PGA Tour

Current season or competition: 2012 PGA Tour
150px
Sport	Golf
Founded	1916 (broke from PGA in 1968)
Director	Tim Finchem
Country(ies)	United States
Most titles	Sam Snead (82)
TV partner(s)	CBS Sports NBC Sports and Golf Channel Sky Sports
Official website	PGATour.com

The PGA Tour (officially rendered in all capital letters) is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, as well as the Champions Tour (for golfers age 50 and older) and the Nationwide Tour (for professional players who have not yet qualified to play in the PGA Tour). It is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, a suburb of Jacksonville.

Originally established by the Professional Golfers' Association of America, in 1968 it was spun off into its own separate organization for tournament golfers, as opposed to club professionals, who are the primary focus of the PGA of America. It adopted the name "PGA Tour" in 1975. The PGA Tour organization runs 43 of the week-to-week professional golf events on the tournament known as the PGA Tour, including The Players Championship, hosted at the TPC at Sawgrass, the FedEx Cup, and the biennial Presidents Cup. The remaining events on the PGA Tour are run by different organizations, as are the U.S.-based LPGA Tour for women and the other men's and women's professional tours around the world.

History[link]

This section is incomplete. Please help to improve the article, or discuss the issue on the talk page. (July 2011)

The PGA Tour became a separate entity in 1968, branching off from the PGA of America, which is now primarily an association of club professionals. Tournament players formed their own organization, the Association of Professional Golfers (APG). Later in 1968, the tournament players abolished the APG and agreed to operate as the PGA "Tournament Players Division," a fully autonomous division under the supervision of a new 10-member Tournament Policy Board.^[1] The name would officially change to the "PGA Tour" in 1975.^[2]

In 1981, the PGA Tour had a marketing dispute with the PGA of America and decided to officially change its name. Beginning in late August 1981, it became the TPA Tour, for the "Tournament Players Association."^[3] The disputed issues were resolved within seven months and the tour's name was changed back to the "PGA Tour" in March 1982.^[4]

Tours operated by the PGA Tour[link]

Due to the multiplicity of names, there is often confusion as to what the PGA Tour organization does and does not run. Of the events in the PGA Tour schedule, it does not run any of the four major championships (the Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open, The Open Championship and the PGA Championship), or the Ryder Cup. The PGA of America, not the PGA Tour, runs the PGA Championship, the Senior PGA Championship, and co-organizes the Ryder Cup with the PGA European Tour. Additionally, the PGA Tour is not involved with the women's golf tours in the U.S., which are mostly controlled by the LPGA. The PGA Tour is also not the governing body for the game of golf in the United States; this, instead, is the role of the United States Golf Association (USGA), which organizes the U.S. Open. What the PGA Tour does organize are the remaining 43 (in 2009) week-to-week events, including The Players Championship and the FedEx Cup events, as well as the biennial Presidents Cup. It also runs the main tournaments in two other championships, the Champions Tour and the Nationwide Tour.

The PGA Tour operates the following three tours, all of which are primarily contested in the U.S.:

• PGA Tour, the top tour
  • Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. possession of Puerto Rico host one event each year. Note, however, that the events in Mexico and Puerto Rico are "alternate" events held opposite one of the World Golf Championships tournaments and therefore have weaker fields than a regular tour event. In addition, one of the four annual major championships is held in the UK
• Champions Tour, for golfers age 50 and over
  • As of 2011, regular tournaments are held in Canada and South Korea, and one of the senior majors is held in the U.K.
• Nationwide Tour, a developmental tour
  • As of 2011, Canada, Colombia, and Mexico host one tournament each.

The PGA Tour also conducts an annual Qualifying Tournament (known colloquially as Q-School), a six-round tournament held each fall; the top 25 finishers, including ties, receive privileges to play on the following year's PGA Tour. Remaining finishers in the top 75, plus ties, receive full privileges on the Nationwide Tour.

The top 25 money-winners on the Nationwide Tour also receive privileges on the following year's PGA Tour. A golfer who wins three events on that tour in a calendar year earns a "performance promotion" (informally a "battlefield promotion") which garners PGA Tour privileges for the remainder of the year plus the following full season.

At the end of each year, the top 125 money-winners on the PGA Tour receive a tour card for the following season, which gives them exemption from qualifying for most of the next year's tournaments. However at some events, known as invitationals, exemptions apply only to the previous year's top 70 players. Players who are ranked between 126–150 receive a conditional tour card, which gives them priority for places that are not taken up by players with full cards. Those players can also improve their status and regain full Tour privileges by going to the tour's Q School, going directly to the final stage.

Winning a PGA Tour event provides a tour card for a minimum of two years, with an extra year added for each additional win with a maximum of five years. Winning a World Golf Championships event or The Tour Championship provides a three-year exemption. Winners of the major championships and The Players Championship earn a five-year exemption. Other types of exemptions include lifetime exemptions for players with twenty wins on the tour; one-time, one year exemptions for players in the top fifty on the career money earnings list who are not otherwise exempt; two-time, one year exemptions for players in the top twenty-five on the career money list; and medical exemptions for players who have been injured, which give them an opportunity to regain their tour card after a period out of the tour. At the end of the season, the person leading the PGA Tour money list earns a five year exemption.

Similar to other major league sports, there is no rule limiting PGA Tour players to "men only." In 1938 Babe Zaharias became the first woman to compete in a PGA Tour event. In 1945, Zaharias became the first and only woman to make a cut in a PGA Tour event. In 2003, Annika Sörenstam and Suzy Whaley played in PGA Tour events, and Michelle Wie did so in each year from 2004 through 2008.

The LPGA like all other women's sports, is limited to female participants only.

