Career

Woods was a child prodigy who began to play golf at the age of two. In 1978, he putted against comedian Bob Hope in a television appearance on The Mike Douglas Show. At age three, he shot a 48 over nine holes at the Navy Golf Club in Cypress, California, and at age five, he appeared in Golf Digest and on ABC's That's Incredible.[19] In 1984 at the age of eight he won the 9–10 boys' event, the youngest age group available, at the Junior World Golf Championships.[20] He went on to win the Junior World Championships six times, including four consecutive wins from 1988 to 1991.[21][22][23][24][25]

While attending Western High School in Anaheim at the age of 15, Woods became the youngest ever U.S. Junior Amateur Champion, was voted Southern California Amateur Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, and Golf Digest Junior Amateur Player of the Year 1991.[26] He successfully defended his title at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, becoming the first multiple winner, competed in his first PGA Tour event, the Nissan Los Angeles Open and was named Golf Digest Amateur Player of the Year, Golf World Player of the Year and Golfweek National Amateur of the Year in 1992.[27][28]

The following year, Woods won his third consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, and remains the event's youngest-ever and only multiple winner.[29] In 1994, he became the youngest ever winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship. He was a member of the American team at the 1994 Eisenhower Trophy World Amateur Golf Team Championships and 1995 Walker Cup.[30][31] Later that year, he enrolled at Stanford University, and won his first collegiate event, the William Tucker Invitational. He declared a major in Economics and was nicknamed "Urkel" by his college teammates.[32] In 1995, he defended his U.S. Amateur title, and was voted Pac-10 Player of the Year, NCAA First Team All-American, and Stanford's Male Freshman of the Year (an award that encompasses all sports).[33][34] He participated in his first PGA Tour major, the Masters Tournament, and tied for 41st as the only amateur to make the cut. At age 20 in 1996, he became the first golfer to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles and won the NCAA individual golf championship.[35] In winning the Silver Medal as leading amateur at The Open Championship, he tied the record for an amateur aggregate score of 281.[36] He left college after two years and turned professional.

Marriage

In November 2003, Woods became engaged to Elin Nordegren, a Swedish model. They were introduced during The Open Championship in 2001 by Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik, who had employed her as an au pair. They married on October 5, 2004 at the Sandy Lane resort on the Caribbean island of Barbados and live at Isleworth, a community in Windermere, a suburb of Orlando, Florida. They also have homes in Jackson, Wyoming, California, and Sweden. In January 2006, they purchased a $39 million residential property in Jupiter Island, Florida, which they intend to make their primary residence.^[13] Their Jupiter Island neighbors will include fellow golfers Gary Player, Greg Norman and Nick Price, as well as singers Celine Dion and Alan Jackson. In 2007, a guest house on the Jupiter Island estate was destroyed in a fire caused by lightning.^[14]

Early in the morning of June 18, 2007, Elin gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter, Sam Alexis Woods, in Orlando.^[15] The birth occurred just one day after Woods finished tied for second in the 2007 U.S. Open.^[16] Tiger chose to name his daughter Sam because his father said that Tiger looked more like a Sam.