Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Tiger Woods - The Greatest Golfer of all Time

Eldrick (Tiger) Woods, now 34 years of age, has had an unprecedented career since becoming a professional golfer in the late summer of 1996. He has won 95 tournaments, 71 of those on the PGA Tour, including the 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005 Masters Tournaments, 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007 PGA Championships, 2000, 2002, and 2008 U.S. Open Championships, and 2000, 2005 and 2006 Open Championships. With his second Masters victory in 2001, Tiger became the first ever to hold all four professional major championships at the same time. He is the career victories leader among active players on the PGA Tour, and is the career money list leader.

In winning the 2000 British Open, Woods became the youngest to complete the career Grand Slam of professional major championships and only the fifth ever to do so, following Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus. Tiger also was the youngest Masters champion ever, at the age of 21 years, three months and 14 days, and was the first major championship winner of African or Asian heritage.


Woods holds or shares the record for the low score in relation to par in each of the four major championships. His records are 270 (18-under par) in the 1997 Masters, 272 (12-under par) in the 2000 U.S. Open, 269 (19-under par) in the 2000 Open Championship, and he shares the record of 270 (18-under par) with Bob May in the 2000 PGA Championship, which Tiger won by one stroke in a three-hole playoff.

The U.S. Open and Masters victories came by record margins, 15 strokes and 12 strokes, respectively, and the U.S. Open triumph swept aside the 13-stroke major championship standard which had stood for 138 years, established by Old Tom Morris in the 1862 British Open. The record margin for the U.S. Open had been 11 strokes by Willie Smith in 1899. In The Masters, Woods broke the record margin of nine strokes set by Nicklaus in 1965. Tiger won the Open Championship by eight strokes, the largest margin since J. H. Taylor in 1913.

He is the career victories leader among active players on the PGA Tour and is the career money list leader. He is third in PGA Tour career victories, trailing only Sam Snead (82) and Jack Nicklaus (73).

Tiger increased his record total on the PGA Tour career money list to $92,862,539, through 2009, and had won $111,433,044 worldwide.

In addition to his playing exploits, Woods is busy off the course, too.

Did You Know?

Wake-up time
Did you know that Tiger's alarm clock is set at 5:00 a.m. sharp?

Average clubhead speed
Did you know that Tiger's average clubhead speed is 125 mph while the average person's speed is 84 mph?

Inspiration
Did you know that Tiger's inspirations are his parents and Nelson Mandela?

Perfect day
Did you know Tiger's perfect day is to surf, ski, play golf and go spear-fishing in the same day?

Favorite movie
Did you know that Tiger's favorite movie is Caddyshack?

Biggest challenge
Did you know that Tiger's biggest challenge is to become a better person tomorrow?

Proudest moment
Did you know that Tiger's proudest moment was winning the Masters?

Retreat
Did you know that Tiger's retreat is to go underwater shooting fish?

Favorite soundtrack
Did you know that Tiger's favorite soundtrack is anything from '80s and early '90s?

Fondest memory
Did you know that Tiger's fondest memory was riding his bike and skateboard all the time?

First job
Did you know that Tiger's first job was as a cart boy?

Indulgence
Did you know that Tiger's indulgence is to spend his time on his boat?