Speech Differences And Stutter Series-Disabled Legend Tiger Woods

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods was born on 30 December, 1975 in Cypress, California, USA. Tiger Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Currently the World No. 1, he was the highest-paid professional athlete in 2007, having earned an estimated $122,000,000 from winnings and endorsements. According to Golf Digest, Tiger Woods made $769,440,709 from 1996 to 2007, and the magazine predicts that by 2010, Tiger Woods will become the world's 1st athlete to pass $1,000,000,0000 in earnings.

Tiger Woods has won 14 professional major golf championships, the 2nd highest of any male player, and 65 PGA Tour events, 3rd all time. Tiger Woods has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer. Tiger Woods is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour.

Tiger Woods has held the number 1 position in the world rankings for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks. Tiger Woods has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record 9 times, the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record 8 times, and has tied Jack Nicklaus' record of leading the money list in 8 different seasons. Tiger Woods has been named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year a record-tying 4 times, and is the only person to be named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year more than once.

Tiger Woods, who is multiracial, is credited with prompting a major surge of interest in the game of golf. Tiger Woods dramatically increased attendance and TV ratings and generated interest among a multicultural audience in a game that used to be considered insular and elitist.

After winning the 2008 U.S. Open, Tiger Woods is sitting out the rest of the 2008 PGA Tour, missing 2 major championships and the 2008 Ryder Cup, in order to concentrate on the rehabilitation of his injured left knee.

Tiger Woods was born to Earl (1932-2006) and Kultida (Tida) Woods. Tiger Woods is the only child of their marriage but has 2 half-brothers, Earl Jr. (born 1955) and Kevin (born 1957), and 1 half-sister, Royce (born 1958) from the 18-year marriage of Earl Woods and his 1st wife, Barbara Woods Gray. Earl, a retired United States Army lieutenant colonel and Vietnam War veteran, was of mixed African American(50%), Chinese (25%)and Native American (25%) ancestry. Kultida (nee Punsawad), originally from Thailand, is of mixed Thai (50%), Chinese (25%), and Dutch (25%) ancestry. This makes Tiger Woods himself 1/4 Chinese, 1/4 Thai, 1/4 African American, 1/8 Native American, and 1/8 Dutch. Tiger Woods refers to his ethnic make-up as “Cablinasian” (a portmanteau he coined from Caucasian, Black, (American) Indian, and Asian).

At birth, Tiger Woods was given "Eldrick" and "Tont" as 1st and middle names, respectively. Tiger Woods' middle name, Tont, is a traditional Thai name. Tiger Woods got his nickname from a Vietnamese soldier friend of his father, Vuong Dang Phong, to whom his father had also given the "Tiger" nickname. Tiger Woods became generally known by that name and by the time he had achieved national prominence in junior and amateur golf, he was simply known as "Tiger" Woods. Tiger Woods grew up in Orange County, California, USA and graduated from Western High School in Anaheim in 1994.

Tiger Woods is a Buddhist. Tiger Woods has said that his faith was acquired from his mother and that it helps control both his stubbornness and impatience.

In November 2003, Tiger Woods became engaged to Elin Nordegren, a Swedish model. They were introduced during The Open Championship in 2001 by Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik, who had employed her as an au pair. They married on 5 October, 2004 at the Sandy Lane resort on the Caribbean island of Barbados and live at Isleworth, a community in Windermere, a suburb of Orlando, Florida, USA. They also have homes in Jackson, Wyoming, California, USA and Sweden. In January 2006, they purchased a $39,000,000 residential property in Jupiter Island, Florida, USA which they intend to make their primary residence. Their Jupiter Island neighbours will include fellow golfers Gary Player, Greg Norman and Nick Price, as well as singers Celine Dion and Alan Jackson. In 2007, a guest house on the Jupiter Island estate was destroyed in a fire caused by lightning.

Early in the morning of 18 June, 2007, Elin gave birth to the couple's 1st child, a daughter, Sam Alexis Woods, in Orlando. The birth occurred just 1 day after Tiger Woods finished tied for 2nd in the 2007 U.S. Open. Tiger Woods chose to name his daughter Sam because his father said that Tiger Woods looked more like a Sam. On 2 September, 2008, Tiger Woods announced on his website that he and his wife are expecting their 2nd child.