There is also a PGA European Tour, which is separate from either the PGA Tour or the PGA of America; this organization runs a tour, mostly in Europe but with events throughout the world outside of North America, that is second only to the PGA Tour in worldwide prestige. There are several other regional tours around the world. However, the PGA Tour, European Tour, and many of the regional tours co-sponsor the World Golf Championships. These, along with the major championships, usually count toward the official money lists of each tour as well as the Official World Golf Rankings.

Charity fundraising[link]

The PGA Tour places a strong emphasis on charity fundraising, usually on behalf of local charities in cities where events are staged. With the exception of a few older events, PGA Tour rules require all Tour events to be non-profit; the Tour itself is also a non-profit company. In 2005, it started a campaign to push its all-time fundraising tally past one billion dollars ("Drive to a Billion"), and it reached that mark one week before the end of the season. However, monies raised for charities derive from the tournaments' positive revenues (if any), and not any actual monetary donation from the PGA Tour, whose purse monies and expenses are guaranteed. The number of charities which receive benefits from PGA Tour, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour events is estimated at over 2,000. In 2009, the total raised for charity was some $108 million.^[5]

Television and radio coverage[link]

In January 2006, the PGA Tour announced a new set of television deals covering 2007 to 2013. CBS Sports will remain the main carrier of PGA Tour events, and will increase its events from 16 to 19 per season. NBC Sports will increase its coverage from 5 to 10 events. Golf Channel will be the Tour's cable partner on a 15-year contract, providing early round coverage of all official money events and four round coverage of a few events at the beginning and towards the end of the season. As a result of Comcast's acquisition of NBC, Golf Channel also produces NBC's telecasts as of the 2011 season.

The fees involved were not mentioned in the press release, but it stated, "total prize money and other financial benefits to players will increase approximately $600 million over the term as compared to the previous six years, a 35-percent increase."^[6]

As they are not organized by the PGA Tour itself, certain events (such as the major championships) are not part of the overall broadcast contracts, but are broadcast under separate contracts with their respective organizers. Despite this, as of 2011, CBS and NBC still hold broadcast rights to 3 of the 4 majors; CBS has traditionally broadcast the Masters Tournament and the PGA Championship (ESPN and TNT air first and second round coverage of these tournaments respectively), coverage of all four rounds of the U.S. Open are broadcast on NBC. ESPN has provided exclusive coverage of The Open Championship since 2010.

The PGA Tour is also covered extensively outside the United States. In the United Kingdom, Sky Sports was the main broadcaster of the tour for a number of years up to 2006. However, Setanta Sports won exclusive UK and Ireland rights for six years from 2007 for a reported cost of £103 million. The deal includes Champions Tour and the Nationwide Tour events, but like the U.S. television deals it does not include the major championships, and unlike the U.S. deal, it does not include the World Golf Championships. Setanta set up the Setanta Golf channel to present its coverage.^[7] On June 23, 2009, Setanta's UK arm went into administration and ceased broadcasting. Eurosport picked up the television rights for the remainder of the 2009 season.^[8] Sky Sports regained the TV rights with a eight year deal from 2010 to 2017.^[9] In South Korea, SBS, which has been the tour's exclusive TV broadcaster in that country since the mid-1990s, agreed in 2009 to extend its contract with the PGA Tour through 2019. As a part of that deal, it became sponsor of the season's opening tournament, a winners-only event that was renamed the SBS Championship effective in 2010.^[10] In 2011 however, Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai took over the title sponsorship, but SBS still remains a sponsor of the event)^[11]

The Indian broadcaster NEO Sports obtained exclusive rights to the PGA Tour on the Indian subcontinent in 2008, and has since extended its deal through the 2015 season.^[12]

Since 2005, Sirius XM Radio has provided a PGA Tour branded station, the PGA Tour Network, which airs golf related programming and coverage of events, including the PGA Tour's circuits.

The structure of the PGA Tour season[link]

Outline of the season[link]

Three of the four majors take place in eight weeks between June and August. In the past, this has threatened to make the last two and a half months of the season anti-climactic, as some of the very top players competed less from that point on. In response, the PGA Tour has introduced a new format, the FedEx Cup. From January through mid-August players compete in "regular season" events and earn FedEx Cup points, in addition to prize money. At the end of the regular season, the top 125 FedEx Cup points winners are eligible to compete in the "playoffs," four events taking place from mid-August to mid-September. The field sizes for these events are reduced from 125 to 100 to 70 and finally the traditional 30 for the Tour Championship. Additional FedEx Cup points are earned in these events. At the end of the championship, the top point winner is the season champion. To put this new system into place, the PGA Tour has made significant changes to the traditional schedule.

In 2007 The Players Championship moved to May so as to have a marquee event in five consecutive months. The Tour Championship moved to mid-September, with an international team event (Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup) following at the end of September. The schedule was tweaked slightly in both 2008 and 2009. After the third FedEx Cup playoff event, the BMW Championship, the Tour takes a full week off. In 2008, the break came before the Ryder Cup, with the Tour Championship the week after that. In 2009, the break was followed by the Tour Championship, with the Presidents Cup taking place two weeks after that.

The Tour continues through the fall, with the focus on the scramble of the less successful players to earn enough money to retain their tour cards. A circuit known as the Fall Series, originally with seven tournaments but now with four, was introduced in 2007. In its inaugural year, its events were held in seven consecutive weeks, starting the week after the Tour Championship. As was the case for the FedEx Cup playoff schedule, the Fall Series schedule was also tweaked in 2008 and 2009. The first 2008 Fall Series event was held opposite the Ryder Cup, and the Fall Series took a week off for the Tour Championship before continuing with its remaining six events.

The Fall Series saw major changes for 2009, with one of its events moving to May and another dropping off the schedule entirely. It will return to its original start date of the week after the Tour Championship. Then, as in 2008, it will take a week off, this time for the Presidents Cup. It will then continue with events in three consecutive weeks, take another week off for the HSBC Champions (now elevated to World Golf Championships status), and conclude the week after that.

