by Andre Sanchez

When he shot 48 for nine holes when he was three years old, it had already been recognized that Tiger Woods was to become a golfing legend.  After his father had introduced him to golf at nine months old, it was not long before the Tiger toddler’s face was becoming famous on TV.  He appeared with Bob Hope when he was only two, putting with Bob on the Mike Douglas Show, and the rest is history.

The toddler was to become one of the most famous faces in the world, and that swing of his father’s that he was imitating at six months was to lead him to become the world’s richest sportsman, ahead of such famous names as David Beckham, Michael Jordan and Michael Schumacher.

Born to Earl and Kultida Woods in Cypress, California on December 30th, 1975, Eldrick Woods was nicknamed Tiger after an army friend of his father who had the same nickname.  His father was an African American also with Caucasian ancestry, and his mother Tai with a Chinese background.  He is a Buddhist, a faith acquired from his mother and he claims that his faith helps him to control character traits such as impatience and stubbornness.

He played his first golf competition at age 8 and won the Optimist Junior International six times between the ages of 8 and 15 years. He then took two trebles:  three times winner of the Junior Amateur title, and then three straight USA Amateur titles from 19914 – 1996 inclusive.  He then turned pro after his third Amateur title and the saga continued unbroken since he won the Masters the following year for the first of his many majors.

His conversion to the pro ranks was sweetened by a $40 million Nike contract and in his first ten seasons earned that contract by winning 46 PGA tournaments in his first ten professional years. To provide a final figure would be futile since that would be out of date practically as it was written, so prolific is this young man at winning golf championships.

His first British Open Golf Championship came in 2000, followed by the second and third in 2005 and 2006.  By 2007 he had won the all of the majors at least twice each, an amazing record for so young a golfer. Among his record achievements are being the first since Ben Hogan to win six consecutive golf tournaments.

In 2004 he married the Swedish model Elin Nordegren, who also nannied for Jesper Parnevik, and she and Tiger had a daughter Sam Alexis Woods in June, 2007.  Apparently, Sam was a name sometimes given to Tiger when he was young. Tiger’s father died in 2006, the same year that he won the British Open and the PGA.  Although his game dropped a bit in 2004 after he changed his swing, he came back to win the Masters and the British Open the following year.

However, there is more to Tiger Woods than golf, and he has been involved in several charitable projects. The tiger woods Foundation was set up by him and his father in 1996, providing golf clinics for disadvantaged children and latterly, university scholarships.  The Tiger Woods Learning Center in Anaheim California, was established in 2006 to provide day and after school facilities for youngsters to think about the part that education plays in their futures.

Tiger Woods is one of the biggest all time earners in golf, earning over $100 million in 2006, and is officially the richest sportsman in the world, the vast majority of his earnings coming from endorsements. These endorsements have made his the face the most recognizable in sport worldwide and will be along time before another golf genius of his calibre comes onto the scene.

Tiger Woods: A Brief Biography of a Golfing Legend was originally published at http://www.golfplayernow.com