Tiger Woods was a child prodigy who began to play golf at the age of 2. In 1978, he putted against comedian Bob Hope in a television appearance on The Mike Douglas Show. At age 3, he shot a 48 over 9 holes at the Navy Golf Club in Cypress, California, USA and at age 5, he appeared in Golf Digest and on ABC's That's Incredible. In 1984 at the age of 8 he won the 9–10 boys' event, the youngest age group available, at the Junior World Golf Championships. Tiger Woods went on to win the Junior World Championships 6 times, including 4 consecutive wins from 1988 to 1991.

While attending Western High School in Anaheim at the age of 15, Tiger Woods became the youngest ever U.S. Junior Amateur Champion, was voted Southern California Amateur Player of the Year for the 2nd consecutive year, and Golf Digest Junior Amateur Player of the Year 1991. Tiger Woods successfully defended his title at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, becoming the 1st multiple winner, competed in his 1st 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, Tiger Woods won his 3rd consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, and remains the event's youngest-ever and only multiple winner. In 1994, he became the youngest ever winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship, a record that stood until 2008 when it was broken by Danny Lee. Tiger Woods 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 1st collegiate event, the William Tucker Invitational. Tiger Woods declared a major in Economics and was nicknamed "Urkel" by his college teammates. In 1995, he 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). Tiger Woods participated in his 1st PGA Tour major, the Masters Tournament, and tied for 41st as the only amateur to make the cut. At age 20 in 1996, he became the 1st golfer to win 3 consecutive U.S. Amateur titles and won the NCAA individual golf championship. In winning the Silver Medal as leading amateur at The Open Championship, he tied the record for an amateur aggregate score of 281. Tiger Woods left college after 2 years and turned professional.

With the announcement, "Hello World," Tiger Woods became a professional golfer in August 1996, and signed endorsement deals worth $40,000,000 from Nike, Inc. and $20,000,000 from Titleist. Tiger Woods played his 1st round of professional golf at the Greater Milwaukee Open, tying for 60th place, but went on to win 2 events in the next 3 months to qualify for the Tour Championship. For his efforts, Tiger Woods was named Sports Illustrated's 1996 Sportsman of the Year and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. Tiger Woods began his tradition of wearing a red shirt during the final round of tournaments, a link to his college days at Stanford and a colour he believes symbolizes aggression and assertiveness.

The following April, Tiger Woods won his 1st major, The Masters, by a record margin of 12 strokes, becoming the youngest Masters winner and the 1st winner of African-American or Asian-American descent. Tiger Woods set a total of 20 Masters records and tied 6 others. Tiger Woods won another 3 PGA Tour events that year, and on 15 June, 1997, in only his 42nd week as a professional, rose to number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings, the fastest-ever ascent to world No. 1. Tiger Woods was named PGA Player of the Year, the 1st golfer to win the award the year following his rookie season.

While expectations for Tiger Woods were high, his form faded in the 2nd half of 1997, and in 1998 he only won 1 PGA Tour event. Tiger 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, Tiger Woods won the Memorial Tournament, a victory that marked the beginning of one of the greatest sustained periods of dominance in the history of men's golf. Tiger Woods completed his 1999 campaign by winning his last 4 starts, including the PGA Championship, and finished the season with 8 wins — a feat not achieved in the past 25 years. Tiger Woods was voted PGA Tour Player of the Year and Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the 2nd time in 3 years.

Tiger Woods started 2000 with his 5th consecutive victory and began a record-setting season, where he would win 3 consecutive majors, 9 PGA Tour events, and set or tie 27Tour records. Tiger Woods went on to capture his 6th consecutive victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with a comeback for the ages. Trailing by 7 strokes with 7 holes to play, he finished eagle-birdie-par-birdie for a 64 and a 2-stroke victory. Tiger Woods' 6 consecutive wins were the most since Ben Hogan in 1948 and only 5 behind Byron Nelson’s record of 11 in a row. In the 2000 U.S. Open, he broke or tied a total of 9 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. Tiger Woods led by a record 10 strokes going into the final round, and Sports Illustrated called it "the greatest performance in golf history." In the 2000 Open Championship at St Andrews, which he won by 8 strokes, he 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 4 major championships. At 24, he became the youngest golfer to achieve the Career Grand Slam.

