Prepared by his father for golf stardom from an early age, Eldrick "Tiger" Woods is off to a solid start in reaching his father's goals. Even before he turned professional in 1996 after two years at Stanford University, Woods (the "Eldrick" officially disappeared when he was 21) became the first amateur ever to win three consecutive U.S. amateur titles. By the end of 1998, Woods had won one major tournament, the 1997 Masters (becoming the first person of color to do so), and several other tournaments, while racking up millions of dollars both on the course as well as from advertisers such as Titleist, Nike, and American Express. In 1997, he won the PGA Tour money title by winning just more than two million dollars.

Tiger Woods

For many years, golf was mostly a white man's sport (through 1961, the PGA of America constitution actually contained a "Cauca-sian clause...