Tiger Woods

Woods was born in Cypress, California, to Earl and Kultida Woods. His father was an officer in the United States Army who met Kultida in Thailand during the Vietnam War. Earl nicknamed his son Tiger in honor of his friend and fellow soldier Vuong Dang Phong. Earl died of prostate cancer in May 2006. Woods considered his father his closest mentor and first golf instructor.

Woods married Swedish model Elin Nordegren on October 5, 2004. The couple had two children, daughter Sam Alexis in 2007 and son Charlie Axel in 2009. The marriage ended in divorce in August 2010 following public revelations of infidelity. Nordegren and Woods maintained shared parenting responsibilities after their separation.

Woods later dated Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn from 2013 to 2015. He was in a relationship with restaurant manager Erica Herman from late 2017 until early 2023. In late 2024, he began dating Vanessa Trump.

His son Charlie developed into a competitive junior golfer. The father and son began playing together in the annual PNC Championship in 2020, finishing second in the 2021 tournament. Woods has often served as his son's caddie during junior competitions.

Woods started golfing before the age of two. He appeared on The Mike Douglas Show at age two to putt alongside Bob Hope. At age three, he shot 48 for nine holes. He won three straight U.S. Junior Amateur titles from 1991 to 1993, followed by three consecutive U.S. Amateur Championships between 1994 and 1996. He also won an NCAA individual title while competing for Stanford University.

Woods turned professional in August 1996. He earned his PGA Tour card within seven tournaments, winning twice. In April 1997, at age 21, Woods won the Masters Tournament by 12 strokes with a tournament-record score of 270. The victory made him the youngest Masters champion and the first person of African or Asian descent to win a major championship. Two months later, he reached world number one for the first time.

His career reached a milestone with the Tiger Slam. Beginning with the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, which he won by a record 15 strokes, Woods won the 2000 Open Championship at St. Andrews and the 2000 PGA Championship. When he captured the 2001 Masters, he became the only golfer to hold all four professional major trophies at the same time.

Between 2001 and 2008, Woods added seven more major titles. He won the Open Championship in 2005 and 2006, and took the PGA Championship in 2006 and 2007. His 2006 Open Championship victory at Royal Liverpool came two months after his father died.

The 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines proved to be one of his most demanding tests. Woods entered the event with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and two stress fractures in his left leg. He forced an 18-hole playoff against Rocco Mediate with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole. The playoff remained tied after 18 holes, sending them to sudden death. Woods won on the 19th hole with a par. He underwent season-ending knee surgery two days later.

Injuries interrupted the next decade of his career. Woods underwent several knee operations and four back surgeries between 2014 and 2017. In May 2017, police arrested him in Florida after finding him asleep at the wheel of his car. Breath tests showed no alcohol, and Woods attributed the condition to an adverse reaction to prescribed medications for back pain and sleep issues. He completed a diversion program after pleading guilty to reckless driving.

He rebuilt his game in 2018. At the 2019 Masters, Woods shot a final-round 70 to claim his fifth green jacket. It was his 15th major championship and his first in nearly 11 years. In May 2019, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That October, Woods won the inaugural Zozo Championship in Japan. The victory gave him 82 PGA Tour titles, matching Sam Snead's record.

In February 2021, Woods survived a single-car rollover crash in Los Angeles County. He suffered multiple fractures to his right tibia and fibula. Following surgery and rehabilitation, he returned to competition on a limited basis, focusing primarily on major tournaments.

Woods organized his business operations under the TGR brand. His projects include TGR Design, which created golf courses such as Bluejack National in Texas. He also opened The Woods Jupiter, a sports restaurant in Florida.

His charitable efforts run through the TGR Foundation, established in 1996. The organization developed the TGR Learning Lab in Anaheim, California, to provide educational programming for students, later establishing additional sites in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Florida.