Tiger Woods' major championship streak was seriously threatened at the 2000 PGA Championship, however, when Bob May went head-to-head with Tiger Woods on Sunday at Valhalla Golf Club. Tiger Woods played the last 12 holes of regulation 7 under par, and won a 3-hole playoff with a birdie on the 1st hole and pars on the next 2. Tiger Woods joined Ben Hogan (1953) as the only other player to win 3 professional majors in 1 season. 3 weeks later, he won his 3rd straight start on Tour at the Bell Canadian Open, becoming only the 2nd man after Lee Trevino in 1971 to win the Triple Crown of Golf (U.S., British, and Canadian Opens) in 1 year. Of the 20 events he entered in 2000, he finished in the top 3, 14 times. Tiger Woods' 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. Tiger Woods was named the 2000 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, becoming the 1st(and only) athlete to be honoured twice. Tiger Woods was ranked as the 12th best golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine just 4 years after he turned professional.

Tiger Woods' 2001 Masters Tournament 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 a true Grand Slam, however, because it was not achieved in a calendar year. Surprisingly, he was not a factor in the 3 remaining majors of the year, but finished with the most PGA Tour wins in the season, with 5. In 2002, he started off strong, joining Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) as the only men to have won back-to-back Masters Tournaments.

2 months later, Tiger 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 Tiger Woods at the Open Championship, but his 3rd round score of 81 ended Grand Slam hopes. At the PGA Championship, he nearly repeated his 2000 feat of winning 3 majors in 1 year, but bogeys at the 13th and 14th holes in the final round cost him the championship by 1 stroke. Nonetheless, he took home the money title, Vardon Trophy, and Player of the Year honours for the 4th year in a row.

The next phase of Tiger Woods's career saw him remain among the top competitors on the tour, but lose his dominating edge. Tiger Woods did not win a major in 2003 or 2004, falling to 2nd in the PGA Tour money list in 2003 and 4th in 2004. In September 2004, his 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 Tiger Woods in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Many commentators were puzzled by Tiger Woods's "slump," offering explanations that ranged from his rift with swing coach Butch Harmon to his marriage. At the same time, he 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, he anticipated that once the adjustments were complete, he would return to his previous form.

In the 2005 season, Tiger Woods quickly returned to his winning ways. Tiger Woods 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 1 position (Vijay Singh displaced him once again 2 weeks later). In April, he finally broke his "drought" in the majors by winning the 2005 Masters Tournament in a playoff, which regained him the number 1 spot in the World Rankings. Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods swapped the number 1 position several times over the next couple of months, but by early July, Tiger Woods had established an advantage, propelled further by a victory at the 2005 Open Championship, a win that gave him his 10th major. Tiger Woods went on to win 6 official money events on the PGA Tour in 2005, topping the money list for the 6th time in his career. Tiger Woods' 2005 wins also included 2 at the World Golf Championships.

For Tiger Woods, the year 2006 was markedly different from 2005. While he began just as dominantly (winning the 1st 2 tournaments he entered on the year) and was in the hunt for his 5th Masters championship in April, he never mounted a Sunday charge to defend his title, allowing Phil Mickelson to claim the green jacket.

On 3 May, 2006, Tiger Woods's father/mentor/inspiration, Earl, died after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. Tiger Woods took a 9-week 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 1st time he had missed the cut at a major as a professional, and ended his record-tying streak of 39 consecutive cuts made at majors. A tie for 2nd at the Western Open just 3 weeks later showed him poised to defend his Open crown at Hoylake.

At the 2006 Open Championship, Tiger 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 1st round), he missed just 4 fairways all week (hitting the fairway 92% of the time), and his score of −18 to par (3 eagles, 19 birdies, 43 pars, and 7 bogeys) was just 1off of his major championship record −19, set at St Andrews in 2000. The victory was an emotional one for Tiger Woods, who dedicated his play to his father's memory.