Most recently, the Fall Series was reduced to four events, all held after the Tour Championship, for 2011. This followed the move of the Viking Classic into the regular season as an alternate event.

2007 saw the introduction of a tournament in Mexico, an alternate event staged the same week as the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.^[13] A tournament in Puerto Rico was introduced in 2008 as an alternate event staged opposite the WGC-CA Championship.

Tournaments[link]

The 2012 season includes 45 official money events in 45 weeks, including three alternate events played the same week as a higher status tournament. The other three events are:

• The biennial Ryder Cup, matching teams of golfers representing the USA and Europe.
• The CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia, an event to be held in Malaysia; in 2012, it will end on October 28. The field will be limited to 40 players—the top 25 available players in the final FedEx Cup standings, the top 10 available Asian players, and five sponsor's exemptions, with at least one place reserved for a Malaysian player. Although it will not be an official money event, it is the tour's first sanctioned event in Southeast Asia.^[14]
• The WGC-HSBC Champions, held the week after the Malaysia tournament. Despite its elevation to World Golf Championships status in 2009, it is not an official money event, although it is also sanctioned by the PGA Tour.^[15] Starting in 2010, if the event is won by a PGA Tour member, it will count as an official win and carry the three year exemption of the other WGCs.^[16]

Most members of the tour play between 20 and 30 tournaments in the season. The geography of the tour is determined by the weather. It starts in Hawaii in January and spends most of its first two months in California and Arizona during what is known as the "West Coast Swing," and then moves to the American Southeast for the "Southern Swing." Each swing culminates in a significant tour event. In April, tour events begin to drift north. The summer months are spent mainly in the Northeast and the Midwest, and in the fall (autumn) the tour heads south again.

In most of the regular events on tour, the field is either 132, 144 or 156 players, depending on time of year (and available daylight hours). All players making the cut earn money for the tournament with the winner usually receiving 18% of the total purse.

In 2008, the PGA Tour Policy Board approved a change in the number of players that will make the cut. The cut will continue to be low 70 professionals and ties, unless that results in a post-cut field of more than 78 players. Under that circumstance, the cut score will be selected to make a field as close to 70 players as possible without exceeding 78. Players who are cut in such circumstances but who have placed 70th or better will get credit for making the cut and will earn official money and FedEx Cup points. This policy affected two of the first three events with cuts, the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Buick Invitational. In late February, the Policy Board announced a revised cut policy, effective beginning with the Honda Classic. The new policy calls for 36-hole cut to the low 70 professionals and ties and, if that cut results in more than 78 players, a second 54-hole cut to the low 70 professionals and ties.^[17]

Event categories[link]

• Majors: The four leading annual events in world golf are the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, The (British) Open Championship, and the PGA Championship. These events each automatically receive 100 OWGR points.
• World Golf Championships (WGC): A set of events co-sanctioned by the International Federation of PGA Tours which attract the leading golfers from all over the world, including those who are not members of the PGA Tour. Note that the HSBC Champions was made a WGC event in the middle of the 2009 season. Because it takes place after The Tour Championship, it does not count as an official money event or an official win, but the winner is invited to the following season's edition of the winners-only Hyundai Tournament of Champions.^[15] Beginning in 2010, if the winner is a PGA Tour member, the victory will count as an official win and the winner will receive a three-year Tour exemption (as with other WGC winners).^[16]
• Unique: Two tournaments rate as unique, for different reasons:
  • The Hyundai Tournament of Champions, the first tournament of the season, has a field consisting of winners from the previous season's competition only. This results in a field much smaller than any other tournament except for The Tour Championship, with no cut after 36 holes of play.
  • The Players Championship is the only event, apart from the majors and the World Golf Championships, which attracts entries from almost all of the world's elite golfers. Official recognition is given to its unique position in the sport by the Official World Golf Rankings. Like a major tournament, it is allocated a fixed number of OWGR points (80), albeit 20% less than for a major. (The number of points allocated to "regular" events is dependent on the rankings of the players who enter each year, and is only determined once the entry list is finalized.) For purposes of the FedEx Cup standings, The Players has had an identical point allocation to that of the majors since the Cup was instituted in 2007. In North America, some people would like to make the tournament an official major with a ranking equal to the current majors in the OWGR. However there is little support for this in the rest of the world, and any revision to the points system for the world rankings would require a global consensus.

The FedEx Cup, presented to the winner of the season-ending playoffs.

• Playoff event: The last four tournaments of the FedEx Cup have fields based on the FedEx Cup rankings. The top 125 players on the points list are entered in the Barclays Classic. Each week after that fields are cut: Deutsche Bank Championship to the top 100 players; BMW Championship to 70 players; The Tour Championship to 30 players.

The Ryder Cup, contested in even-numbered years between teams from Europe and the United States.

