two-stroke victory at the Buick Invitational for his third straight win at the event and his seventh consecutive win on the PGA Tour. The victory marked the fifth time he has won his first tournament of the season. With this win, he became the third man (after Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead) to win at least five times in three different events on the PGA Tour (his two other events are the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and WGC-CA Championship). Woods earned his second victory of the year at the WGC-CA Championship for his third consecutive win at the event and 13th official World Golf Championships event. With this victory, he became the first player to three-peat in five different events. Woods earned his third victory of the season by two strokes at the Wachovia Championship, the 24th different PGA Tour tournament Woods has won. He has collected at least three wins in a season nine times in his 12-year career. Woods then revealed he had Lasik laser surgery for the second time the Monday after the 2007 Masters. Before the first procedure in 1999, he said he would be considered legally blind without glasses or contacts..

As of May 2007, Woods has won 57 official money PGA Tour events, has 20 other individual professional titles, and two team titles in the two-man WGC-World Cup. With his victory at the 2006 WGC-American Express Championship, he became the first player in PGA Tour history to win at least eight times in three seasons. His victory in the Buick Invitational in January 2007 placed him 2nd for the longest PGA Tour win streak at 7 straight. Only Byron Nelson's streak of 11 wins in 1945 is longer. He has successfully defended a title 18 times on the PGA Tour, has finished runner-up 21 times, third place 17 times, and has won 28% (57 out of 207) of his professional starts on the PGA Tour. He has a 28-6 record when leading after 36 holes in Tour events, and a 39–3 record when leading after 54 holes. He owns the lowest career scoring average and the most career earnings of any player in PGA Tour history. He has been the PGA Tour Money Winner seven times, trailing Jack Nicklaus by one, the PGA Player of the Year a record eight times, the Vardon Trophy winner a record six times, and the Byron Nelson Award winner a record seven times. Woods is one of five players (along with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player) to have won all four professional major championships in his career, known as the "Career Grand Slam", and was the youngest to do so. Bobby Jones won all four of what were in his era considered major championships. Woods's win at the 2005 Open Championship made him only the second golfer (after Nicklaus) to have won all four majors more than once. Woods holds at least a share of the scoring record in relation to par in all four majors, and also holds the margin of victory record in two majors, The Masters and the U.S. Open. At the 2003 TOUR Championship, it was widely reported in the print media that he set "an all-time record for most consecutive cuts", starting in 1998, with 114 (passing Byron Nelson's previous record of 113) and that he extended this mark to 142 before it ended on May 13, 2005 at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Many consider this to be one of the most remarkable golf accomplishments of all time, given the margin by which he broke the old record (and against stronger fields in terms of depth than those in Nelson's day) and given that during the streak, the next longest streak by any other player was usually only in the 10s or 20s.

When Woods turned pro, Mike "Fluff" Cowan was his caddie until March 8, 1999. He was replaced by Steve Williams, who has become a close friend of Woods and is often credited with helping Woods with key shots and putts.

Playing style

When Woods burst onto the professional golf scene in 1996, one of the things that made the biggest impact with fans was his long driving. However, when he did not upgrade his equipment in the following years (insisting upon the use of True Temper Dynamic Gold steel-shafted clubs and smaller steel clubheads that promoted accuracy over distance), many opponents caught up to him, a trend that became all too obvious during the 2002–2003 PGA Tour seasons — Phil Mickelson would even make a joke in 2003 about Woods using "inferior equipment", which did not sit well with either Nike or Woods. During 2004, Woods finally upgraded his driver technology to a larger clubhead and graphite shaft, which coupled with his prodigious clubhead speed to make him one of the Tour's lengthier players off the tee once again.

Despite his power advantage, Woods has always focused on developing an excellent all-around game. Although in recent years he has typically been near the bottom of the Tour rankings in driving accuracy, his iron play is generally as accurate as any player ever to play (including Jack Nicklaus), his recovery and bunker play is often brilliant (for example, his 30-foot chip-in at Augusta's 16th during the 2005 Masters), and his putting (especially under pressure) is possibly his greatest asset. 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 worked almost exclusively with leading swing coach Butch Harmon, but since March 2004, he has been coached by Hank Haney. In June 2004, Woods was involved in a media spat with Harmon, who 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.