4 weeks later, at the 2006 PGA Championship, Tiger Woods again won in dominating fashion — making only 3 bogeys, tying the record for fewest in a major. Tiger Woods 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 the age of 30 years and 7 months, became the youngest golfer to do so. Tiger Woods ended the year by winning 6 consecutive 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 7th time.

At the close of his 1st 11 seasons, Tiger Woods's 54 wins and 12 major wins had surpassed the all time 11-season PGA Tour total win record of 51 (set by Byron Nelson) and total majors record of 11 (set by Jack Nicklaus). Tiger Woods was named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for a record-tying 4th time.

Tiger Woods and tennis star Roger Federer, who share a major sponsor, 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.

Tiger Woods began 2007 with a 2-stroke victory at the Buick Invitational for his 3rd straight win at the event and his 7th consecutive win on the PGA Tour. The victory marked the 5th time he has won his 1st tournament of the season. With this win, he became the 3rd man (after Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead) to win at least 5 times in 3 different events on the PGA Tour (his 2 other events are the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and WGC-CA Championship). Tiger Woods earned his 2nd victory of the year at the WGC-CA Championship for his 3rd consecutive and 6th win overall at the event. With this victory, he became the 1st player to have 3 consecutive victories in 5 different events.

At the 2007 Masters Tournament, Tiger Woods was in the final group on the last day of a major for the 13th time in his career, but unlike the previous 12 occasions, he was unable to win. Tiger Woods finished tied for 2nd 2 strokes behind winner Zach Johnson.

Tiger Woods earned his 3rd victory of the season by 2 strokes at the Wachovia Championship, the 24th different PGA Tour tournament he has won. Tiger Woods has collected at least 3 wins in a season 9 times in his 12-year career. At the U.S. Open, he was in the final group for the 4th consecutive major championship, but began the day 2 strokes back and finished tied for 2nd once again. Tiger Woods' dubious streak of never having come from behind to win on the final day of a major continued.

In search of a record-tying 3rd consecutive Open Championship, Tiger Woods fell out of contention with a 2nd-round 75, and never mounted a charge over the weekend. Although his putting was solid (he sank a 90-footer in the 1st round), his iron play held him back. "I wasn't hitting the ball as close as I needed to all week," he said, after he finished tied for 12th, 5 strokes off the pace.

In early August, Tiger Woods won his record 14th World Golf Championships event at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by 8 strokes for his 3rd consecutive and 6th victory overall at the event. Tiger Woods became the 1st golfer to win the same event 3 straight times on 2 different occasions (1999-2001) and (2005-2007). The following week, he won his 2nd straight PGA Championship by defeating Woody Austin by 2 strokes. Tiger Woods became the 1st golfer to win the PGA Championship in back-to-back seasons on 2 different occasions: 1999-2000 and 2006-2007. Tiger Woods became the 2nd golfer, after Sam Snead, to have won at least 5 events on the PGA Tour in 8 different seasons.

Tiger Woods earned his 60th PGA Tour victory at the BMW Championship by shooting a course record 63 in the final round to win by 2 strokes. Tiger Woods sank a 50-foot putt in the final round and missed only 2 fairways on the weekend. Tiger Woods led the field in most birdies for the tournament, and ranked in the top 5 in driving accuracy, driving distance, putts per round, putts per green, and greens in regulation. Tiger Woods finished his 2007 season with a runaway victory at the Tour Championship to capture his 4th title in his last 5 starts of the year. Tiger Woods became the only 2-time winner of the event, and the champion of the inaugural FedEx Cup. In his 16 starts on Tour in 2007, his adjusted scoring average was 67.79, matching his own record set in 2000. Tiger Woods's substantial leads over the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th players were similar in 2000 (1.46 (Phil Mickelson), 1.52 (Ernie Els), 1.66 (David Duval)) and 2007 (1.50 (Els), 1.51 (Justin Rose), 1.60 (Steve Stricker)).

