The sport of golf cannot be talked about without one name coming to mind: Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods has had as big of an impact on golf as golf as had on him. His dominance on the golf course has not only left a mark in the record books, but unforgettable memories in people all around the world. Tiger Woods is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential athlete of his time; his excellence has made the popularity of golf sky-rocket to a level never seen before. Eldrick “Tiger” Woods was born on December 30th, 1975 in Cypress, California into a racially diverse family. His mother’s roots trace back to Thai and Native American, while his father’s are African American, Chinese, and Native American. Tiger Woods was no stranger to being …show more content…
He is the youngest person to win the U.S. Junior Amateur title at age fifteen, and the first to win it three times in a row. His junior performance would quickly mature into three U.S. Men’s Amateur championships in a row as a twenty year old. Woods would enroll at Stanford University on a golf scholarship in the fall of 1994 as an economics major. He wasted no time living up to the hype as a collegiate athlete he had created as an amateur. He won his first collegiate event and won the 1994 NCAA Player of the Year award. As a sophomore student athlete, Woods competed in the 1995 Masters Tournament where he was the only amateur to make the cut finishing 41st for the tournament. After two years at Stanford, Woods opted to leave college and turn professional in 1996 (McCormick and Begley …show more content…
On November 27th Tiger Woods crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant just outside his home at 2:30 A.M. Claims were made that Tiger’s wife Elin had done anything from smash the window of the vehicle out with a golf club to actually attack Woods with it. Next Tiger announced that he wouldn’t be playing in the Chevron World Golf Challenge, a tournament that benefits his own charity, and makes remarks hinting he won’t be playing tournament golf for the rest of the season. The world of golf was definitely shocked to hear this news, but more so curious of the reason why. On December 1st a lady announced that she had had an affair with Woods, and a week later, six women had admitted the same. By this time rumors were out that Woods’ wife Elin had purchased a two million dollar home in her home country of Sweden. Tiger eventually released a statement on his website saying that what he had done (cheated on his wife multiple times) was wrong, and he would be taking an indefinite leave from the game of golf in effort to repair his marriage. Tiger’s family mistakes would turn out to take a huge toll on his popularity among fans and sponsors. Tiger would eventually be dropped by six of the companies he partnered with; the biggest were Gatorade, AT&T, and Gillette. “The second most notable golfer, Phil Mickelson, in the world released a statement on the Tiger situation