• Team: A United States team of 12 elite players competes in the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup in alternate years. The Ryder Cup, pitting a team of U.S. golfers against a European team, is arguably the highest profile event in golf, outranking the majors. The Presidents Cup, which matches a team of U.S. golfers against an international team of golfers not eligible for the Ryder Cup, is less well established, but is still the main event of the week when it is played. There is no prize money in these events, so they are irrelevant to the money list, but an immense amount of pride rides on the results.
• Regular: Routine weekly tour events. The "regular" events vary somewhat in status, but this is fairly subjective and not usually based on the size of the purse. Some of the factors which can determine the status of a tournament are:
  • Its position in the schedule, which influences the number of leading players that choose to enter.
  • Its age and the distinction of its past champions.
  • The repute of the course on which it is played.
  • Any associations with "legends of golf." Six events in particular have such associations:
    • The HP Byron Nelson Championship, named after Byron Nelson, was until 2007 the only current event named after a PGA Tour golfer.
    • The Arnold Palmer Invitational, formerly the Bay Hill Invitational, closely identified with Arnold Palmer and played at a resort he owns.
    • The Northern Trust Open and Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, both identified with Ben Hogan, although the Colonial is more closely identified with him since he won that tournament five times.
    • The Memorial Tournament, founded by Jack Nicklaus, played on a course he designed, and annually honoring a selected "legend."
    • The AT&T National, while not hosted by a "legend," was able to gather a strong field because it was hosted by "future-legend" Tiger Woods.
• Invitational: These events are similar to the regular ones, but have a slightly smaller (around 100–120 players), selective field. The top 70 on the previous year's money list can automatically take part in invitationals, as well as past champions of the event. There is an increased amount of sponsor's exemptions as well, and some invitationals allow the defending champion to invite one or several amateurs to compete. Invitational tournaments include the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Verizon Heritage, the Memorial Tournament and the AT&T National. The tournaments usually do have an association with a golf legend, or in the case of the Verizon Heritage, a famous course.
• Alternate: Events which are played in the same week as a higher status tournament and therefore have weakened fields and reduced prize money. They are often considered an opportunity for players on the bubble (near or below 125th or 150th) in the money list to move up more easily or to attempt an easier two-year exemption for winning a tournament. Because of their weaker fields, these events usually receive the minimum amount of points reserved for PGA Tour events (24 points).
• Fall Series: After the final playoff event of the FedEx Cup season (The Tour Championship), the season concludes with this series of events, usually passed on by the higher-status players. This provides an opportunity for players low on the Money List to increase their season's earnings enough to rank in the "magic" 125 and thus secure their "card" for the following season without having to re-qualify through Q-School.

There are also a number of events which are recognized by the PGA Tour, but which do not count towards the official money list. Most of these take place in the off season (November and December). This slate of unofficial, often made-for-TV events (which includes the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge, the Franklin Templeton Shootout, the Skins Game, etc.) is referred to as the "Challenge Season" or more disapprovingly as the "Silly Season."

Changes for 2013 season and beyond[link]

On March 20, 2012, the tour announced radical changes to the tour's season and qualifying process, although many details remain to be worked out.^[18][19]

First, the 2013 season will be the last to be conducted entirely within a calendar year. The 2014 season will start in October 2013, shortly after the Tour Championship, and future seasons will start in October of the previous calendar year. This means that the tournaments currently in the Fall Series will become part of the regular season. It has not yet been determined whether these tournaments will receive full FedEx Cup point allocations.

As a result of this change, the qualifying school will no longer grant playing rights on the PGA Tour, but will only grant privileges on what is now known as the Nationwide Tour. (The 2012 season is the last year of Nationwide's current sponsorship contract.)

After the end of the FedEx Cup regular season in August, the top 125 players on the PGA Tour money list will retain their tour cards, as in the current system. The next 75 players on the list, along with the top 75 on the money list of the Nationwide Tour, will play a series of three tournaments to be held after the end of the regular season, most likely on off weeks in the FedEx Cup playoffs. The top 50 players in this series will earn PGA Tour cards for the upcoming season. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem indicated that the top 25 from the Nationwide Tour may be seeded so that they are assured of finishing the series among the top 50. College players who turn professional can enter the series if their earnings are equivalent to a top-200 PGA Tour or top-75 Nationwide Tour finish. The players who earn their cards in this series will have as few as eight months, depending on the exact scheduling of tournaments, in which to finish among the top 125 on the main tour in order to maintain their playing privileges.

Finally, the HSBC Champions will become a full PGA Tour event, with official prize money on that tour, for the first time in November 2013 (the 2014 season). Currently, it is only considered an official PGA Tour win if won by a tour member, and money earned in the event is not considered official on the PGA Tour as it is held outside the tour season.

Money winners and most wins leaders[link]

Players who lead the money list on the PGA Tour win the Arnold Palmer Award (since 1981).