Tiger Woods started the 2008 season with an 8-stroke victory at the Buick Invitational. The win marked his 62nd PGA Tour victory, tying him with Arnold Palmer for 4th on the all time list. This marked his 6th victory at the event, the 6th time he has begun the PGA Tour season with a victory, and his 3rd PGA Tour win in a row. The following week, he was trailing by 4 strokes going into the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic, but made 6 birdies on the back 9 for a dramatic 1-stroke victory. Tiger Woods took home his 15th World Golf Championships event at the Accenture Match Play Championship with a record-breaking 8 & 7 victory in the final.

In his next event, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Tiger Woods got off to a slow start, finishing the 1st round at even par and tied for 34th place. After finishing the 3rd round in a 5-way tie for 1st place, he completed his 5th consecutive PGA Tour victory with a dramatic 24-foot putt on the 18th hole to defeat Bart Bryant by a stroke. It was also his 5th career victory in this event. Geoff Ogilvy stopped Tiger Woods's run at the WGC-CA Championship, a tournament Tiger Woods had won in each of the previous 3 years. Tiger Woods remains the only golfer to have had more than 1 streak of at least 5 straight wins on the PGA Tour.

Despite bold predictions that Tiger Woods might again challenge for the Grand Slam, he would never mount a serious charge at the 2008 Masters Tournament, struggling with his putter through each round. Tiger Woods would still finish alone in 2nd, 3strokes behind the champion, Trevor Immelman. On 15 April, 2008, he underwent his 3rd left knee arthroscopic surgery in Park City, Utah, and missed 2 months on the PGA Tour. The 1st surgery he had was in 1994 when he had a benign tumor removed and the 2nd in December 2002. Tiger Woods was named Men's Fitness's Fittest Athlete in the June/July 2008 issue.

Tiger Woods returned for the 2008 U.S. Open in one of the most anticipated golfing groupings in history between him, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott, the top 3 golfers in the world. tiger Woods struggled the 1st day on the course, notching a double bogey on his 1st hole. Tiger Woods would end the round at +1 (72), 4 shots off the lead. Tiger Woods scored -3 (68) his 2nd day, still paired with Mickelson, managing 5birdies, 1 eagle and 4 bogeys. On the 3rd day of the tournament, he started off with a double bogey once again and was trailing by 5 shots with 6 holes to play. However, he finished the round by making 2 eagle putts, a combined 100 feet(30 m) in length, and a chip-in birdie to take a 1 shot lead into the final round. Tiger Woods's final putt assured that he would be in the final group for the 6th time in the last 8 major championships.

On Sunday, 15 June, Tiger Woods began the day with another double bogey, and trailed Rocco Mediate by 1 stroke after 71 holes. Tiger Woods winced after several of his tee shots, and sometimes made an effort to keep weight off of his left foot. Tiger Woods was behind by 1 stroke when he reached the final hole. Left with a 12-foot putt for birdie, he made the shot to force an 18-hole playoff with Mediate on Monday. Despite leading by as many as 3 strokes at one point in the playoff, Tiger Woods again dropped back and needed to birdie the 18th to force sudden death with Mediate, and did so. Tiger Woods made par on the 1st sudden death hole; Mediate subsequently missed his par putt, giving Tiger Woods his 14th major championship. After the tournament, Mediate said "This guy does things that are just not normal by any stretch of the imagination," and Kenny Perry added, "he beat everybody on 1 leg."

2 days after winning the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods announced that he would be required to undergo reconstructive anterior cruciate ligament(ACL)surgery on his left knee and would miss the remainder of the 2008 golf season including the final 2 major championships: The Open Championship, and the PGA Championship. Tiger Woods also revealed that he had been playing for at least 10 months with a torn ligament in his left knee, and sustained a double stress fracture in his left tibia while rehabbing after the surgery he had after the Masters. Publications throughout the world asserted his U.S. Open victory as "epic" and praised his efforts especially after learning of the extent of his knee injury. Tiger Woods called it "My greatest ever championship - the best of the 14 because of all the things that have gone on over the past week."

