1975-
Professional Golfer

"Tyger! Tyger! Burning Bright."

Even in his twenties, Tiger Woods promised to become the best golfer who ever played the game. His performance at times was stellar; however, great golfers have to prove themselves over decades of play and Woods had only begun his professional career in the late 1990s. He could not have demonstrated the prowess yet of great golfers such as Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan. Nicklaus, after all, tied for sixth in the 1998 Masters, at age fifty-eight, while Woods, in his golfing prime in the same tournament, tied for eighth. Still, what Woods did on the golf course was unprecedented and breathed far wider interest in a sport that was in danger of becoming staid. Born Eldrick Woods on 30 December 1975, to an African American father and Thai mother, Woods's early years were the stuff of legend. He appeared on the...