Year	Money winner	Earnings ($)	Most wins
2011	Luke Donald	6,683,214	2: 7 players (note 1)
2010	Matt Kuchar	4,910,477	3: Jim Furyk
2009	Tiger Woods	10,508,163	6: Tiger Woods
2008	Vijay Singh	6,601,094	4: Tiger Woods
2007	Tiger Woods	10,867,052	7: Tiger Woods
2006	Tiger Woods	9,941,563	8: Tiger Woods
2005	Tiger Woods	10,628,024	6: Tiger Woods
2004	Vijay Singh	10,905,166	9: Vijay Singh
2003	Vijay Singh	7,573,907	5: Tiger Woods
2002	Tiger Woods	6,912,625	5: Tiger Woods
2001	Tiger Woods	5,687,777	5: Tiger Woods
2000	Tiger Woods	9,188,321	9: Tiger Woods
1999	Tiger Woods	6,616,585	8: Tiger Woods
1998	David Duval	2,591,031	4: David Duval
1997	Tiger Woods	2,066,833	4: Tiger Woods
1996	Tom Lehman	1,780,159	4: Phil Mickelson
1995	Greg Norman	1,654,959	3: Lee Janzen, Greg Norman
1994	Nick Price	1,499,927	6: Nick Price
1993	Nick Price	1,478,557	4: Nick Price
1992	Fred Couples	1,344,188	3: John Cook; Fred Couples; Davis Love III
1991	Corey Pavin	979,430	2: 8 players (note 2)
1990	Greg Norman	1,165,477	4: Wayne Levi
1989	Tom Kite	1,395,278	3: Tom Kite; Steve Jones
1988	Curtis Strange	1,147,644	4: Curtis Strange
1987	Curtis Strange	925,941	3: Paul Azinger; Curtis Strange
1986	Greg Norman	653,296	4: Bob Tway
1985	Curtis Strange	542,321	3: Curtis Strange; Lanny Wadkins
1984	Tom Watson	476,260	3: Tom Watson; Denis Watson
1983	Hal Sutton	426,668	2: 8 players (note 3)
1982	Craig Stadler	446,462	4: Craig Stadler, Tom Watson, Calvin Peete
1981	Tom Kite	375,699	4: Bill Rogers
1980	Tom Watson	530,808	7: Tom Watson
1979	Tom Watson	462,636	5: Tom Watson
1978	Tom Watson	362,429	5: Tom Watson
1977	Tom Watson	310,653	5: Tom Watson
1976	Jack Nicklaus	266,439	3: Ben Crenshaw, Hubert Green
1975	Jack Nicklaus	298,149	5: Jack Nicklaus
1974	Johnny Miller	353,022	8: Johnny Miller
1973	Jack Nicklaus	308,362	7: Jack Nicklaus
1972	Jack Nicklaus	320,542	7: Jack Nicklaus
1971	Jack Nicklaus	244,491	6: Lee Trevino
1970	Lee Trevino	157,037	4: Billy Casper
1969	Frank Beard	164,707	3: 4 players (note 4)
1968	Billy Casper	205,169	6: Billy Casper
1967	Jack Nicklaus	188,998	5: Jack Nicklaus
1966	Billy Casper	121,945	4: Billy Casper
1965	Jack Nicklaus	140,752	5: Jack Nicklaus
1964	Jack Nicklaus	113,285	5: Tony Lema
1963	Arnold Palmer	128,230	7: Arnold Palmer
1962	Arnold Palmer	81,448	8: Arnold Palmer
1961	Gary Player	64,540	6: Arnold Palmer
1960	Arnold Palmer	75,263	8: Arnold Palmer
1959	Art Wall, Jr.	53,168	5: Gene Littler
1958	Arnold Palmer	42,608	4: Ken Venturi
1957	Dick Mayer	65,835	4: Arnold Palmer
1956	Ted Kroll	72,836	4: Mike Souchak
1955	Julius Boros	63,122	6: Cary Middlecoff
1954	Bob Toski	65,820	4: Bob Toski
1953	Lew Worsham	34,002	5: Ben Hogan
1952	Julius Boros	37,033	5: Jack Burke, Jr., Sam Snead
1951	Lloyd Mangrum	26,089	6: Cary Middlecoff
1950	Sam Snead	35,759	11: Sam Snead
1949	Sam Snead	31,594	7: Cary Middlecoff
1948	Ben Hogan	32,112	10: Ben Hogan
1947	Jimmy Demaret	27,937	7: Ben Hogan
1946	Ben Hogan	42,556	13: Ben Hogan
1945	Byron Nelson	63,336	18: Byron Nelson
1944	Byron Nelson	37,968	8: Byron Nelson
1943	No records kept		1: Sam Byrd, Harold McSpaden, Steve Warga
1942	Ben Hogan	13,143	6: Ben Hogan
1941	Ben Hogan	18,358	7: Sam Snead
1940	Ben Hogan	10,655	6: Jimmy Demaret
1939	Henry Picard	10,303	8: Henry Picard
1938	Sam Snead	19,534	8: Sam Snead
1937	Harry Cooper	14,139	8: Harry Cooper
1936	Horton Smith	7,682	3: Ralph Guldahl, Jimmy Hines, Henry Picard
1935	Johnny Revolta	9,543	5: Henry Picard, Johnny Revolta
1934	Paul Runyan	6,767	7: Paul Runyan
1933			9: Paul Runyan
1932			4: Gene Sarazen
1931			4: Wiffy Cox
1930			8: Gene Sarazen
1929			8: Horton Smith
1928			7: Bill Mehlhorn
1927			7: Johnny Farrell
1926			5: Bill Mehlhorn, Macdonald Smith
1925			5: Leo Diegel
1924			5: Walter Hagen
1923			5: Walter Hagen, Joe Kirkwood, Sr.
1922			4: Walter Hagen
1921			4: Jim Barnes
1920			4: Jock Hutchison
1919			5: Jim Barnes
1918			1: Patrick Doyle, Walter Hagen, Jock Hutchison
1917			2: Jim Barnes, Mike Brady
1916			3: Jim Barnes

Notes:

1. Players with 2 wins in 2011: Keegan Bradley, Luke Donald, Webb Simpson, Steve Stricker, Nick Watney, Bubba Watson, Mark Wilson
2. Players with 2 wins in 1991: Billy Andrade, Mark Brooks, Fred Couples, Andrew Magee, Corey Pavin, Nick Price, Tom Purtzer, Ian Woosnam
3. Players with 2 wins in 1983: Seve Ballesteros, Jim Colbert, Mark McCumber, Gil Morgan, Calvin Peete, Hal Sutton, Lanny Wadkins, Fuzzy Zoeller
4. Players with 3 wins in 1969: Billy Casper, Raymond Floyd, Dave Hill, Jack Nicklaus

Multiple money list titles[link]

The following players have won more than one money list title through 2011:

• 9: Tiger Woods
• 8: Jack Nicklaus
• 5: Ben Hogan, Tom Watson
• 4: Arnold Palmer
• 3: Sam Snead, Curtis Strange, Greg Norman, Vijay Singh
• 2: Byron Nelson, Julius Boros, Billy Casper, Tom Kite, Nick Price

Player and rookie of the year awards[link]

PGA Tour players compete for two player of the year awards. The PGA Player of the Year award dates back to 1948 and is awarded by the PGA of America. Since 1982 the winner has been selected using a points system with points awarded for wins, money list position and scoring average. The PGA Tour Player of the Year award,^[20] also known as the Jack Nicklaus Trophy, is administered by the PGA Tour and was introduced in 1990; the recipient is selected by the tour players by ballot, although the results are not released other than to say who has won. More often than not the same player wins both awards; in fact, as seen in the table below, the PGA and PGA Tour Players of the Year have been the same every year from 1992 through 2011. The Rookie of the Year award was also introduced in 1990.^[21] Players are eligible in their first season of PGA Tour membership; several of the winners had a good deal of international success before their PGA Tour rookie season, and some have been in their thirties when they won the award.