When Tiger Woods 1st joined the professional tour in 1996, his long drives had a large impact on the world of golf. 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. Phil Mickelson even made a joke in 2003 about Tiger Woods using "inferior equipment" (meaning outdated technology), which did not sit well with either Nike, Titleist or Tiger Woods. During 2004, Tiger Woods finally upgraded his driver technology to a larger clubhead and graphite shaft, which, coupled with his prodigious clubhead speed, made him one of the Tour's lengthier players off the tee once again.

Despite his power advantage, Tiger 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 accurate, his recovery and bunker play is very strong, and his putting (especially under pressure) is possibly his greatest asset. Tiger Woods 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, Tiger Woods worked almost exclusively with leading swing coach Butch Harmon, with whom he started in 1993, but since March 2004, he has been coached by Hank Haney. In June 2004, Tiger Woods was involved in a media spat with Butch Harmon, who works as a golf broadcaster, when Butch Harmon suggested that he was in "denial" about the problems in his game, but they publicly patched up their differences.

While Tiger Woods is considered one of the most charismatic figures in golfing history, his approach is, at its core, cautious. Tiger Woods 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. Tiger 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. Tiger Woods's 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.

As of June 2008, Tiger Woods has won 65 official PGA Tour events, an additional 22 individual professional titles, owns 2 team titles in the 2-man World Golf Championships-World Cup, and won the inaugural FedEx Cup playoffs. Tiger Woods has successfully defended a title 21 times on the PGA Tour, has finished runner-up 24 times, 3rd place 17 times, and has won 29% (65 out of 222) of his professional starts on the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods has hit a combined total 18 holes-in-1 in the course of his lifetime — his 1st at the age of 6. Tiger Woods has a 31-6 record when leading after 36 holes in Tour events, and a 44–3 record when leading after 54 holes. Tiger Woods is 14-0 when going into the final round of a major with at least a share of the lead, and he has never lost any tournament when leading by more than 1shot after 54 holes. Tiger Woods has been heralded as "the greatest closer in history" by multiple golf experts. Tiger Woods owns the lowest career scoring average and the most career earnings of any player in PGA Tour history.

Tiger Woods has been the PGA Player of the Year a record 9 times, the PGA Tour Money Leader a record-tying 8 times (with Jack Nicklaus), the Vardon Trophy winner a record 7 times, and the recipient of the Byron Nelson Award a record 8 times. Tiger Woods has spent over 9 years atop the world rankings in his 12-year career. Tiger Woods is 1 of 5 players (along with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player) to have won all 4 professional major championships in his career, known as the Career Grand Slam, and was the youngest to do so. Bobby Jones won all 4 of what were in his era considered major championships. Tiger Woods is the only player to have won all 4 professional major championships in a row, accomplishing the feat in the 2000-2001 seasons. Tiger Woods's win at the 2005 Open Championship made him only the 2nd golfer (after Nicklaus) to have won all 4 majors more than once. With his win in the 2008 U.S. Open, Tiger Woods joins Nicklaus as the only golfers to win each major at least 3 times. Tiger Woods holds at least a share of the scoring record in relation to par in all 4 majors, and also holds the margin of victory record in 2 majors, The Masters and the U.S. Open.

At the 2003 Tour Championship, Tiger Woods set the all-time record for most consecutive cuts, starting in 1998, with 114 (passing Byron Nelson's previous record of 113)and extended this mark to 142 before it ended on 13 May, 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 Byron 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. With his victory at the 2006 WGC-American Express Championship, he became the 1st player in PGA Tour history to win at least 8 times in 3 seasons. Tiger Woods's victory in the Buick Invitational in January 2007 placed him 2nd for the longest PGA Tour win streak at 7 straight, trailing only Byron Nelson's streak of 11 wins in 1945.

At the 2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational, Tiger Woods became the 1st golfer to win 4 PGA Tour events 5 or more times. In winning the U.S. Open in 2008, he became only the 6th person to win it 3 or more times, the 1st person to win a PGA Tour tournament on the same course 7 times, and the 1st person to win 2 tournaments at the same golf course in the same season.

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

Unlike the Nike Forged irons available to the public, with the Nike swoosh toward the toe on the topline, these Miura custom forgings have the Nike swoosh stamp centered behind the muscle. Although Miura is acknowledged to have created Tiger Woods's Titleist-branded irons when they sponsored him, Nike denies that Miura is making any Nike irons and Miura does not comment.