While he is considered one of the most charismatic figures in golf's history, Woods' approach is, at its core, cautious. He aims for consistency. Although he is better than any other Tour player when he is in top form, his dominance comes not from regularly posting extremely low rounds, but instead from avoiding bad rounds. Woods plays fewer tournaments than most professionals (15–21 per year, compared to the typical 25–30), and focuses his efforts on preparing for (and peaking at) the Majors and the most prestigious of the other tournaments. Woods' manner off of the course is cautious as well, as he carries himself in interviews and public appearances with a carefully controlled demeanor reminiscent of the corporate athlete persona developed between Nike and Michael Jordan.

Though he is known to be extremely focused and almost machine-like during tournaments, many golfers have mentioned how Woods is easy to get along with and has a good sense of humor. John Daly mentioned in his autobiography that "Tiger Woods is one of my favorite golfers to play with. The kid is an absolute riot and is just hysterical. Everyone who thinks he is just robotic during tournaments needs to walk 18 holes with him to realize how funny and genuine of a guy he really is."

Career achievements

Main article: Career achievements of Tiger Woods

Woods has won numerous awards and set many records during his career. The following are some of his achievements:

• PGA Tour wins - 57 (5th all time)
• World Golf Championships - 13 (1st all time)
  • WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship (2)
  • WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (5)
  • WGC-CA Championship (6)

Major championships

Woods' 12 major championship victories are as follows:

Major	Victories	Years Won
The Masters	4	1997, 2001, 2002, 2005
US Open	2	2000, 2002
British Open	3	2000, 2005, 2006
PGA Championship	3	1999, 2000, 2006

PGA Tour career summary

Year	Wins (Majors)	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
1996	2 (0)	790,594	24
1997	4 (1)	2,066,833	1
1998	1	1,841,117	4
1999	8 (1)	6,616,585	1
2000	9 (3)	9,188,321	1
2001	5 (1)	6,687,777	1
2002	5 (2)	6,912,625	1
2003	5	6,673,413	2
2004	1	5,365,472	4
2005	6 (2)	10,628,024	1
2006	8 (2)	9,941,563	1
2007*	3	4,181,091	1
Career*	57 (12)	69,893,415	1

* Complete through The Players Championship on May 13, 2007.

Equipment

As at 2007 Wachovia Championship

• Driver: Nike SasQuatch Tour 460 cc driver (8.5 degree)
• Fairway Woods: Nike SasQuatch 2, 3Wood (15 degrees) and Nike T40 5 Wood (19 degrees) *Tiger will put his 5 Wood or 2 Iron in the bag depending upon the course setup and conditions. During his season-opening win at the Buick Invitational he was said to be using the Nike SQ2 fairway wood -- a new product from Nike in 2007.
• Irons: Nike Forged Irons (2-PW) (all irons are 1 degree upright, have D4 swingweight, standard size Tour Velvet Cord grips and True Temper Dynamic Gold X-100 shafts)
• Wedges: Nike 56 degree Pro Combo SW and 60 degree Flatback TW LW
• Putter: Scotty Cameron By Titleist GSS Newport 2 putter (standard loft and lie, 35 inches long) with PING putter grip (Tiger has used the same exact putter since 1999, and has won 11 of his 12 majors with it.) This is the only club in his bag that he's not paid to use, and has said several times that it gives him a confidence that he's never had with another putter.
• Ball: Prototype Nike One Platinum (only ones with TIGER on them)
• Golf Glove: Nike Dri-FIT Tour glove
• Golf Shoes: Nike SP 8 TW Tour

Frank

"Frank" is the name given to the club cover always on Tiger's bag. It is a plush tiger head created by his mother Kultida. On it is stitched, "from mom with love" in Thai.

An animatronic version of Frank, created by M5 Industries, was used in several Nike Golf commercials starting in 2003, voiced by actor Paul Giamatti. In these commercials, Frank would give advice to Tiger, or even seem to be more a nuisance than a help, much in the same vein as the "Lil' Penny" commercials Nike did with Penny Hardaway in the mid-1990s. In one commercial, Frank was talking trash at Charles Barkley during a pro-am. In another, when Tiger thought Frank was giving bad advice, Tiger told Frank, "You can be replaced." (Tiger's mom makes him a new "Frank" every year.)

Other ventures

Charity and youth projects

Woods has established several charitable and youth projects.