Year	PGA Player of the Year	PGA Tour Player of the Year	PGA Tour Rookie of the Year	Comeback Player of the Year
2011	Luke Donald	Luke Donald	Keegan Bradley	None[22]
2010	Jim Furyk	Jim Furyk	Rickie Fowler	Stuart Appleby
2009	Tiger Woods	Tiger Woods	Marc Leishman	None[23]
2008	Pádraig Harrington	Pádraig Harrington	Andrés Romero	Dudley Hart
2007	Tiger Woods	Tiger Woods	Brandt Snedeker	Steve Stricker
2006	Tiger Woods	Tiger Woods	Trevor Immelman	Steve Stricker
2005	Tiger Woods	Tiger Woods	Sean O'Hair	Jay Haas
2004	Vijay Singh	Vijay Singh	Todd Hamilton	John Daly
2003	Tiger Woods	Tiger Woods	Ben Curtis	Peter Jacobsen
2002	Tiger Woods	Tiger Woods	Jonathan Byrd	Gene Sauers
2001	Tiger Woods	Tiger Woods	Charles Howell III	Joe Durant
2000	Tiger Woods	Tiger Woods	Michael Clark II	Paul Azinger
1999	Tiger Woods	Tiger Woods	Carlos Franco	Steve Pate
1998	Mark O'Meara	Mark O'Meara	Steve Flesch	Scott Verplank
1997	Tiger Woods	Tiger Woods	Stewart Cink	Bill Glasson
1996	Tom Lehman	Tom Lehman	Tiger Woods	Steve Jones
1995	Greg Norman	Greg Norman	Woody Austin	Bob Tway
1994	Nick Price	Nick Price	Ernie Els	Hal Sutton
1993	Nick Price	Nick Price	Vijay Singh	Howard Twitty
1992	Fred Couples	Fred Couples	Mark Carnevale	John Cook
1991	Corey Pavin	Fred Couples	John Daly	Bruce Fleisher, D. A. Weibring
1990	Nick Faldo	Wayne Levi	Robert Gamez	-

Year	PGA Player of the Year
1989	Tom Kite
1988	Curtis Strange
1987	Paul Azinger
1986	Bob Tway
1985	Lanny Wadkins
1984	Tom Watson
1983	Hal Sutton
1982	Tom Watson
1981	Bill Rogers
1980	Tom Watson
1979	Tom Watson
1978	Tom Watson
1977	Tom Watson
1976	Jack Nicklaus
1975	Jack Nicklaus
1974	Johnny Miller
1973	Jack Nicklaus
1972	Jack Nicklaus
1971	Lee Trevino
1970	Billy Casper
1969	Orville Moody
1968	No award
1967	Jack Nicklaus
1966	Billy Casper
1965	Dave Marr
1964	Ken Venturi
1963	Julius Boros
1962	Arnold Palmer
1961	Jerry Barber
1960	Arnold Palmer
1959	Art Wall, Jr.
1958	Dow Finsterwald
1957	Dick Mayer
1956	Jack Burke, Jr.
1955	Doug Ford
1954	Ed Furgol
1953	Ben Hogan
1952	Julius Boros
1951	Ben Hogan
1950	Ben Hogan
1949	Sam Snead
1948	Ben Hogan

Multiple Player of the Year Awards[link]

The following players have won more than one PGA Player of the Year Award through 2011:

• 10: Tiger Woods
• 6: Tom Watson
• 5: Jack Nicklaus
• 4: Ben Hogan
• 2: Julius Boros, Billy Casper, Arnold Palmer, Nick Price

The following players have won more than one PGA Tour Player of the Year Award through 2011:

• 10: Tiger Woods
• 2: Fred Couples, Nick Price

Career money leaders[link]

The top ten career money leaders on the tour as of May 21, 2012 are as follows:

Rank	Player	Country	Prize money (US$)
1	Tiger Woods	United States	96,665,592
2	Phil Mickelson	United States	66,279,655
3	Vijay Singh	Fiji	66,206,804
4	Jim Furyk	United States	50,331,143
5	Ernie Els	South Africa	42,726,835
6	Davis Love III	United States	41,349,939
7	David Toms	United States	38,002,437
8	Steve Stricker	United States	33,387,150
9	Kenny Perry	United States	31,780,626
10	Justin Leonard	United States	31,611,048

There is a full list on the PGA Tour's website here.^[24]

Due to increases in prize funds over the years, this list consists entirely of current players; the only player who is eligible for the Champions Tour is Kenny Perry, who turned 50 in August 2010 and competed on both tours in 2011. The figures are not the players' complete career prize money as they do not include FedEx Cup bonuses, winnings from unofficial money events, or earnings on other tours such as the European Tour. In addition, elite golfers often earn several times as much from endorsements and golf-related business interests as they do from prize money.