Tiger Woods 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.

Tiger Woods has established several charitable and youth projects.

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 programme. 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 programme, which reached 1,000,000 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.

Since 1997, the Tiger Woods Foundation has conducted junior golf clinics across the country. The Foundation began the “In the City” golf clinic programme in 2003. The 1st 3 clinics were held in Indio, California, Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and were targeted to all youth, ages 7-17, and their families. Each 3-day event features golf lessons on Thursday and Friday of clinic week and a free community festival on Saturday. Host cities invite 15 junior golfers to participate in the annual Tiger Woods Foundation Youth Clinic. This 3-day junior golf event includes tickets to Disney Resorts, a junior golf clinic, and an exhibition by Tiger Woods.

This is a 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m2) educational facility in Anaheim, California which opened in February 2006. It is expected to be used by several thousand students each year in grades 4 to 12. The center features 7 classrooms, extensive multi-media facilities and an outdoor golf teaching area.

Tiger Jam: An annual fundraising concert which has raised over $10,000,000 for the Tiger Woods Foundation. Past performers at Tiger Jam include Sting, Bon Jovi and Stevie Wonder.

Chevron World Challenge: An annual off-season charity golf tournament. The event carries generous prize money, and in 2007 Tiger Woods donated his $1.35,000,000 1st-place check to his Learning Center.

Tiger Woods Foundation National Junior Golf Team: An 18 member team which competes in the annual Junior World Golf Championships.

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

Tiger Woods has written a golf instruction column for Golf Digest magazine since 1997and in 2001 wrote a best-selling golf instruction book, How I Play Golf, which had the largest print run of any golf book for its 1st edition, 1.5,000,000 copies.

Tiger Woods announced on 3 December, 2006 that he will develop his 1st golf course in the United Arab Emirates through his golf course design company, Tiger Woods Design. The Tiger Woods Dubai will feature a 7,700-yard (7,000 m), par-72 course named Al Ruwaya (meaning "serenity"), a 60,000-square-foot (6,000 m2) clubhouse, a golf academy, 320 exclusive villas and a boutique hotel with 80 suites. Tiger Woods Dubai is a joint venture between Tiger Woods and Tatweer, a member of the government-affiliated Dubai Holding. Tiger 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.

On 14 August, 2007, Tiger Woods announced his 1st course to be designed in the U.S., The Cliffs at High Carolina. The private course will sit at about 4,000 feet (1,200 m)in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina, USA.

Tiger Woods has been called the world's most marketable athlete; shortly after his 21st birthday in 1996, he began signing numerous endorsement deals with companies including General Motors, Titleist, General Mills, American Express, Accenture and Nike, Inc.. In 2000, he signed a 5-year, $105,000,000 contract extension with Nike. It was the largest endorsing deal ever signed by an athlete at that time.

Tiger Woods's endorsement has been credited in playing a significant role in taking the Nike Golf brand from a "start-up" golf company earlier in the past decade, to becoming the leading golf apparel company in the world and a major player in the equipment and golf ball market. Nike Golf is one of the fastest growing brands in the sport, with an estimated $600,000,000 in sales. Tiger Woods has been described as the "ultimate endorser" for Nike Golf, frequently seen wearing Nike gear during tournaments and even in advertisements for other products. Tiger Woods receives a cut from the sales of Nike Golf apparel, footwear, golf equipment and golf balls and has a building named after him at Nike’s headquarters campus in Beaverton, Oregon.

In 2002, Tiger Woods was involved in every aspect of the launch of Buick's Rendezvous SUV. A company spokesman stated that Buick is happy with the value of Tiger Wood's endorsement, pointing out that more than 130,000 Rendezvous vehicles were sold in 2002 and 2003. "That exceeded our forecasts," he was quoted as saying. "It has to be in recognition of Tiger." In February 2004, Buick renewed Tiger Woods's endorsement contract for another 5 years, in a deal reportedly worth $40,000,000.