• The Tiger Woods Foundation: The Tiger Woods Foundation was established in 1996 by 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 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. The Tiger Woods Foundation recently has teamed up with the PGA Tour to create a new PGA tour event that will take place in the nation's capital (Washington, D.C.) beginning in July, 2007. Tiger believes being a good role model is even more important than golf and that golf is a way he can positively influence others. The main focus of this foundation is to help disadvantaged youngsters become better people.
• In The City Golf Clinics and Festivals: Since 1997, the Tiger Woods Foundation has conducted junior golf clinics across the country. The Foundation began the “In the City” golf clinic program in 2003. The first three clinics were held in Indio, Calif., Wilkinsburg, Pa., and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and were targeted to all youth, ages 7-17, and their families. Each three-day event features golf lessons on Thursday and Friday of clinic week and a free community festival on Saturday. Cities are selected to participate in the clinics through a formal bid process. Winning cities invite 15 junior golfers to participate and receive instruction from local PGA professionals. Top junior golfers from each In The City Clinic are participate in the annual Tiger Woods Foundation Youth Clinic. This three-day junior golf event includes tickets to Disney Resorts; a pitch, putt and drive skills tournament; a junior golf clinic; and an exhibition by Tiger Woods. As part of the junior golf clinics, TWF works with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to bring at least one Make-A-Wish child to each clinic. These children are given the opportunity to meet Tiger, take some photos with him and talk to him about anything they choose.
• Tiger Woods Learning Center: This is a 35,000 square foot educational facility in Anaheim, California which opened in February 2006. 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 centre will feature extensive multi-media facilities and an outdoor golf teaching area.
• Tiger Jam: An annual fundraising concert which has raised over $10 million for the Tiger Woods Foundation. 2006's Tiger Jam IX was headlined by Sting and Jon Bon Jovi is headlining Tiger Jam X.
• 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.

Woods has also participated in charity work for his current caddy, Steve Williams. On April 24 2006 Woods won an auto racing event that benefited the Steve Williams Foundation to raise funds to provide sporting careers for disadvantaged youth.

Golf course design

Woods announced on December 3 2006 that he will develop his first golf course in the United Arab Emirates. The Tiger Woods Dubai will feature a 7,700 yard, par-72 course named Al Ruwaya (meaning "serenity"), a 60,000 square foot clubhouse, a golf academy, 320 exclusive villas and a boutique hotel with 80 suites. Tiger Woods Dubai is a joint venture between himself and Tatweer, a member of the government-affiliated Dubai Holding. Woods chose Dubai because he was excited about the "challenge of transforming a desert terrain into a world-class golf course." The development is scheduled to be finished in late 2009 at Dubailand, the region's largest tourism and leisure project.

Hobbies

Woods enjoys working out, boating, water sports, fishing, cooking and car racing. He has never owned an airplane, with his sponsor NetJets providing that as part of his sponsorship package.

In February 2004, Woods signed a contract with Christensen Shipyards for delivery of a 155 foot Trideck Motor Yacht known as Hull 026. The 4,000 nautical mile range boat was about two-thirds complete, and after Woods agreed a purchase price of around $20 million, his then fiancee Elin would travel regularly to the Vancouver, Washington, yard to make interior decorating decisions.

The toys on the boat include: three Sea-Doos, two oceangoing kayaks, and a pair of Vespa scooters. She also has six helium tanks (when combined with oxygen and nitrogen, helium creates trimix, a breathable blend that lets one dive deeper than traditional tanks full of compressed air). The boat also has an inflatable decompression chamber, an important safety measure for divers who go deeper than the standard 120-foot recreational limit. All the gear is for spear fishing, with Woods once explaining his passion for diving on his website: "The fish don't know who I am."

Part of the contract Woods agreed with the yard was confidentiality — although pictures of the boat could be used, its name and interior details, through final fittings, were not to be disclosed. After his marriage of 5 October, the couple used the boat, now called "Privacy" on a honeymoon cruise to Puerto Rico — where on 14 October, the boat was boarded by customs officials for not giving the required four days entry notice.

On his return from honeymoon, Woods sued Christensen for more than $75,000 in damages, because his privacy was violated. Because of Woods' celebrity and the clout he carries in the advertising world, compensatory damages could have reached $50 million. The action was settled out of court, and it is believed that Christensen paid Woods around half the cost of his yacht in compensation.

Endorsements

Woods preparing for a photo shoot in 2006.

Shortly after his 21st birthday, Woods began signing numerous endorsement deals with companies including General Motors, Titleist, General Mills, American Express, Accenture and Nike. Woods' 5-year, $100 million contract with Nike was the largest endorsing deal ever signed by an athlete at that time. Famous Nike advertising campaigns featuring Woods include the "I am Tiger Woods" spots, in which children claim they are the golfing superstar. Another featured Woods doing a trick with a golf ball in which he bounces a ball on a club several times then hits it baseball style, a routine that Woods often performs during golf exhibitions.

