Tiger Woods

'Tiger' Woods was born Eldrick Tont Woods on 30th December 1975 in Cypress, California and, encouraged by his father Earl, first picked up a golf club before the age of two.  
Woods' golf talent grew quickly and he came to be thought of as something of a child prodigy, scoring a 48 for nine holes aged just three and completing his first sub-80 round for 18 holes by the age of eight. He even made a number of appearances on national television. Under his father's watchful eye, Woods continued to develop and he went on to win six Junior World Golf Championships.

Woods competed in his first major championship at the Masters in 1995, eventually finishing in tied 41st place and the only amateur to make the cut. Next year he became the first golfer to win three consecutive US Amateur titles and he also won the silver medal for the leading amateur at the Open Championship. The time had come to turn professional. In 1996 Woods was named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year and PGA Rookie of the Year.

In 1997, Woods won his first Major Championship at the Masters. Aged just 21 he was the tournament's youngest ever winner. Woods ascended to the top of the World Golf rankings two months after the Masters, the fastest ever transition from amateur to world number one.  

Over the course of the next decade Woods would go on to become one of the greatest golfers in the history of the game, and the highest earning PGA Tour professional ever. To date, Woods has 79 wins on the PGA Tour and 40 wins on the European Tour. He has won the Masters four times, the US Open three times, the Open Championship three times and the PGA Championship four times. 

By the age of 24 Woods had become the youngest player in history to win all four majors and his 2001 Masters win ensured that he became the first ever player to hold all four majors at the same time.

Well-documented personal issues and a spell away from the game aside, Woods revolutionised the game of golf. As the first African-American golfer to play at the peak of the sport he was an inspiration to millions. Woods' style of play made course designers re-think their most difficult holes; he could drive further than many players before him but he was able to combine this awesome power with skill and finesse around the greens. 

Off the course, Woods may have courted controversy in recent years but, as a golfer, there are few players in history that bear comparison. 

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