| Revision as of 00:00, 4 January 2003 view sourcePcpcpc (talk | contribs)14,462 edits →Major Championships: explanation re records← Previous edit | Revision as of 21:41, 4 April 2003 view source Dgrant (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users1,987 edits changed "grand slam" to major. the events themselves are called "majors". I think in Tennis the events are called "grand slam events" I'm not sure thoughNext edit → | ||
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| '''Eldrick 'Tiger' Woods''' (born ], ]) is one of the greatest ]s of all-time. As of July ], at only 26 years of age, Woods had already won 8 "major" tour events on the ]. He is the only player in the history of ] to hold the championships to all four major tournaments at once, although this did not occur in a calendar year, and is subsequently not recognized by some as a true "Grand Slam". Before joining the PGA Tour, Woods won three consecutive United States amateur titles, and one NCAA championship while studying at ]. | |||
| ] | |||
| Woods' Grand Slam tournament victories are as follows: | |||
| '''Tiger Woods''' (born ], ], ], ]), is considered one of the greatest ]s of all time. | |||
| *] (1997, 2001, 2002) | |||
| Woods, who is of mixed race, is credited with prompting a major surge of interest in the game of golf, especially among minorities and younger people in the United States. | |||
| *] (2000, 2002) | |||
| *] (2000) | |||
| ==Background and family== | |||
| *] (1999, 2000) | |||
| Woods is from a comfortable social background. His father Earl Woods, is a Vietnam War veteran and a retired U.S. Army ], of mixed ], white and ] ancestry. He is now the chairman of his son's charitable "Tiger Woods Foundation", which is discussed below. Woods' mother Kultida Woods is an ] whose parents were immigrants from ]. | |||
| Woods has an excellent all-around game. He is one of the longer drivers on the tour, routinely hitting the ball over 300 yards. His iron play is excellent, as evidenced by the fact that he is usually among the tour leaders in Greens in Regulation. His putting is usually top-notch, although it can sometimes desert him. | |||
| Woods' original forename was Eldrick. He was nicknamed "Tiger" after a war comrade of his father's and became generally known by that name. By the time he was achieving national prominence in amateur golf, he was always called "Tiger" Woods, and he has now legally changed his first name to Tiger. | |||
| Woods, who has ], ], ], and ] ancestors, is credited with prompting a major surge of interest in the game of golf, especially among minorities and younger people in the United States. | |||
| In ], Woods became engaged to ], a ] model. They were introduced by Swedish golf star ], who had employed her as a nanny. They married in a sunset ceremony at the Sandy Lane Hotel and Golf Club on ] amid armed security before approximately 200 family and friends on ], ]. | |||
| Woods has fallen under some criticism from various groups, usually for not speaking out more on social issues. | |||
| ==Amateur career== | |||
| Woods was a child prodigy who began to play golf at very young age. While still a small child, he demonstrated his golf skills in a television appearance with ]. In 1984 he won the 9-10 boys' event at the ]. He was only eight at the time, but 9-10 was the youngest age group in those days. He went on to win the ] title in 1991, 1992 and 1993. He remains the youngest ever winner and the only multiple winner. He followed this with three consecutive ] titles the next three years. With his first US Amateur win in 1994, the year that he graduated high school, he became the youngest man ever to win that event. He attended ] and won one ] individual championship. Woods decided to leave Stanford after two years as he felt that he was ready to succeed as a professional. | |||
| ==Professional career== | |||
| Woods became a professional golfer in August ], immediately after the last major tournament of that season. He won two events in the three months of the 1996 season that he played as a professional. The following April he won ] by a record margin of 12 shots, and he has been by far the highest profile golfer in the world since then. In the summer of 1997 Woods went to number one in the ] for the first time. | |||
| Woods formed a close friendship with leading PGA Tour professional ], who was almost twenty years his senior. O'Meara acted as a mentor to him for a time, and the two men won the ] together. The inspiration of working closely with a brilliant young talent was widely regarded as a catalyst for O'Meara's own career year in 1998, when he won the only two majors of his career. | |||