See also[link]

• Professional golf tours
• List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• Most PGA Tour wins in a year
• Most wins in one PGA Tour event
• Vardon Trophy

Notes and references[link]

External links[link]

• PGA Tour.com – official site
• PGA.com – PGA of America – official site
• Satellite Images of all PGA Tour golf courses

Tiger Woods
Woods at a Chevron World Challenge charity event (2011)
Personal information
Full name	Eldrick Tont Woods
Nickname	Tiger
Born	(1975-12-30) December 30, 1975 (age 36) Cypress, California
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st)
Nationality	United States
Residence	Jupiter Island, Florida
Spouse	Elin Nordegren (2004–2010)
Children	Sam Alexis (b. 2007) Charlie Axel (b. 2009)
Career
College	Stanford University (two years)
Turned professional	1996
Current tour(s)	PGA Tour (joined 1996)
Professional wins	99[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	72 (3rd all time)
European Tour	38 (3rd all time)[2][3]
Japan Golf Tour	2
Asian Tour	1
PGA Tour of Australasia	1
Other	16
Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 14)
Masters Tournament	Won: 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005
U.S. Open	Won: 2000, 2002, 2008
The Open Championship	Won: 2000, 2005, 2006
PGA Championship	Won: 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007
Achievements and awards
PGA Tour Rookie of the Year	1996
PGA Player of the Year	1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
PGA Tour Player of the Year	1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
PGA Tour leading money winner	1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Vardon Trophy	1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009
Byron Nelson Award	1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
FedEx Cup Champion	2007, 2009
(For a full list of awards, see here)

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975)^[4][5] is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No. 1, he is the highest-paid professional athlete in the world, having earned an estimated US$90.5 million from winnings and endorsements in 2010.^[6][7]

Woods turned professional in 1996, and by April 1997 he had already won his first major, the 1997 Masters. He first reached the number one position in the world rankings in June 1997. Through the 2000s, Woods was the dominant force in golf, spending 264 weeks from August 1999 to September 2004 and 281 weeks from June 2005 to October 2010 as world number one. From December 2009 to early April 2010, Woods took leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage after he admitted infidelity. His multiple infidelities were revealed by several different women, through many worldwide media sources.^[8] This was followed by a loss of form, and his ranking gradually fell to a low of #58 in November 2011.^[7][9] He snapped a career-long winless streak of 107 weeks when he captured the Chevron World Challenge in December 2011.^[9] As of April 8, 2012, he is ranked #8.^[10]

Woods has broken numerous golf records. He has been world number one for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any other golfer. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record ten times,^[11] the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times, and has the record of leading the money list in nine different seasons. He has won 14 professional major golf championships, the second highest of any player (Jack Nicklaus leads with 18), and 72 PGA Tour events, third all time behind Sam Snead and Nicklaus.^[12] He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer does. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour. Additionally, Woods is only the second golfer, after Jack Nicklaus, to have achieved a career Grand Slam three times. Woods has won 16 World Golf Championships, and won at least one of those events in each of the first 11 years after they began in 1999.

Background and family[link]

Woods was born Eldrick Tont Woods in Cypress, California, to Earl (1932–2006) and Kultida (Tida) Woods (born 1944). He is the only child of their marriage, but does have two half-brothers, Earl Jr. (born 1955) and Kevin (born 1957), and a half-sister, Royce (born 1958) from the 18-year marriage of Earl Woods and his first wife, Barbara Woods Gray.^[13] Earl, a retired lieutenant colonel and Vietnam War veteran, was of mixed African American, Chinese, and Native American ancestry. Kultida (née Punsawad), originally from Thailand (where Earl had met her on a tour of duty in 1968), is of mixed Thai, Chinese, and Dutch ancestry. This makes Woods himself half Asian (one-quarter Chinese and one-quarter Thai), one-quarter African American, one-eighth Native American, and one-eighth Dutch.^[14] He refers to his ethnic make-up as "Cablinasian" (a syllabic abbreviation he coined from Caucasian, Black, American Indian, and Asian).^[15]

Woods' first name, Eldrick, was coined by his mother because it began with "E" (for Earl) and ended with "K" (for Kultida). His middle name Tont is a traditional Thai name. He was nicknamed Tiger in honor of his father's friend Col. Vuong Dang Phong, who had also been known as Tiger.^[16]

Woods has a niece, Cheyenne Woods, who is an amateur golfer on Wake Forest University's golf team.^[17]

Early life and amateur golf career[link]

Woods grew up in Orange County, California. He was a child prodigy, introduced to golf before the age of two, by his athletic father Earl, a single-figure handicap amateur golfer who had been one of the earliest African-American college baseball players at Kansas State University.^[18] In 1978, Tiger putted against comedian Bob Hope in a television appearance on The Mike Douglas Show. At age three, he shot a 48 over nine holes over the Cypress Navy course, and at age five, he appeared in Golf Digest and on ABC's That's Incredible.^[19] Before turning seven, Tiger won the Under Age 10 section of the Drive, Pitch, and Putt competition, held at the Navy Golf Course in Cypress, California.^[20] In 1984 at the age of eight, he won the 9–10 boys' event, the youngest age group available, at the Junior World Golf Championships.^[21] He first broke 80 at age eight.^[22] He went on to win the Junior World Championships six times, including four consecutive wins from 1988 to 1991.^{[23][24][25][26][27]}

Woods' father Earl wrote that Tiger first beat him when he was 11 years old, with Earl trying his best. Earl lost to Tiger every time from then on.^[28][29] Woods first broke 70 on a regulation golf course at age 12.^[30]

Woods' first major national junior tournament was the 1989 Big I, when he was 13 years old. Woods was paired with pro John Daly, then relatively unknown, in the final round; the event's format placed a professional with each group of juniors who had qualified. Daly birdied three of the last four holes to beat Woods by only one stroke.^[31] As a young teenager, Woods first met Jack Nicklaus in Los Angeles at the Bel-Air Country Club, when Nicklaus was performing a clinic for the club's members. Woods was part of the show, and impressed Nicklaus and the crowd with his skills and potential.^[32] Earl Woods had researched in detail the career accomplishments of Nicklaus, and had set his young son the goals of breaking those records.^[30]

