Tiger Woods (born Eldrick Tiger Woods,December 30th 1975) is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Currently the World No. 1, Woods was the highest paid professional athlete in 2006, having earned an estimated $100 million from winnings and endorsements.
Woods has won 13 professional major golf championships, the second-most of any male player, and 61 PGA Tour events, the fifth-most of all time. He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer. He is the youngest player to achieve the Career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on Tour. Woods has held the number one position in the world rankings for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record nine times, the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times, and has tied Jack Nicklaus's record of leading the money list in eight different seasons. He has been named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year four times, a record he shares with Lance Armstrong.
Woods, who is multiracial, is credited with prompting a major surge of interest in the game of golf. Woods doubled attendance and TV ratings, and generated interest among a multicultural audience in a game that used to be considered insular and elitist
Eldrick "Tiger" Woods was born on December 30, 1975 in Cypress, California to Earl and Kultida Woods (from Thailand). He is the only child of their marriage but has two half-brothers, Earl Jr. (born 1955) and Kevin (born 1957), and one half-sister, Royce (born 1958) from the 18-year marriage of Earl Woods and his first wife, Barbara Woods Gray. Earl, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and Vietnam War veteran was of mixed African American (50 percent), Chinese (25 percent) and Native American (25 percent) ancestry. Kultida (nee Punsawad), originally from Thailand, is of mixed Thai (50 percent), Chinese (25 percent), and Dutch (25 percent) ancestry. This makes Woods himself one-quarter Chinese, one quarter Thai, one quarter African American, one-eighth Native American, and one-eighth Dutch. He refers to his ethnic make-up as Cablinasian (a portmanteau term he coined from Caucasian, Black, American-Indian, and Asian). Woods is a Buddhist. He has said that his faith was acquired from his mother and that it helps control both his stubbornness and impatience.
Tiger got his nickname from a Vietnamese soldier friend of his father, Vuong Dang Phong, to whom his father had also given the Tiger nickname. Woods became generally known by that name and by the time he had achieved national prominence in junior and amateur golf was simply known as "Tiger Woods." On his twenty-first birthday, Woods legally changed his name from from Eldrick to Tiger. He grew up in Orange County, attending high school at Western High in Anaheim.
In November 2003, Woods became engaged to Elin Nordegren, a Swedish model. They were introduced during The Open Championship in 2001 by Swedish golf star Jesper Parnevik, who had employed her as a nanny. 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, Woods and his wife purchased a US$39 million residential property in Jupiter Island, Florida, which they intend to make their primary residence. Woods' 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.
Early in the morning of June 18, 2007, Elin gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter, Sam Alexis Woods, in Orlando, Florida. The birth occurred just one day after Woods finished tied for second in the 2007 U.S. Open. Tiger chose to name his daughter Sam because his late father said that Tiger looked more like a Sam.
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, Woods 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. 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. Woods went on to win the Junior World Championships six times, including four consecutive wins from 1988 to 1991. At the age of 15, he 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 Amateur Player of the Year 1991. 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.
The following year, he won his third consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, and remains the event's youngest-ever and only multiple winner. In 1994, Woods 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. Later that year, he enrolled at Stanford University, and won his first collegiate event, the William Tucker Invitational. At Stanford he majored in Economics and was nicknamed "Urkel" by his college teammates. In 1995, Woods 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). He participated in his first PGA Tour major, The Masters, and tied for 41st as the only amateur to make the cut. At age 20 in 1996, Woods became the first golfer to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles and won the NCAA individual golf championship. In winning the Silver Medal as leading amateur at The Open Championship, Woods tied the record for an amateur aggregate score of 281. He left college after two years and turned professional
With the announcement, "Hello World," Tiger Woods became a professional golfer in August 1996, and signed endorsement deals worth $40 million from Nike and $20 million from Titleist. He played his first round of professional golf at the Greater Milwaukee Open, tying for 60th place, but went on to win two events in the next three months to qualify for the Tour Championship. For his efforts, Woods was named Sports Illustrated's 1996 Sportsman of the Year and PGA Rookie of the Year. He began his tradition of wearing a red shirt during the final round of tournaments, a link to his college days at Stanford and a color he believes symbolizes aggression and assertiveness.
The following April, Woods won his first golf major, The Masters, by a record margin of 12 strokes, becoming the youngest Masters winner and the first winner of African or Asian descent. He set a total of 20 Masters records and tied 6 others. He won another three PGA Tour events that year, and on June 15, 1997, in only his 42nd week as a professional, rose to number one in the Official World Golf Rankings, the fastest ever ascent to world No. 1. He was named PGA Player of the Year, the first golfer to win the award the year following his rookie season.