On Father's Day after the passing of his father, Nike released a commercial featuring home movie clips from Tiger's childhood, showing Tiger receiving training and support from his father. The commercial was dedicated to Earl Woods and "fathers everywhere." His talent, looks, youth appeal, and personality have made him a bankable celebrity and the highest valued athletic spokesperson numerous years in a row.

Woods also endorses the 'Tiger Woods PGA Tour' series of video games; he has done so from 1999 up to 2007 and it is likely that he will continue to do so.

Woods collaborated with TAG Heuer to develop the world's first professional golf watch, released in April 2005.

The PGA Tour prohibits paying players appearance fees but it is common elsewhere. Initially, people speculated that Tiger’s appearance fees were one million dollars each appearance and in 2006 had escalated to three million dollars.

Controversy

Cut streak

In both Nelson's and Woods's eras, "making the cut" has been defined as receiving a paycheck. However, in Nelson's day only players who placed in the top 20 in an event won a paycheck whereas in Woods's day only players who reach a low enough score within the first 36 holes win a paycheck. Several golf analysts argue that Woods did not actually surpass Nelson's consecutive cuts mark, reasoning that 31 of the tournaments in which Woods competed were "no-cut" events, meaning all the players in the field were guaranteed to compete throughout the entire event regardless of their scores through 36 holes (and hence all "made the cut," meaning that they all received a paycheck). These analysts argue that this would leave Woods's final consecutive cuts made at 111, and Nelson's at 113.

At least ten of the tournaments in which Nelson played did not have modern day cuts; that is, all of the players in these events were guaranteed to compete past 36 holes. The Masters, for example, did not institute a 36 hole cut until 1957 (which was well after Nelson retired), the PGA Championship was match play until 1958 and it is unclear whether or not three other events in which Nelson competed had 36 hole cuts. Therefore, these analysts remove "no 36 hole cut" events from both cut streak measures, leaving Nelson's consecutive cuts made at 103 (or possibly less) and Woods's at 111.

However, in the tournaments in which Nelson competed that did not have 36 hole cuts (that is: the Masters, PGA Championship and the possible 3 other tournaments) only the top 20 players received a paycheck even though all players in these events were guaranteed to compete past 36 holes. Hence in these no 36 hole cut events, Nelson still placed in the top 20, so Nelson's 113 cuts made is reflective of his 113 top 20 finishes. Woods achieved a top 20 finish 21 consecutive times (from July 2000 to July 2001) and, in the 31 no-cut events in which he played, he won 10 and finished out of the top 10 five times. Others, including Woods himself,argue that the two streaks cannot be compared, because the variation of tournament structures in the two eras is too great for any meaningful comparison to be made.

Tiger-proofing

Early in Woods' career, a small number of golf experts expressed concern about his impact on the competitiveness of the game and the public appeal of professional golf. Sports writer Bill Lyon of Knight-Ridder asked in a column, "Isn't Tiger Woods actually bad for golf?" (though Lyon ultimately concluded that he was not). At first, some pundits feared that Woods would drive the spirit of competition out of the game of golf by making existing courses obsolete and relegating opponents to simply competing for second place each week.

Many courses in the PGA Tour rotation (including Major Championship sites like Augusta National) began to add yardage to their tees in an effort to slow down long hitters like Woods, a strategy that became known as "Tiger-Proofing". Woods himself welcomed the change as he believes adding yardage to the course does not affect his ability to win.

In 2006 Tiger demonstrated his "intelligence game", as he won both The Open and PGA Championships without out-driving his playing partner. In fact, during The Open Championship, Tiger only used his driver once, instead choosing long irons off the tee to hit fairways more consistently.

See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• Golfers with most major championship wins
• Most PGA Tour wins in a year
• Longest PGA Tour win streaks
• Most wins in one PGA Tour event
• Official World Golf Rankings
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour (computer game)

References

• John Andrisani (1999). The Tiger Woods Way : An Analysis of Tiger Woods' Power-Swing Technique. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-609-80139-2 (Paperback).
• John Feinstein (1999). The Majors : In Pursuit of Golf's Holy Grail. Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-27971-4 (hardcover).
• Tim Rosaforte (2000). Raising the Bar : The Championship Years of Tiger Woods. St Martins Press. ISBN 0-312-27212-X (hardcover).
• Jack Clary (1997). Tiger Woods. Tiger Books International. ISBN 1-85501-954-X (hardcover).

External links

• Tiger Woods Official Site
• Tiger Woods Profile on PGA Tour site
• Tiger Woods Foundation
• Tiger Woods Learning Center
• Tiger Woods at IMDb
• Tiger Woods Official World Golf Rankings site

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