Tiger Woods collaborated closely with TAG Heuer to develop the world's 1st professional golf watch, released in April 2005. The lightweight, titanium-construction watch, designed to be worn while playing the game, incorporates numerous innovative design features to accommodate golf play. It is capable of absorbing up to 5,000 Gs of shock, far in excess of the forces generated by a normal golf swing. In 2006, the TAG Heuer Professional Golf Watch won the prestigious if product design award in the Leisure/Lifestyle category.

Tiger 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.

In February 2007, along with Roger Federer and Thierry Henry, Tiger Woods became an ambassador for the "Gillette Champions" marketing campaign. Gillette did not disclose financial terms, though an expert estimated the deal could total between $10,000,000 and $20,000,000.

In October 2007, Gatorade announced that Tiger Woods will have his own brand of sports drink starting in March 2008. "Gatorade Tiger" marks his 1st U.S. deal with a beverage company and his 1st licensing agreement. Although no figures were officially disclosed, Golfweek magazine reported that it was for 5 years and could pay him as much as $100,000,000.

On 20 August, 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced that Tiger Woods would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame. Tiger Woods was inducted on 5 December, 2007 at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento.

In both Nelson's and Tiger 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 Tiger Woods's day only players who reach a low enough score within the 1st 36 holes win a paycheck. Several golf analysts argue that Tiger Woods did not actually surpass Nelson's consecutive cuts mark, reasoning that 31 of the tournaments in which Tiger 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 Tiger Woods's final consecutive cuts made at 111, and Nelson's at 113.

However, at least 10 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 3 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 Tiger Woods's at 111.

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-cut events, Nelson still placed in the top 20, so Nelson's 113 cuts made are reflective of his 113 top 20 finishes. Tiger 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 only 5 times. Others, including Tiger Woods himself, argue that the 2 streaks cannot be compared, because the variation of tournament structures in the 2 eras is too great for any meaningful comparison to be made.

Early in Tiger Woods's 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. Sportswriter Bill Lyon of Knight-Ridder asked in a column, "Isn't Tiger Woods actually bad for golf?" (though Bill Lyon ultimately concluded that he was not). At first, some pundits feared that Tiger 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.

A related effect was measured by economist Jennifer Brown of the University of California, Berkeley who found that other golfers played worse when competing against Tiger Woods than when he was not in the tournament. The scores of highly skilled (exempt) golfers are nearly one stroke higher when playing against Tiger Woods. This effect was larger when he was on winning streaks and disappeared during his well-publicized slump in 2003-04. Jennifer Brown explains the results by noting that competitors of similar skill can hope to win by increasing their level of effort, but that, when facing a "superstar" competitor, extra exertion doesn't significantly raise one's level of winning while increasing risk of injury or exhaustion, leading to reduced effort.

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 Tiger Woods, a strategy that became known as "Tiger-Proofing". Tiger Woods himself welcomed the change as he believes adding yardage to the course does not affect his ability to win.

Tiger Woods's performance in the Ryder Cup playing for the American team has been mediocre throughout the years. In his 1st Ryder Cup in 1997, he earned only 1½ points competing in every match and partnering mostly with Mark O'Meara. Costantino Rocca defeated Tiger Woods in his singles match. In 1999, he earned 2 points over every match with a variety of partners. In 2002, he lost both Friday matches, but, partnered with Davis Love III for both of Saturday's matches, won 2 points for the Americans, and was slated to anchor the Americans for the singles matches, both squads going into Sunday with 8 points. However, after the Europeans took an early lead, his match with Jesper Parnevik was rendered unimportant and they halved the match. In 2004, he was paired with Phil Mickelson on Friday but lost both matches, and only earned 1 point on Saturday. With the Americans facing a 5-11 deficit, he won the 1st singles match, but the team was not able to rally. In 2006, he was paired with Jim Furyk for all of the pairs matches, but they only won 1 point. Tiger Woods won his singles match, 1 of only 3 Americans to do so that day. Tiger Woods is 3-1-1 in singles matches but has a much worse record in the team matches, which has led critics to question his partnership abilities. By comparison, in the Presidents Cup, Tiger Woods is 3-2 in singles matches and 10-10 in partnership matches.

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