| Despite suggestions that the other players would only be competing for second place from now on, Woods' form began to fade in the second half of 1997, and in 1998 he only won once on the PGA Tour. At this time he was working on modifications to his swing to adapt to the maturation of his physique, and to address concerns that the extremely vigourous and elastic swing he had used in his youth might cause long term back problems and truncate his career. Woods was careful to avoid using this as an excuse and instead responded to questions about his wavering form with reminders that he was still very young, and was hoping to do better in the future. | |||
| In June 1999, Woods won the ]. This was the beginning of a sustained period of dominance of men's golf. He won seventeen PGA Tour events in two calendar years, and 32 in five, both of them achievement that hadn't been rivaled for several decades, and golf in Woods' era is generally seen as having much more strength in depth than in earlier periods. He won seven out of eleven ] starting with the 1999 PGA Championship and finishing with the 2002 U.S. Open. | |||
| The next phase of Woods career was relatively disappointing. He did not win a major in 2003 or 2004, and fell to second in the PGA Tour money list in 2003 and to fourth on 2004. In ] ], Woods' record streak as the world's top-ranked golfer - 264 consecutive weeks - came to an end at the Deutsche Bank Championship when ] won the tournament and overtook Woods in the rankings. At around this time Woods let it be known that he was once again working on changes to his swing, and hoped that once the adjustments were complete he would get back to his best. | |||
| Woods played well in the 2004 off-season and at the start of the 2005 PGA Tour season. On 6 March he won the ] and returned to Number 1 in the World Rankings. The true test of whether he is back to his dominant best however, will come when 2005's majors are played. | |||
| As of 7 March 2005, Woods has won 42 official money events on the ] and 15 other professional titles. He is one of only five players (along with ], ], ] and ]) in the history of ] to have won all four professional major championships in his career. At the 2003 TOUR Championship, he set an all-time record for most consecutive cuts made, with 114, and by early February 2005 he had extended this streak to 135. | |||
| Woods is the only two-time winner as an individual of '']'' magazine's "]" award (1996, 2000). | |||
| ==Major Championships== | |||
| Woods' ] championship victories are as follows: | |||
| * ] (1997, 2001, 2002) | |||
| * ] (2000, 2002) | |||
| * ] (2000) | |||
| * ] (1999, 2000) | |||
| With his victory in The Masters in 2001, he became the only man to have held all four professional majors at once, although this did not occur in a calendar year, and is therefore not recognized by some as a true ]. The achievement has been nicknamed "The Tiger Slam". | |||
| Woods holds at least a share of the record for lowest 72-hole score in relation to par in all four majors, and at least a share of the low-72 holes record in two of them. The "to par" and "low 72-holes" records are not always the same because while most championship golf course have a par of 72, or 288 for four rounds, some have a par of 71 or 70: | |||
| *The Masters: -18 (270), 1997 (outright to-par and low 72 holes record) | |||
| *US Open: -12 (272), 2000 (outright to par record) | |||
| **Woods shares the low 72-holes record with ] and ]. | |||
| *The Open Championship: -19 (269), 2000 (outright to-par record) | |||
| **] holds the low 72-holes record at 267. | |||
| *PGA Championship: -18 (270), 2000 (to-par record shared with ]) | |||
| **] holds the low 72-holes record at 265. | |||
| ==PGA TOUR career summary== | |||
| <table border="1"> | |||
| <tr><td>Year<th>Majors<th>Other wins<th>PGA TOUR wins<th>Earnings ($)<th>Rank | |||
| <tr><td>1996<td>0<td>2<td>2<td> 790,594<td>24 | |||
| <tr><td>1997<td>1<td>3<td>4<td>2,066,833<td>1 | |||
| <tr><td>1998<td>0<td>1<td>1<td>1,841,117<td>4 | |||
| <tr><td>1999<td>1<td>7<td>8<td>6,616,585<td>1 | |||
| <tr><td>2000<td>3<td>6<td>9<td>9,188,321<td>1 | |||
| <tr><td>2001<td>1<td>4<td>5<td>6,687,777<td>1 | |||
| <tr><td>2002<td>2<td>3<td>5<td>6,912,625<td>1 | |||
| <tr><td>2003<td>0<td>5<td>5<td>6,673,413<td>2 | |||
| <tr><td>2004<td>0<td>1<td>1<td>5,365,472<td>4 | |||
| </table> | |||
| Woods was only a professional for around one third of the 1996 season. In addition to his PGA Tour wins, he has won a number of events on foreign professional tours, and several professional events which were not part of an official tour schedule. | |||
