Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods, aka Tiger Woods is one of the most famous athlete in the world, but also one of the most talented golfer of all times.
He was born in Cypress, California, on December 30th, 1975. He is the only child of Earl Woods and Kultida (Tida) Woods. He also has two half-brothers, Earl Jr and Kevin, and one half-sister Royce. Tiger’s father Earl was a retired United States Army Lieutenant colonel, and Vietnam War veteran, and was mixed African America, Chinese and Native American ancestry. His mother, originally from Thailand is of mixed Thai, Chinese and Dutch ancestry.
Woods grew up in Orange County, California, and was introduced to golf before the age of two by his father who was a good golf amateur. Tiger showed very fast that he was a child prodigy. At age three, he shot a 48 over nine holes over the Cypress Navy course and he broke 80 at age eight. He also won the Junior World Championships six times including four consecutive wins from 1988 to 1991. Wood’s father once said the Tiger first beat him when he was 11 years olf, with him trying his best, and lost to Tiger every time from then on.
In 1994, Woods obtained a golf scholarship and enrolled at Stanford University. He declared a major in economics. The same year, in September, he won his first collegiate event, the 40th Annual William H. Tucker Invitational. In 1995, he participated in his first PGA Tour major, and he was voted PAC-10 Player of the Year, NCAA First Team All-American, and Stanford’s Male Freshman of the Year which is an award that encompasses all sports.
In August 1996, Tiger Woods announced the beginning of his career as a professional golfer witha “Hello World”, and signed endorsement deals worth 40 million dollars from Nike, Inc. and 20 million dollars fro Titleist. At the time, these endorsements were the highest in golf history.
As all professional athletes, Woods had ups and downs, as well as some injuries, but he always came back on the green as the number one professional golfer of all times.