While expectations for Woods were high, Woods' form faded in the second half of 1997, and in 1998 he only won one PGA Tour event. Woods answered critics of his "slump" and what seemed to be wavering form by maintaining he was undergoing extensive swing changes with his coach, Butch Harmon, and was hoping to do better in the future.
In June 1999, Woods won the Memorial Tournament, a victory that marked the beginning of one of the greatest sustained periods of dominance in the history of men's golf. He completed his 1999 campaign by winning his last four starts, including the PGA Championship, and finished the season with eight wins — a feat not achieved in the past 25 years. He was voted PGA Tour Player of the Year and Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the second time in three years.
Woods rang in the new millennium with his fifth consecutive victory and began a record-setting season, where he would win three consecutive majors, 9 PGA Tour events, and set or tie 27 Tour records. He went on to capture his sixth consecutive victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with a comeback for the ages. Trailing by seven strokes with seven holes to play, Woods finished eagle-birdie-par-birdie for a 64 and a two-stroke victory. His six consecutive wins were the most since Hogan in 1948 and only five behind Byron Nelson’s record of 11 in a row. In the 2000 U.S. Open, Woods broke or tied a total of nine U.S. Open records with his 15-shot win, including Old Tom Morris's record for the largest victory margin ever in a major championship, which had stood since 1862, and became the Tour's all-time career money leader. He led by a record 10 strokes going into the final round, and Sports Illustrated called it "the greatest performance in golf history." In the 2000 Open Championship at St Andrews, which he won by eight strokes, Woods set the record for lowest score to par (−19) in any major tournament, and he holds at least a share of that record in all four major championships. At 24 he became the youngest golfer to achieve the Career Grand Slam. His major championship streak was seriously threatened at the 2000 PGA Championship, however, when Bob May went head-to-head with Woods on Sunday at Valhalla Golf Club. Woods played the last 12 holes of regulation seven under par, and won a three-hole playoff with a birdie on the first hole and pars on the next two. He joined Ben Hogan (1953) as the only other player to win three professional majors in one season. Three weeks later, Woods won his third straight start on Tour at the Bell Canadian Open, becoming only the second man after Lee Trevino in 1971 to win the Triple Crown of Golf (U.S., British, and Canadian Opens) in one year. Of the twenty events he entered in 2000, he finished in the top three 14 times. His adjusted scoring average of 67.79 and his actual scoring average of 68.17 were the lowest in PGA Tour history, besting his own record of 68.43 in 1999 and Byron Nelson's average of 68.33 in 1945, respectively. He was named the 2000 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.
The following season, Woods continued dominating. His 2001 Masters win marked the only time within the era of the modern "grand slam" that any player has been the holder of all four major championship titles at the same time, a feat now known as the "Tiger Slam". It is not viewed as a true Grand Slam, however, because it was not achieved in a calendar year. Surprisingly, Woods was not a factor in the three remaining majors of the year, but finished with the most PGA Tour wins in the season, with five. In 2002, Woods started off strong, joining Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) as the only men to have won back-to-back Masters. Two months later, Woods was the only player under par at the U.S. Open, and resurrected buzz about the calendar Grand Slam, which had eluded him in 2000. All eyes were on Woods at the Open Championship, but his third round score of 81 ended Grand Slam hopes. At the PGA Woods nearly repeated his 2000 feat of winning three majors in one year but bogeys at the 13th and 14th holes in the final round cost him the championship by one stroke. Nonetheless, he took home the money title, Vardon Trophy, and Player of the Year honors for the fourth year in a row.
The next phase of Woods' career saw him remain among the top competitors on the tour, but lose his dominating edge. He did not win a major in 2003 or 2004, falling to second in the PGA Tour money list in 2003 and fourth in 2004. In September 2004, Woods' record streak of 264 consecutive weeks as the world's top-ranked golfer came to an end at the Deutsche Bank Championship, when Vijay Singh won and overtook Woods in the Official World Golf Rankings. Many commentators were puzzled by Woods' "slump," offering explanations that ranged from Woods' rift with swing coach Butch Harmon to his marriage. At the same time, Woods let it be known that he was again working on changes to his swing, this time in hopes of reducing the wear and tear on his surgically-repaired left knee, which was subjected to severe stress in the 1998–2003 version of his swing. Again, Woods anticipated that once the adjustments were complete, he would return to his previous form.
