Tiger Woods Tiger Woods In August of 1996 the face

							Tiger Woods


In August of 1996, the face of golf was forever changed when a very
successful amateur player named Tiger Woods officially became a
professional golfer. Tiger has been credited with renewing interest in
the game of golf. At just twenty-one years old, he brought youth and
vitality to the game of golf with his great game and his outgoing
attitude.

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.

At the age of 15 Tiger Woods became the youngest U.S. Junior Amateur Open
Champion in golf history. He would go on to win the tournament three
more times making him the event’s only multiple winner as well as the
youngest. Continuing his record breaking career, Woods was the youngest
to win the U.S. Amateur Championship which bought him a ticket into the
PGA Masters. He tied for 41st making him the only amateur to make the
cut.

His professional career has been just as prolific. Immediately upon turn
pro, Tiger signed endorsement deals worth $60 million with Nike and
Titleist. He played his first round of professional golf at the Greater
Milwaukee Open. He tied for 60th place in his pro debut, but would go on
to win two events in the next three months, and qualify for the Tour
Championship.

Tiger Woods is the only golfer to win the PGA Player of the Year award in
the year following his rookie season. 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 eventually set a total of 20 Masters records and tied 6 others, and
has been the highest-profile golfer in the world ever since. He would go
on to win an additional three PGA Tour events that year, and on June 15,
1997, Woods rose to the number one spot in the Official World Golf
Rankings for the first time. Tiger Woods achieved this in only his 42nd
week as a professional — the fastest ever ascent to the No. 1 ranking.

Currently ranked #1 in the world, there’s no doubt about it that Tiger
Woods is one of the greatest golfers of all time. He has made the game
of golf fun again as we all watch to see him continue to break records
and win tournaments.