Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods Bio

Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time and one of the most famous athletes in modern history. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men’s major championships, holds numerous golf records, and is an inductee of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Over more than two decades on the PGA Tour, Woods has built a career defined by dominant stretches, signature major victories, and a level of global fame rarely seen in golf.

Tiger Woods

Early Life and Background

Eldrick Tont Woods was born on December 30, 1975, in Cypress, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. He is the only child of Earl Woods, a retired U.S. Army officer and Vietnam War veteran, and Kultida “Tida” Woods, who was originally from Thailand. Earl was an accomplished amateur golfer and one of the earliest African American college baseball players at Kansas State University, and he introduced his son to golf before the age of two. Because of his father’s military connections, young Woods had access to the Navy Golf Course adjacent to the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, where he developed his early game.

Woods showed extraordinary talent from childhood. He was nicknamed “Tiger” in honor of his father’s friend, South Vietnamese colonel Vuong Dang Phong, who was also known as “Tiger.” His mother chose the name Eldrick because it began with “E” for Earl and ended with “K” for Kultida, while his middle name, Tont, is a traditional Thai name. At age three, he shot a 48 over nine holes at the Navy course, and at age five he appeared in Golf Digest and on ABC’s That’s Incredible. Before turning seven, he won the Under-Age-10 division of the Drive, Pitch, and Putt competition at the Navy Golf Course in Cypress.

Woods attended Western High School in Anaheim, where he starred on the school’s golf team under coach Don Crosby. He was a child prodigy who won the Junior World Championships six times, including four consecutive titles from 1988 to 1991, and he became the youngest U.S. Junior Amateur champion at age 15 in 1991. He graduated from Western High School in 1994 at age 18 and was voted “Most Likely to Succeed” by his classmates. He then enrolled at Stanford University on a golf scholarship, where he majored in economics and continued to build his amateur record.

Path to Professional Golf

Woods’s amateur career was one of the most decorated in golf history. He won three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur titles from 1991 to 1993, becoming the only three-time champion of the event, and in 1994, at TPC Sawgrass in Florida, he became the youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur, a record that stood until 2008. He represented the United States at the 1994 Eisenhower Trophy World Amateur Golf Team Championships, which the U.S. team won, and at the 1995 Walker Cup. His achievements at the junior and amateur levels established him as the clear favorite to become the next great player in the sport.

At Stanford, Woods continued to sharpen his game. He won his first collegiate event, the 40th Annual William H. Tucker Invitational, in September 1994, and in 1995 he successfully defended his U.S. Amateur title at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. He was voted Pac-10 Player of the Year, NCAA First Team All-American, and Stanford’s Male Freshman of the Year. At age 19, he participated in his first PGA Tour major, the 1995 Masters, and tied for 41st as the only amateur to make the cut. In 1996, he became the first golfer to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles and won the NCAA individual golf championship before leaving college after two years to turn professional.

Tiger Woods Career

Early Career (1996-1997)

Woods turned professional at age 20 in August 1996 and immediately signed advertising deals with Nike, Inc. and Titleist that ranked as the most lucrative endorsement contracts in golf history at that time. He was named Sports Illustrated’s 1996 Sportsman of the Year and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, signaling the arrival of a new star. His first full season on tour quickly built momentum, and he entered 1997 as one of the most closely watched players in the game.

On April 13, 1997, Woods won his first major, the Masters, in record-breaking fashion and became the tournament’s youngest winner at age 21. Two months later, he set the record for the fastest ascent to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. His performance at Augusta National announced a new era in professional golf, and he finished the 1999 season with eight wins, including the PGA Championship, a feat not achieved since Johnny Miller did it in 1974.

PGA Tour Breakthrough (1997-2000)

Woods’s rise to the top of professional golf was swift and historic. After a lackluster 1998, he returned to form in 1999 with eight PGA Tour victories and his first PGA Championship, establishing himself as the dominant player of his generation. In 2000, he won six consecutive events on the PGA Tour, the longest winning streak since Ben Hogan accomplished the feat in 1948. One of those victories was the U.S. Open, where he broke or tied nine tournament records in what Sports Illustrated called “the greatest performance in golf history,” winning by a record 15-stroke margin and earning $800,000. With that victory, Woods became the only golfer in history to have won the U.S. Junior Amateur, U.S. Amateur, and U.S. Open.