In the 2005 PGA Tour season, Woods quickly returned to his winning ways. He won the Buick Invitational in January and in March he outplayed Phil Mickelson to win the Ford Championship at Doral and temporarily return to the Official World Golf Rankings number one position (Singh displaced him once again two weeks later). In April Woods finally broke his "drought" in the majors by winning the 2005 Masters in a playoff (after holing an historic chip on the 16th hole), which regained him the number one spot in the World Rankings. Singh and Woods swapped the number 1 position several times over the next couple of months, but by early July, Woods had established an advantage, propelled further by a victory in The Open Championship, a win that gave him his 10th major. Woods went on to win six official money events on the PGA Tour in 2005, topping the money list for the sixth time in his career. Woods' 2005 wins also included two at the World Golf Championships.
For Woods, the year 2006 was markedly different from 2005. While he began just as dominantly (winning the first two tournaments he entered on the year) and was in the hunt for his fifth Masters championship in April, Woods never mounted a Sunday charge to defend his title, allowing Phil Mickelson to claim the green jacket. Shortly thereafter (May 3, 2006), Woods' father/mentor/inspiration, Earl, died after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. Woods took a nine-week-long hiatus from the PGA Tour to be with his family. When he returned for the 2006 U.S. Open, the rust was evident — he missed the cut at Winged Foot, the first time he had missed the cut at a major as a professional, and ended his record-tying streak of 39 consecutive cuts made at majors. A tie for second at the Western Open just three weeks later showed him poised to defend his Open crown at Hoylake.
At the Open Championship, Woods staged a tour de force in course management, putting, and accuracy with irons. Using almost exclusively long irons off the tee (he hit driver only one time the entire week — the 16th hole of the first round), Woods missed just four fairways all week (hitting the fairway 92 percent of the time), and his score of −18 to par (three eagles, 19 birdies, 43 pars, and seven bogeys) was just one off of his major championship record −19, set at St Andrews in 2000. The victory was an emotional one for Woods, who dedicated his play to his father's memory. Four weeks later, at the PGA Championship, Woods again won in dominating fashion — making only three bogeys, tying the record for fewest in a major. He finished the tournament at 18-under-par equaling the to-par record in the PGA that he shares with Bob May. In August 2006 he won his 50th professional tournament at the Buick Open, and at 30 years and 7 months old, he became the youngest to do so. He ended the year by winning six consecutive PGA Tour events, and won the 3 most prestigious awards given by the PGA Tour (Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Byron Nelson Awards) in the same year for a record seventh time. At the close of his first eleven seasons, Tiger's 54 wins and 12 major wins had eclipsed the all time eleven-season PGA Tour total win record of 51 (set by Byron Nelson) and total majors record of 11 (set by Jack Nicklaus). He was named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for a record-tying fourth time.
Woods and tennis star Roger Federer, who share a major sponsor, have developed a friendship and first met at the 2006 U.S. Open tennis final. Since then, they have attended each other's events and have voiced their mutual appreciation for each other's talents.
Woods began 2007 with a two-stroke victory at the Buick Invitational for his third straight win at the event and his seventh consecutive win on the PGA Tour. The victory marked the fifth time he has won his first tournament of the season. With this win, he became the third man (after Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead) to win at least five times in three different events on the PGA Tour (his two other events are the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and WGC-CA Championship). Woods earned his second victory of the year at the WGC-CA Championship for his third consecutive and sixth win overall at the event. With this victory, he became the first player to have three consecutive victories in five different events. At the 2007 Masters Tournament, Woods was in the final group on the last day of a major for the thirteenth time in his career, but unlike the previous twelve occasions, he was unable to win. He finished tied for second two strokes behind winner Zach Johnson. Woods earned his third victory of the season by two strokes at the Wachovia Championship, the 24th different PGA Tour tournament Woods has won. He has collected at least three wins in a season nine times in his 12-year career. At the U.S. Open, Tiger was in the final group for the fourth consecutive major championship, but began the day two strokes back and finished tied for second once again. His dubious streak of never having come from behind to win on the final day of a major continued. In search of a record-tying third consecutive Open Championship, Woods fell out of contention with a second round 75, and never mounted a charge over the weekend. Although his putting was solid (he sank a 90-footer in the first round), his iron play held him back. "I wasn't hitting the ball as close as I needed to all week," Woods said, after he finished tied for twelfth, five strokes off the pace.