| Woods makes most of his income from endorsement contracts. He is one of the two highest earning sports people in the world, alongside ] driver ]. In 2004 ] estimated that the two men both had an annual income of $80 million. | |||
| ==PGA Tour wins== | |||
| *1996 Las Vegas Invitational, Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic | |||
| *1997 ], ''']''', GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic, ] | |||
| *1998 BellSouth Classic | |||
| *1999 ], ], ], ''']''', ], National Car Rental Golf Classic/Disney, ], ] | |||
| *2000 ], ], ], ], ''']''', ''']''', ''']''', ], ] | |||
| *2001 ], ], ''']''', ], ] | |||
| *2002 ], ''']''', ''']''', Buick Open, ] | |||
| *2003 ], ], ], ], ] | |||
| *2004 ] | |||
| *2005 ], ] | |||
| Major championships are shown in bold. | |||
| ==Other professional wins== | |||
| *1997 Asian Honda Classic (]) | |||
| *1998 Johnnie Walker Classic (co-sanctioned by Asian Tour and ]), PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event) | |||
| *1999 Deutsche Bank Open-TPC of Europe (PGA European Tour), ]:individual (unofficial event), ]:team (unofficial event - with Mark O'Meara) | |||
| *2000 Johnnie Walker Classic (co-sanctioned by Asian Tour and PGA European Tour), ]:team (unofficial event - with ]) | |||
| *2001 Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe (PGA European Tour), ] (United States - unofficial event), PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event) | |||
| *2002 Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe(PGA European Tour), PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event) | |||
| ==Woods' golf game== | |||
| When Woods burst onto the golf scene one the things which made the biggest impact on fans was his long driving. However, while he remains a long driver, he is by no means the longest, and does not attempt to be. He has instead focused on developing an excellent all-around game. His driving is generally accurate, his approach play accurate, his recovery and bunker play sometimes brilliant, and his putting is usually reliable. 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's worked with the leading swing coach ], but since around 2003, he has effectively been his own coach. He was involved in a media spat with Harmon, who also 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. | |||
| Although he is considered charismatic, Woods' approach is essentially cautious. He aims for consistency: although he is better than any other golfer when he is in form, his best rounds are not better the other leading professionals' best rounds, but he has fewer bad rounds than them. He plays less tournaments then most professionals (twenty or twenty one a year compared to the typical twenty five to thirty), and focuses his efforts on preparing for and competing in the majors and most prestigious of the other tournaments. He is also notable for playing in more international tourmanents than most top American golfers, although it should be pointed out that this only means two or three a year, besides The Open Championship, and he is said to receive seven figure appearance fees for most of them. | |||
| ==Charity and youth projects== | |||
| Tiger Woods has established several charitable and youth projects. | |||
| *'''The Tiger Woods Foundation''': The Tiger Woods Foundation was established in 1996 by Tiger 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 participation include university scholarships, an association with Target House at St. Jude Hospital in ]; the Start Something character development program, which had had over one million participants by 2003; and the Tiger Woods Learning Center. | |||
| *'''Tiger Woods Learning Center''': This is a 35,000 square foot educational facility due to open in ] in 2005. It is expected to be used by several thousand students each year, with a day program for grades 4-6 and an after school program for grades 7-12. There will also be summer programs, weekend and community outreach programs and online learning programs. The centre's website states, ''"Our mission is to provide an interactive enrichment program that will improve individual aptitude in reading, math, science and technology". The centre will feature extensive multi-media facilities and an outdoor golf teaching area. | |||
| *'''Tiger Jam''': An annual fundraising concert. 2005's Tiger Jam VIII will be headlined by ] and ]. | |||
| *''']''': 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 ]. | |||