At age 24, Woods became the youngest golfer to achieve the Career Grand Slam. At the end of 2000, he had won nine of the twenty PGA Tour events he entered and had broken the record for lowest scoring average in tour history. He was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, becoming the only athlete to be honored twice, and was ranked by Golf Digest as the twelfth-best golfer of all time. When he won the 2001 Masters, he became the only player to win four consecutive major professional golf titles, a feat known as the “Tiger Slam.” This stretch cemented his status as the face of the sport and ushered in a period of unprecedented dominance.

Dominant Years (2001-2009)

Following a stellar 2001 and 2002 in which he continued to dominate the tour, Woods’s career hit a brief slump, and he did not win a major in 2003 or 2004. In September 2004, Vijay Singh overtook Woods in the Official World Golf Rankings, ending Woods’s record streak of 264 weeks at No. 1. He rebounded in 2005, winning six PGA Tour events and reclaiming the top spot in July. He continued to excel in 2006, winning six consecutive tour events at the end of the year to bring his total to 54 career wins, including 12 majors, and he broke tour records for both total wins and total major wins.

Woods’s success continued into 2007 and early 2008, but in April 2008 he underwent knee surgery and missed two months on tour. He returned for the 2008 U.S. Open, where he claimed a dramatic sudden-death victory over Rocco Mediate that followed an 18-hole playoff. Two days later, he announced that he would miss the remainder of the season due to additional knee surgery. After his marital infidelities came to light in late 2009, Woods announced in December that he would be taking an indefinite break from competitive golf. Despite the off-course turmoil, he had secured his place as the most dominant player of his era.

Comeback and Later Years (2010-2019)

Woods returned to competition in April at the 2010 Masters, where he finished tied for fourth place. The rest of the 2010 season went poorly, and he failed to win a single event for the first time since turning professional. Injuries continued to take a toll, and he dropped to No. 58 in the world rankings by late 2011. He rose back into the top 50 after a strong finish at the Emirates Australian Open and broke his winless streak with a victory at December’s Chevron World Challenge. In 2012, he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial Tournament, surpassing Jack Nicklaus for second place on the all-time PGA Tour wins list.

The year 2013 brought a return of Woods’s dominating play, with four early-season wins that moved him back to the top of the world rankings. He won The Players Championship in May 2013, his second career win at the event, notching his fourth win of the season. Injuries and back problems, however, continued to mount. He underwent back surgery in 2014, 2015, and again in 2016 and 2017, missing all four majors in 2016 for the first time in his career. He returned to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge in late 2017. In 2018, he won the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club for the 80th time in his PGA Tour career. On April 14, 2019, he won the Masters, his first major championship in eleven years and his 15th major overall.

TGL Era and Final Chapter (2020-2026)

Woods’s professional career entered a new phase in the 2020s. In October 2020, he won the Zozo Championship in Japan, his 82nd PGA Tour victory, tying him with Sam Snead for the most victories all time on the PGA Tour. In December 2020, he had microdiscectomy surgery on his back for the fifth time. He returned to play in his first professional tournament after his 2021 motor vehicle crash at the 2022 Masters Tournament, finishing in 47th place.

In August 2022, Woods helped announce the formation of TGL, a six-team virtual golfing league, and in November 2023 he revealed himself as a co-owner and player for Jupiter Links Golf Club. In March 2026, he competed in the TGL tournament, helping Jupiter Links advance to the finals before losing the championship match to the Los Angeles Golf Club. The same month, Woods was involved in a two-vehicle rollover crash near his home on Jupiter Island, Florida, and was arrested for DUI. He was later charged with three misdemeanors, and on March 31, 2026, he announced he was “stepping away” to “seek treatment.” He was also granted approval to leave the U.S. for comprehensive inpatient treatment.

Driving Style and Strengths

Woods built his game around a combination of power, precision, and exceptional composure under pressure. His iron play has generally been accurate, his recovery and bunker play has been very strong, and his putting, especially under pressure, has been considered one of his greatest assets. He is largely responsible for a shift to higher standards of athleticism among professional golfers and is known for utilizing more hours of practice than most. Over the years, he worked with swing coaches Butch Harmon, Hank Haney, and Sean Foley, and he has employed caddies Fluff Cowan, Steve Williams, and Joe LaCava.