In early August, Woods won his record 14th World Golf Championships event at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by 8 strokes for his third consecutive and sixth victory overall at the event. He became the first golfer to win the same event three straight times on two different occasions (1999-2001) and (2005-2007). The following week, Woods won his 2nd straight PGA Championship by defeating Woody Austin by two strokes. He became the first golfer to win the PGA Championship in back-to-back seasons on two different occasions: 1999-2000 and 2006-2007. He became the second golfer, after Sam Snead, to have won at least five events on the PGA Tour in eight different seasons. Woods earned his 60th PGA Tour victory at the BMW Championship by shooting a course record 63 in the final round to win by two strokes. He sank a 50-foot putt in the final round and missed only two fairways on the weekend. He led the field in most birdies for the tournament, and ranked in the top five in driving accuracy, driving distance, putts per round, putts per green, and greens in regulation. Woods finished his 2007 season with a runaway victory at the Tour Championship to capture his fourth title in his last five starts of the year. He became the only two-time winner of the event, and the champion of the inaugural FedEx Cup. In his 16 starts on Tour in 2007, Woods' adjusted scoring average was 67.79, matching his own record set in 2000. His substantial leads over the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th players were similar in 2000 (1.46 (Mickelson), 1.52 (Els), 1.66 (Duval)) and 2007 (1.50 (Els), 1.51 (Rose), 1.60 (Stricker)).
Woods revealed he had Lasik laser surgery for the second time the Monday after the 2007 Masters. Before the first procedure in 1999, he said he would be considered legally blind without glasses or contacts.
When Woods first joined the professional tour in 1996, his long drives had a large impact on the world of golf . However, when he did not upgrade his equipment in the following years (insisting upon the use of True Temper Dynamic Gold steel-shafted clubs and smaller steel clubheads that promoted accuracy over distance), many opponents caught up to him. Phil Mickelson even made a joke in 2003 about Woods' using "inferior equipment" (meaning outdated technology), which did not sit well with either Nike or Woods. During 2004, Woods finally upgraded his driver technology to a larger clubhead and graphite shaft, which coupled with his prodigious clubhead speed made him one of the Tour's lengthier players off the tee once again.
Despite his power advantage, Woods has always focused on developing an excellent all-around game. Although in recent years he has typically been near the bottom of the Tour rankings in driving accuracy, his iron play is generally as accurate as any player ever to play (including Jack Nicklaus), his recovery and bunker play is often brilliant (for example, his 30 ft (9.1 m) chip-in at Augusta's 16th during the 2005 Masters), and his putting (especially under pressure) is possibly his greatest asset. He is largely responsible for a shift to higher standards of athleticism amongst professional golfers, and is known for putting in more hours of practice than most.
Early in his professional career, Woods worked almost exclusively with leading swing coach Butch Harmon, but since March 2004, he has been coached by Hank Haney. In June 2004, Woods was involved in a media spat with Harmon, who works as a golf broadcaster, when Harmon suggested that he was in "denial" about the problems in his game, but they publicly patched up their differences.
While he is considered one of the most charismatic figures in golf's history, Woods' approach is, at its core, cautious. He aims for consistency. Although he is better than any other Tour player when he is in top form, his dominance comes not from regularly posting extremely low rounds, but instead from avoiding bad rounds. Woods plays fewer tournaments than most professionals (15–21 per year, compared to the typical 25–30), and focuses his efforts on preparing for (and peaking at) the Majors and the most prestigious of the other tournaments. Woods' manner off of the course is cautious as well, as he carries himself in interviews and public appearances with a carefully controlled demeanor reminiscent of the corporate athlete persona developed between Nike and Michael Jordan.
Though he is known to be extremely focused and almost machine-like during tournaments, many golfers have mentioned how Woods is easy to get along with and has a good sense of humor. John Daly mentioned in his autobiography that "Tiger Woods is one of my favorite golfers to play with. The kid is an absolute riot and is just hysterical. Everyone who thinks he is just robotic during tournaments needs to walk 18 holes with him to realize how funny and genuine of a guy he really is."
As of October 2007, Woods has won 61 official PGA Tour events, an additional 20 individual professional titles, owns two team titles in the two-man WGC-World Cup, and won the inaugural FedEx Cup playoffs. He has successfully defended a title 20 times on the PGA Tour, has finished runner-up 23 times, third place 17 times, and has won 28% (61 out of 216) of his professional starts on the PGA Tour. He has hit a combined total 18 holes-in-one in the course of his lifetime, his first at the age of six. He has a 30-6 record when leading after 36 holes in Tour events, and a 41–3 record when leading after 54 holes. Woods is 13-0 when going into the final round of major with at least a share of the lead, and he has never lost any tournament when leading by more than one shot after 54 holes. He has been heralded as "the greatest closer in history" by multiple golf experts. He owns the lowest career scoring average and the most career earnings of any player in PGA Tour history.
