11 Things You Didn’t Know About Tiger Woods

After recently winning the Masters in 2019, and having a lot more matches scheduled for 2020, the story of Tiger Woods is one of the best stories in sports that everyone needs to hear about. Tiger Woods is one of the most famous golfers ever. The record that Tiger Woods has accumulated over his career has cemented him as the best. This is a story of 11 things you dint known about Tiger Woods back to when he became the youngest golfer to ever win the masters and the first African American to do that all the way up to today and his relevancy in today’s golfing world.

“I will be jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson.” These are the words of young woods during an interview at age 5. (Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson are among the greatest, most accomplished golfers of all times)

1. His background

Eldrick Woods was born on December 30 of 1975 in Cypress, California, his mother is from Thailand, and that is where she met her husband Earl, who was on a tour of duty there in 1968. Earl is a retired lieutenant colonel and is a Vietnam War veteran. He also has African American Chinese and Native American origin hence Tiger Woods describes his ethnic background as Cablin Asian which is an abbreviation for Caucasian American, black, Indian and Asian to describe his ethnicity.

2. The name ‘Tiger’

The name Tiger actually is an honor to his father Earl’s friend who was a colonel and his nickname was also Tiger.

3. Woods’s early childhood.

Tiger grew up in Orange County, California and was going to be a special golfer from the day he was born. His father Earl had introduced him to a putter at six months old, and by two years old Tiger was learning the game and watching his father’s swing in the garage at their home. Tiger’s father’s military background allowed access for Tiger to play at some of the great courses on military bases around the Los Angeles area. At two years old Tiger played on a regulation course of nine holes, which was a par 36 and the kid shot a 48. At three years old Tiger played in his first ever tournament, which was a pitch putt and drive tournament. And this was a 10 years and under tournament and he won the freaking tournament. At 11, Tiger finally beat his dad on the course and Tiger went on to beat his dad every time since then, typical championship level golf courses have a par of 72. And at age 12, Tiger got a 70 on a regulation course, at the age of 15. Tiger was the youngest us junior amateur champion ever, and that record stood the test of time until 2010. He became the only junior amateur champion to win three in a row in 1994. He then became the youngest US amateur champion.

4. Believe in Buddha

Given his family background, it may not be surprising to learn that Tiger Woods is a Buddhist. Tiger’s mom was born and raised in Thailand and practiced Buddhism. While in Thailand for a tournament in 2000, he was actually offered official Thai citizenship, but he chose to politely decline their offer.

5. He studied at Stanford University

Tiger believed in getting a proper education, which is why he attended Stanford University. Tiger got into the school thanks to a golf scholarship, and while he was there, he choose a college major totally unrelated to golf, he majored in economics, but the allure of the Tour proved to be too much, as he dropped out after just 2 years. He left to start his professional career at the age of twenty 1996, and boy was this man’s career about to explore.

6. He won the Masters in 1997 becoming the tournament’s youngest winner at the age of 21.

On April 13, 1997, Tiger Woods made golfing history when he won the prestigious Masters tournament of golf. The win was a record breaker in many ways. Woods, at age twenty-one, was the youngest person ever to win the Masters Tournament. He beat the competition with a record-breaking score of 270 for seventy-two holes. He secured the win with a twelve-stroke lead, the largest victory margin in the history of the tournament. Woods, a man of ethnic complexity, further distinguished himself as the first non-white to win the Masters, and in doing so he helped to dissolve many stereotypical notions and attitudes regarding minorities in the sport of golf. He went on to win more major tournaments in the succeeding years.

7. His physical fitness.

Even though it turns out, Tiger loves is a fast food lover; there is something worth a mention about Tiger Woods. He revolutionized golf because he took the approach of staying physically fit and lifting weights back in the day lifting weights was something golfers didn’t do and it was said it was screw up your shot and your game. But Tiger did things his way. And this might be what’s made him such a great golfer, even if some disagree.

8. His Marriage and family Life

He married in 2004 but 2006 was a tough year for him. He won his first two PGA tournaments but he lost at the masters and sadly lost his best friend, his mentor, and most importantly his father Earl Woods who succumbed to cancer. In 2007, Tiger celebrated the birth of his first child, baby girl Sam. And in 2009, Tiger celebrated the birth of his second child Charlie. In early 2010, Woods was speculated to be cheating on his wife, and there was multiple reports to support the speculation, and eventually got a divorce.

9. Even the best have battles and struggles to fight, Tiger had his own share.

At this point, Tiger Woods was really at his lowest point in his professional career. His coach Hank Haney resigned and had been with him since 2003. He fired his longtime caddy Steve Williams, his golf ranking fell. He was also struggling with leg injuries still, and he had some bad performances, but he started achieving again later and 2012 he passed jack Nicklaus at the National PGA wins. But his reign back to the top was cut short because in 2014, he had to have back surgery and he struggled returning to play. He had some on and off medical struggles but he still played and finally in 2019, Tiger played in the masters and put on one of the greatest shows in golf history. The legend that everyone was scared would never get his game back returned and returned looking for blood Tiger ended up winning the Masters which was his first career major championship in 11 years. Tiger was even awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in May 2019. He has talked about how the back injuries have given him a new perspective and has even given them time with his family that he wouldn’t have had before.

10. He Is A Best-Selling Author

No one can doubt the fact that Tiger Woods is a massively successful golfer and businessman, but what many people do not know is that he is also a successful author. Tiger has written several books, but his crowning achievement is his 2001 book, ‘How I Play Golf’, which sold over 1.5 million copies.

11. Tiger Wood’s quotes

Woods likes to highlight his ideas about success, and how much hard work and dedication it truly takes to succeed in life and in a career that he loves though quotes. Some of his famous quotes include:

-“There’s no point in going to a tournament if you don’t believe that you can win it.”

-“I smile at obstacles.”

-“There’s always stuff to work on. You’re never there. No matter how good you get you can always get better and that’s the exciting part.”

– “I will be a better golfer, I will be a better person, I will be a better father, I will be a better husband, I will be a better friend.”  Tiger Woods!