Notable Events and Milestones

Among Woods’s signature moments are his 12-stroke victory at the 1997 Masters, his 15-stroke rout at the 2000 U.S. Open, the “Tiger Slam” of 2000-2001, and his dramatic sudden-death victory at the 2008 U.S. Open on a damaged knee. He tied Sam Snead’s all-time PGA Tour wins record with his 82nd victory at the 2020 Zozo Championship and won his 15th major at the 2019 Masters, becoming the second-oldest Masters champion in history. He has also been named PGA Player of the Year a record 11 times and led the PGA Tour money list in 10 seasons.

Tiger Woods Career Wins

Woods has won 82 official PGA Tour events, including 15 major championships, making him one of the most decorated players in the history of the sport. He is tied with Sam Snead for the all-time PGA Tour wins record and ranks second only to Jack Nicklaus in men’s major championships. He has also recorded 41 European Tour wins, 3 Japan Golf Tour wins, 2 Asian Tour wins, and 3 PGA Tour of Australasia wins, contributing to a career total of 110 professional victories.

Major Championship Highlights

Woods has won 15 men’s major championships: the Masters (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2019), the PGA Championship (1999, 2000, 2006, 2007), the U.S. Open (2000, 2002, 2008), and The Open Championship (2000, 2005, 2006). His first major win came at the 1997 Masters, which he won by 12 strokes in a record-setting performance, and his most recent major victory came at the 2019 Masters, his first major in 11 years. He has also won The Players Championship twice and has been a multiple winner of World Golf Championships events, including the WGC-Cadillac Championship and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Other Wins and Performances

Beyond his major championship success, Woods has accumulated wins across several international tours, including 41 European Tour victories, 3 Japan Golf Tour wins, 2 Asian Tour wins, and 3 PGA Tour of Australasia wins. He has represented the United States in international team competitions, including the 1999 Ryder Cup, which the U.S. team won. He has also won the FedEx Cup twice, in 2007 and 2009.

Tiger Woods Family

Family Background and Racing Lineage

Woods was born into a family with a strong athletic tradition. His father, Earl Woods, was a retired U.S. Army officer, Vietnam War veteran, and accomplished amateur golfer who introduced his son to the game. His mother, Kultida “Tida” Woods, was originally from Thailand and met Earl during his military tour of duty in 1968. Earl died on May 3, 2006, and Kultida died on February 4, 2025. His niece, Cheyenne Woods, played collegiate golf at Wake Forest University and turned professional in 2012, making her debut at the LPGA Championship.

Personal Life

Woods married Elin Nordegren, a Swedish former model, on October 5, 2004, in Barbados. The couple had two children: daughter Sam Alexis Woods, born in 2007, and son Charlie Axel Woods, born in 2009. Woods and Nordegren divorced on August 23, 2010. In March 2013, he announced that he was in a relationship with Olympic gold-medal skier Lindsey Vonn, and they separated in May 2015. On March 23, 2025, he confirmed that he was in a relationship with Vanessa Trump.

2025 Season Performance

Woods’s 2025 season remained limited as he continued to manage the long-term effects of multiple leg and back surgeries. Following the death of his mother, Kultida Woods, in February 2025, Woods described her as central to all of his personal achievements. His public appearances during 2025 centered on his Sun Day Red apparel line with TaylorMade, which launched in February 2024, and on personal matters, including his confirmed relationship with Vanessa Trump announced in March 2025.

On the course, Woods continued to play a reduced schedule rather than a full competitive season. He participated in select events as his body allowed, prioritizing recovery and selective competition over the demands of a full PGA Tour calendar. His status as a former world No. 1 and 15-time major champion remained a defining part of his identity in 2025, even as his playing time was limited by his health.

Looking ahead, Woods has stated his intention to focus on treatment and recovery following his March 2026 arrest and the broader physical challenges that have followed multiple surgeries. His legacy as one of the greatest golfers in history remains intact, and his influence on the sport, from course design to equipment and apparel, continues to shape professional golf. Any future competitive plans are expected to depend on his health and recovery progress.