He has been the PGA Player of the Year a record nine times, the PGA Tour Money Leader a record-tying eight times (with Jack Nicklaus), the Vardon Trophy winner a record seven times, and the recipient of the Byron Nelson Award a record eight times. He has spent nearly nine years atop the world rankings in his 12-year career. Woods is one of five players (along with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player) to have won all four professional major championships in his career, known as the "Career Grand Slam", and was the youngest to do so. Bobby Jones won all four of what were in his era considered major championships. Woods's win at the 2005 Open Championship made him only the second golfer (after Nicklaus) to have won all four majors more than once. Woods holds at least a share of the scoring record in relation to par in all four majors, and also holds the margin of victory record in two majors, The Masters and the U.S. Open.
With his victory at the 2006 WGC-American Express Championship, he became the first player in PGA Tour history to win at least eight times in three seasons. His victory in the Buick Invitational in January 2007 placed him 2nd for the longest PGA Tour win streak at 7 straight. Only Byron Nelson's streak of 11 wins in 1945 is longer. At the 2003 Tour Championship, Woods set the all-time record for most consecutive cuts, starting in 1998, with 114 (passing Byron Nelson's previous record of 113) and extended this mark to 142 before it ended on May 13, 2005 at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Many consider this to be one of the most remarkable golf accomplishments of all time, given the margin by which he broke the old record (and against stronger fields in terms of depth than those in Nelson's day) and given that during the streak, the next longest streak by any other player was usually only in the 10s or 20s.
When Woods turned pro, Mike "Fluff" Cowan was his caddie until March 8, 1999. He was replaced by Steve Williams, who has become a close friend of Woods and is often credited with helping Woods with key shots and putts.
Woods has established several charitable and youth projects.
The Tiger Woods Foundation: The Tiger Woods Foundation was established in 1996 by Woods and his father Earl. It focuses on projects for children. Initially these comprised golf clinics (aimed especially at disadvantaged children), and a grant program. Further activities added since then include university scholarships, an association with Target House at St. Jude Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee; the Start Something character development program, which had had over one million participants by 2003; and the Tiger Woods Learning Center. The Tiger Woods Foundation recently has teamed up with the PGA Tour to create a new PGA tour event that will take place in the nation's capital (Washington, D.C.) beginning in July, 2007. Tiger believes being a good role model is even more important than golf and that golf is a way he can positively influence others. The main focus of this foundation is to help disadvantaged youngsters become better people.
In The City Golf Clinics and Festivals: Since 1997, the Tiger Woods Foundation has conducted junior golf clinics across the country. The Foundation began the “In the City” golf clinic program in 2003. The first three clinics were held in Indio, Calif., Wilkinsburg, Pa., and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and were targeted to all youth, ages 7-17, and their families. Each three-day event features golf lessons on Thursday and Friday of clinic week and a free community festival on Saturday. Cities are selected to participate in the clinics through a formal bid process. Winning cities invite 15 junior golfers to participate and receive instruction from local PGA professionals. Top junior golfers from each In The City Clinic are participate in the annual Tiger Woods Foundation Youth Clinic. This three-day junior golf event includes tickets to Disney Resorts; a pitch, putt and drive skills tournament; a junior golf clinic; and an exhibition by Tiger Woods. As part of the junior golf clinics, TWF works with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to bring at least one Make-A-Wish child to each clinic. These children are given the opportunity to meet Tiger, take some photos with him and talk to him about anything they choose.
Tiger Woods Learning Center: This is a 35,000 square foot (3,300 m²) educational facility in Anaheim, California which opened in February 2006. It is expected to be used by several thousand students each year, with a day program for grades 4 to 6 and an after school program for grades 7 to 12. There will also be summer programs, weekend and community outreach programs and online learning programs. The centre will feature extensive multi-media facilities and an outdoor golf teaching area.
Tiger Jam: An annual fundraising concert which has raised over $10 million for the Tiger Woods Foundation. 2006's Tiger Jam IX was headlined by Sting and Jon Bon Jovi is headlining Tiger Jam X.
