Tiger Woods Bio, Wins & Career Earnings

Updated December 7, 2022
Tiger Woods in December, 2022
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    Tiger Woods in December, 2022
  • SOURCE
    David Cannon
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    getty image license

Tiger woods is a professional golfer from Cypress, California. He attended Stanford University beginning in 1994 and left early to turn professional in 1996. Woods has won 82 times on the PGA Tour including 15 major championships. Woods has won five Masters Tournaments, four PGA Championships, three U.S. Opens, and three British Opens.

Tiger Woods Quick Facts

Born December 30, 1975
Hometown Cypress, California
College Stanford University
Turned Pro 1996
Major Championship Wins 15
PGA Tour Wins 82
Total Professional Wins 109
Career Earnings $120,895,206
Spouse Elin Nordegren (2004-2010)

*Wins and career earnings current through December, 2022

Tiger Woods Career Highlights

Earl and Tiger Woods U.S. Amateur Championship 1995

Earl and Tiger Woods U.S. Amateur Championship 1995

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    Earl and Tiger Woods U.S. Amateur Championship 1995
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    J.D. Cuban / Staff / Getty Images North America
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    Used under Getty Images license

It’s difficult to summarize the career highlights of Tiger Woods because most of his career has been highlights. His career achievements begin well before the professional ranks and go back to his days as an adolescent. With a stampede of victories, here are some of the most well-known tournaments in Tiger Woods’ career thus far:

  • 1996 Las Vegas Invitational: First career win
  • 1997 Masters Tournament: First career major
  • 1999 WGC-NEC Invitational: First WGC event win
  • 2000 U.S. Open: Won by 15 strokes
  • 2008 U.S. Open: Won in a playoff over Rocco Mediate with broken leg
  • 2018 Tour Championship: First victory in five years
  • 2019 Masters Tournament: First major championship in 11 years

Tiger Woods has been no stranger to injuries throughout his 25-plus years as a professional. He’s had tumors removed, a ruptured ACL, a tibia fracture, an MCL sprain, an Achilles sprain, inflamed neck joints, and microdiscectomy surgery on his back. No injuries are as noteworthy, however, as the right leg and ankle fractures he suffered in a 2021 car accident.

Tiger’s star power is undeniable, but it has also come under great scrutiny. In 2009, it was revealed that Woods had extra-marital affairs with as many as 12 individuals. The accusations led to a very public car crash in his Windermere, Florida neighborhood.

In May 2017, Woods was arrested, and pleaded guilty to reckless driving.

In February 2021, Woods was involved in a single-car rollover crash in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, where he suffered serious injuries to his right leg and ankle. No charges were filed, but it was estimated that Woods was traveling nearly 80 mph.

On the course, Tiger Woods is known as the GOAT (greatest of all time), and the greatest closer that has ever played the game of golf with a 14-1 record when holding a solo or shared lead heading into the final round of a major championship.

Tiger’s game has not only transcended the game of golf, it permanently changed every aspect of it from course design to club manufacturing to the size of the purses on the PGA Tour. There isn’t a single aspect of his game that lacked in the prime of his career, but it was his clutch putting that always put him over the top of the rest of the field.

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Woods completed the Tiger Slam with his 2001 Masters win

Woods completed the Tiger Slam with his 2001 Masters win

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    Woods completed the Tiger Slam with his 2001 Masters win
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    Augusta National
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    getty image license

With 109 career wins around the world, it’s undeniable that Tiger’s stretch from 2000-2001 was the greatest of his career. This is the time period where Woods held all four major titles at once. The 2000 U.S. Open, British Open, PGA Championship, and the 2001 Masters. This was dubbed the “Tiger Slam”, a play off of golf’s Grand Slam which is when a player wins all four majors in the same season.

Woods has been a part of the U.S. Ryder Cup team eight times: 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2012, and 2018. He has also been on nine Presidents Cup teams: 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2019 (captain).

Woods has won the PGA of America and PGA Tour Player of the Year awards 11 times, each. In 2009, the Associated Press awarded him its “Athlete of the Decade” award. In 2021, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. His records in professional golf are seemingly endless.

Tiger Woods’ career earnings are $120,895,206. It is estimated that he has earned $1.7 billion since turning pro.

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About Tiger Woods

Tiger’s path into golf is well documented and begins with his father, Earl Woods. Earl exposed Tiger to the game of golf from the infant stage and molded the young Woods into a dominant junior golfer in Orange County, California. Tiger won the Junior World Championships six times, defeated his father for the first time at age 11, and broke 70 on a regulation course at 12. When he moved onto the college ranks at Stanford University, Woods became the first golfer to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles and won the NCAA individual championship.

He was born Eldrick Tont Woods to Earl (1932-2006) and Kultida "Tida" Woods. He is an only child but does have two half-brothers and a half-sister from his father’s previous marriage. Tiger was married to Elin Nordegren from 2004-2010 and they have one daughter (Sam) and one son (Charlie). While Tiger Woods has several estates, his main residence is in Jupiter Island, Florida.