Born into the marriage between Earl Woods, of African American origin, but with Chinese and American Indian descent, who is a veteran of the Vietnam War, and Kult Woods, of Thai origin (albeit with Chinese and Dutch descent). His real name is Eldrick, but was nicknamed "Tiger" at birth by his father as gratitude to Vietnamese soldier Vuong Dang Phong, which was known as "Tiger", who saved his life on a couple of occasions during the war in Vietnam (one of them, Phong awoke in the middle of the night and killed a poisonous snake that was found on the body of Earl).
Woods started playing golf at the age of two and rose to fame after winning three consecutive U.S. Amateurs before turning 20 years old. He decided to go professional in 1996 and in just three months won two professional tournaments. In 1997 he surprised the world after winning the prestigious Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club. At only 21 years old he became the youngest person to win a major tournament.
In 2004 he married the Swedish model Elin Nordegren, who was the nanny for Jesper Parnevik, a Swedish golfer who introduced them. They married in a secret ceremony in Barbados in front of approximately 200 guests.
His presence in the world of golf revolutionized the game and produced more interest in the sport than ever before. He did not win a grand slam tournament again until the PGA Championship in 1999, when defeated the Spanish Sergio García. In 2000 Tiger won three of the four majors of that year, something that nobody had done since Ben Hogan in 1953.
At Pebble Beach, California he won the U.S. Open by a record margin of fifteen strokes and tied the lowest score in the history of the tournament. A month later, in St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf he won the British Open. To end a great summer he regained the PGA Championship in a memorable duel against unknown Bob May. With his victory in the 2001 Masters Woods became the only player to hold all four Grand Slam trophies at the same time. Tiger Woods at this point had won 14 majors in his career, just below the 18 of Jack Nicklaus.
The influence of Tiger Woods that led to an increase in interest and an increase in prize money. For example, when he won his first major in April 1997 he won about $ 486,000, and when he won the same tournament in 2005, won $ 1,260,000 Thanks to his lofty sponsorship contracts, Woods ended the year 2005 as the best paid athlete in the world according to Forbes magazine with $ 87 million.
In 2006, Tiger did not pass the cut in a major for the first time in his career. It happened in the U.S. Open and was barely one month after the death of his father.