Target World Challenge: An annual off-season charity golf tournament. The event also carries generous prize money, but Woods donates his winnings to his foundation.
Tiger Woods Foundation National Junior Golf Team: An eighteen member team which competes in the annual Junior World Golf Championships.
Woods has also participated in charity work for his current caddy, Steve Williams. On April 24, 2006 Woods won an auto racing event that benefited the Steve Williams Foundation to raise funds to provide sporting careers for disadvantaged youth
Woods announced on December 3, 2006 that he will develop his first golf course in the United Arab Emirates through his golf course design company, Tiger Woods Design. The Tiger Woods Dubai will feature a 7700 yd (7040.9 m), par-72 course named Al Ruwaya (meaning "serenity"), a 60,000 square foot (6,000 m²) clubhouse, a golf academy, 320 exclusive villas and a boutique hotel with 80 suites. Tiger Woods Dubai is a joint venture between himself and Tatweer, a member of the government-affiliated Dubai Holding. Woods chose Dubai because he was excited about the "challenge of transforming a desert terrain into a world-class golf course." The development is scheduled to be finished in late 2009 at Dubailand, the region's largest tourism and leisure project.
On August 14 2007, Woods announced his first course to be designed in the U.S., The Cliffs at High Carolina. The private course will sit at about 4,000 feet in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, N.C.
Woods has been called the world's most marketable athlete; shortly after his 21st birthday in 1996, Woods began signing numerous endorsement deals with companies including General Motors, Titleist, General Mills, American Express, Accenture and Nike. In 2000, Woods signed a 5-year, $105 million contract extension with Nike. It was the largest endorsing deal ever signed by an athlete at that time.
Woods' endorsement has been credited in playing a significant role taking the Nike Golf brand from a "start-up" golf company earlier the past decade to the leading golf apparel company in the world and one of the major players in the equipment and golf ball world. Nike Golf is one of the fastest growing brands in the sport, with an estimated $600 million in sales. Woods has been described as the "ultimate endorser" for Nike Golf, frequently seen wearing Nike gear during tournaments and even in advertisements for other products. Woods receives a cut from the sales of Nike Golf apparel, footwear, golf equipment and golf balls and has a building named after him at Nike’s headquarters campus in Beaverton, Oregon.
In 2002, Woods was involved in every aspect of the launch of Buick's Rendezvous SUV. A company spokesman stated that Buick is happy with the value of Wood's endorsement, pointing out that more than 130,000 Rendezvous vehicles were sold in 2002 and 2003. "That exceeded our forecasts," he was quoted as saying. "It has to be in recognition of Tiger." In February, 2004, Buick renewed Woods endorsement contract for another five years, in a deal reportedly worth $40 million. Woods collaborated closely with TAG Heuer to develop the world's first professional golf watch, released in April 2005. The lightweight titanium construction watch, designed to be worn while playing the game incorporates numerous innovative design features to accommodate golf play. It is capable of absorbing up to 5,000 Gs of shock, far in excess of the forces generated by a normal golf swing. In 2006, the TAG Heuer Professional Golf Watch won the prestigious iF product design award in the Leisure/Lifestyle category.
Woods also endorses the 'Tiger Woods PGA Tour' series of video games; he has done so from 1999 up to 2007 and it is likely that he will continue to do so.
In February 2007, along with Roger Federer and Thierry Henry, Woods became an ambassador for the "Gillette Champions" marketing campaign. Gillette did not diclose financial terms, though an expert estimated the deal could total between $10 million and $20 million.
In October 2007, Gatorade announced that Woods will have his own brand of sports drink starting in March 2008. "Gatorade Tiger" marks Woods' first U.S. deal with a beverage company and his first licensing agreement. Although no figures were officially disclosed, Golfweek magazine reported that it was for five years and could pay Woods as much as $100 million.
Early in Woods' career, a small number of golf experts expressed concern about his impact on the competitiveness of the game and the public appeal of professional golf. Sports writer Bill Lyon of Knight-Ridder asked in a column, "Isn't Tiger Woods actually bad for golf?" (though Lyon ultimately concluded that he was not). At first, some pundits feared that Woods would drive the spirit of competition out of the game of golf by making existing courses obsolete and relegating opponents to simply competing for second place each week.
Many courses in the PGA Tour rotation (including Major Championship sites like Augusta National) began to add yardage to their tees in an effort to slow down long hitters like Woods, a strategy that became known as "Tiger-Proofing". Woods himself welcomed the change as he believes adding yardage to the course does not affect his ability to win.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
