Facts You May Not Know About Tiger Woods

Golf Monthly

In this video, Dan Parker reveals some of the things you may not have already known about Tiger Woods. He is arguably the greatest golfer of all time and this video will help you get to know the man behind the legend that little bit more.

Transcript

00:00Tiger Woods is one of the greatest golfers the game has ever produced.

00:03He has transcended the sport since he turned pro in 1996

00:07and is probably the most recognisable face for non-golf fans.

00:11Despite this, we think there's lots of interesting facts that you may not know about Tiger Woods.

00:15So let's get stuck in.

00:17His full name is Eldrick Taunt Woods.

00:20Eldrick because it has his father's initial at the start and his mother's initial at the end

00:25and Taunt is a traditional Thai name.

00:28His father was in the army and named his son Tiger

00:30because his fellow soldier and friend Colonel Vuong Dang Fong was also known as Tiger.

00:35Sticking with his family and heritage, Tiger's mum, Katilda, is Thai

00:39while his father, Earl, was African American.

00:42Tiger's interest in the game began when watching his father hit golf balls in the garage.

00:46Tiger was just six months old when he would sit in his high chair

00:49and routinely watch Earl hit golf balls.

00:52Tiger made his first TV appearance on The Mike Douglas Show just before his third birthday.

00:58Tiger attended Stanford University on a golf scholarship.

01:01However, he never graduated from college as he dropped out to pursue his professional career.

01:05Other famous graduates from Stanford include Tom Watson and Nota Begay.

01:09Did you know that Tiger had a stutter as a child?

01:12To overcome this, he took speech classes at school

01:14and he also spoke to his dog at night to practice confident speech.

01:18Tiger Woods broke 80 for the first time at the age of just eight

01:21and at the age of 12, he broke 70 for the first time.

01:24Tiger Woods is a Buddhist.

01:26He told Sports Illustrated in 1996 that,

01:29I believe in Buddhism, not every aspect, but most of it.

01:32So I've taken bits and pieces.

01:34I don't believe that human beings can achieve ultimate enlightenment

01:37because humans have flaws.

01:39Tiger became the first billion-dollar athlete.

01:41He cracked the $1 billion career earnings mark way back in 2009.

01:45Going some way to help him win this money are his 109 professional wins

01:49and 15 major championships.

01:51His sponsorship deal with Nike is also one of the most lucrative deals in the world of sport.

01:55Speaking of wins on tour,

01:57Tiger is tied third all-time for victories on the European tour.

02:00This seems like an obvious fact,

02:02but it becomes more interesting when you find out

02:04that Tiger has never played a full season on the European tour.

02:07Tiger has broken countless records in his career.

02:10Probably the most striking is the fact that he spent 683 weeks

02:14at number one in the official World Golf rankings.

02:17To put some context to that, this is more than double than Greg Norman,

02:20who has spent the second longest amount of time as men's world number one.

02:23Tiger won the US Amateur and NCAA Championship titles both in 1996.

02:29Only five men have ever achieved that feat.

02:31They are Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Ryan Moore, and Jack Nicklaus.

02:36So there you have it.

02:37Some facts on the greatest golfer of all time, that is Tiger Woods.

02:41I hope there were some there that you didn't know

02:43and you learned a lot about the greatest golfer of all time.

02:46For more facts and statistics on some of your favourite golfers,

02:50head to the tour section on the Golf Monthly website.

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