Hot on the heels of a highly successful junior and college amateur career, Tiger was only 20 years old when he turned pro in the Fall of 1996. By the end of April 1997, Tiger had already secured three PGA tour wins as well as his first major, the 1997 Masters tournament. Tiger won this tournament by 12 strokes in a record-breaking performance heard around the world. By June 1997, he ascended to the number one position in the world rankings, only less than a year after turning pro.
Throughout the 2000s, Tiger had one of the greatest campaigns in sports history, winning numerous major championships and PGA Tour events, as well as breaking dozens and dozens of records. He was the number one player in the world from August 1999 to September 2004 (264 weeks) and once again from June 2005 to October 2010 (281 weeks), a testament to Tiger’s dominance.
In late November 2009, Tiger suffered from an infidelity scandal that caused a partial decline to his once dominant form. Multiple injuries to the back also prevented Tiger from playing at the high level he once did. As a result, from 2010-2017, Tiger won only 8 times on the PGA Tour (no majors) and his comeback attempts during this period were mostly unsuccessful, resulting in long periods away from the game. Tiger’s future in golf was in doubt at this point. Many thought he would never win in golf again and retirement seemed to be the only option for Woods.
However, Tiger refused to give up on the sport and after spending most of 2017 recovering and rehabilitating, he announced his latest comeback at the 2017 Hero World Challenge. This comeback appears to be different than all the previous ones as Tiger is showing glimpses of his old dominant, healthy self. The road to the Masters had begun, and Tiger is exceeding expectations to the surprise of many. He has shown signs of promise as he looks to get back on the winning track in 2018.
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