| ==Controversy== | |||
| Woods' success has led to three types of controversy: | |||
| *He has been mentioned in discussion of the role of sport in the aspirations of American youth, especially African American youth, which some consider to be unhealthy. It should be noted that Woods is only one quarter African American, and has said that he does not regard it as his primary identity. Clarence Page of the ] decried the "racially charged, money-linked sports obsession" fueled by a "fixation in which the riches and fame of such sports heroes as ] have caused a wildly disproportionate number of young black Americans, in particular, to focus on the brass ring of professional sports at the expense of more realistic and productive career paths." Woods dropped out of Stanford after two years to pursue his golf career. Page wrote, "That works out fine for his bank account, but, for too many others it only reinforces the wrongheaded notion that academics should take a back seat to athletics." Others see the involvement of Woods in this debate as inappropriate. His main responsibility was to make the right decision for his own career, he had the backing of his parents, who are certainly not feckless, and subsequent events suggest he timed his entry to professional golf appropriately. As mentioned above he has funded university scholarships and is founding a learning centre. | |||
| *The second controversy focuses on the ecological impact of golf as a game, its allegedly negative social justice impact in Asia, and Woods' paid promotions of an ] (the 2002 Buick Rendezvous) deemed second-most-dangerous by the ], and of mutual funds said to be implicated in ecological devastation. Some would see this as simply opportunism by activist groups eager to gain publicity by discussing a top celebrity, and as saying little or nothing about Woods' personal ethics relative to less well known golfers. | |||
| *The third controversy concerned Woods impact on the competitiveness and thus the public appeal of professional golf. This issue was most prominent in around 2001-02 when he was at his most dominant. "The question has been asked, seriously, and more than once: Isn't Tiger Woods actually bad for golf?" - Bill Lyon, Knight-Ridder. At first, some feared that Woods could drive all spirit of competition out of the game of golf, by obsoleting existing courses, and having no competitors. However, Woods was unable to keep up the winning streak, and the increases in television ratings and prize money which have occurred since Woods arrived on the golf scene have deprived the negative view of his impact of credibility. As of 2005 it is no longer heard. The mainstream view is that Woods' success is one of the most positive things that has ever happened to golf. | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| == External links == | |||
| * | |||
| ** | |||
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| ** | |||
| * | |||
| * Links to relevant sites, interviews, feature articles and similar. | |||
| * Profile, interviews, trivia and more resources. | |||
| * | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
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Revision as of 21:41, 4 April 2003
Eldrick 'Tiger' Woods (born December 30, 1975) is one of the greatest golfers of all-time. As of July 2002, at only 26 years of age, Woods had already won 8 "major" tour events on the PGA Tour. He is the only player in the history of golf to hold the championships to all four major tournaments at once, although this did not occur in a calendar year, and is subsequently not recognized by some as a true "Grand Slam". Before joining the PGA Tour, Woods won three consecutive United States amateur titles, and one NCAA championship while studying at Stanford University.
Woods' Grand Slam tournament victories are as follows:
- The Masters (1997, 2001, 2002)
- US Open (golf) (2000, 2002)
- British Open (2000)
- PGA Championship (1999, 2000)
Woods has an excellent all-around game. He is one of the longer drivers on the tour, routinely hitting the ball over 300 yards. His iron play is excellent, as evidenced by the fact that he is usually among the tour leaders in Greens in Regulation. His putting is usually top-notch, although it can sometimes desert him.
Woods, who has African-American, Asian, Native American, and Caucasian ancestors, is credited with prompting a major surge of interest in the game of golf, especially among minorities and younger people in the United States.
Woods has fallen under some criticism from various groups, usually for not speaking out more on social issues.