While attending Western High School in Anaheim at the age of 15, Woods became the youngest ever U.S. Junior Amateur champion (a record which stood until it was broken by Jin Liu in 2010).^[33] He was named 1991's Southern California Amateur Player of the Year (for the second consecutive year) and Golf Digest Junior Amateur Player of the Year. In 1992, he defended his title at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, becoming the first multiple winner; competed in his first PGA Tour event, the Nissan Los Angeles Open (he missed the 36-hole cut); and was named Golf Digest Amateur Player of the Year, Golf World Player of the Year, and Golfweek National Amateur of the Year.^[34][35]

The following year, Woods won his third consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur Championship; he remains the event's only three-time winner.^[36] In 1994, at the TPC at Sawgrass in Florida, he became the youngest-ever winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship, a record that stood until 2008 when it was broken by Danny Lee.^[37] He was a member of the American team at the 1994 Eisenhower Trophy World Amateur Golf Team Championships (winning), and the 1995 Walker Cup (losing).^[38][39]

Woods graduated from Western High School in 1994 at age 18, and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" among the graduating class. He had starred for the high school's golf team under coach Don Crosby.^[40]

College golf career[link]

Woods was recruited very heavily by college golf powers, and chose Stanford University, the 1994 NCAA Division I champion. He enrolled at Stanford in the fall of 1994 under a golf scholarship, winning his first collegiate event, the 40th Annual William H. Tucker Invitational, that September.^[41] He declared a major in economics, and was nicknamed "Urkel" by college teammate Notah Begay III.^[42] In 1995, he successfully defended his U.S. Amateur title at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island^[37] and was voted Pac-10 Player of the Year, NCAA First Team All-American, and Stanford's Male Freshman of the Year (an award that encompasses all sports).^[43][44] He participated in his first PGA Tour major, the 1995 Masters Tournament, and tied for 41st as the only amateur to make the cut. At age 20 in 1996, he became the first golfer to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles^[45] and won the NCAA individual golf championship.^[46] In winning the Silver Medal as leading amateur at The Open Championship, he tied the record for an amateur aggregate score of 281.^[47] He left college after two years and turned professional.

Professional career[link]

Woods in 2001

Woods became a professional golfer in August 1996, and immediately signed deals with Nike, Inc. and Titleist that ranked as the most lucrative endorsement contracts in golf history at that time.^[48][49] Woods was named Sports Illustrated's 1996 Sportsman of the Year and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.^[50] In April 1997, he won his first major, the Masters, becoming the tournament's youngest-ever winner.^[51] Two months later, he set the record for the fastest-ever ascent to #1 in the Official World Golf Rankings.^[52] After a lackluster 1998, Woods finished the 1999 season with eight wins, including the PGA Championship, a feat not achieved since 1974.^[53][54]

In 2000, Woods achieved six consecutive wins, the longest winning streak since 1948. One of these was the 2000 U.S. Open, where he broke or tied nine tournament records in what Sports Illustrated called "the greatest performance in golf history."^[55] At age 24, he became the youngest golfer to achieve the Career Grand Slam.^[56] At the end of 2000, Woods had won nine of the twenty PGA Tour events he entered and had broken the record for lowest scoring average in tour history. He was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, the first and only athlete to be honored twice, and was ranked by Golf Digest magazine as the twelfth-best golfer of all time.^[57][58]

Woods at the 2004 Ryder Cup

Woods' victory in the 2001 Masters Tournament made him the first player to hold all four major professional golf titles at the same time.^[59] Following a stellar 2001 and 2002 in which Woods continued to dominate the tour, Woods' career hit a "slump".^[53][60] He did not win a major in 2003 or 2004. In September 2004, Vijay Singh overtook Woods in the Official World Golf Rankings, breaking Woods' record streak of 264 weeks at #1.^[61] Woods rebounded in 2005, winning six official PGA Tour money events and reclaiming the top spot in July after swapping it back and forth with Singh over the first half of the year.^[62]

In 2006, Woods began dominantly, winning his first two PGA tournaments but failing to capture his fifth Masters championship in April.^[63][64] Following the death of his father in May, Woods took a nine-week hiatus from the tour and appeared rusty upon his return at the U.S. Open, missing the cut at Winged Foot.^[65] However, he quickly returned to form and ended the year by winning six consecutive tour events. At the season's close, with 54 wins and 12 majors wins, Woods had broken the tour records for both total wins and total majors wins over eleven seasons.^[66]

Woods at the 2006 Masters Tournament

He continued to excel in 2007 and the first part of 2008. In April 2008, he underwent knee surgery and missed the next two months on the tour.^[67] Woods returned for the 2008 U.S. Open, where he struggled the first day but ultimately claimed a dramatic victory over Rocco Mediate, after which Mediate said, "This guy does things that are just not normal by any stretch of the imagination," and Kenny Perry added, "He beat everybody on one leg."^[68][69][70] Two days later, Woods announced that he would miss the remainder of the season due to further knee surgery, and that his knee was more severely damaged than previously revealed, prompting even greater praise for his U.S. Open performance. Woods called it "my greatest ever championship."^[71][72][73] In Woods' absence, TV ratings for the remainder of the season suffered a huge decline from 2007.^[74]

Upon Woods' much-anticipated return in 2009, he performed well, including a spectacular performance at the 2009 Presidents Cup, but failed to win a major, the first year since 2004 that he failed to do so.^[75][76][77] After his marital infidelities came to light at the end of 2009 and received massive media coverage, Woods announced in December that he would be taking an indefinite break from competitive golf. In February 2010, he delivered a televised apology for his behavior. During this period, several companies ended their endorsement deals with Woods.

He returned to competition in April at the 2010 Masters Tournament, where he finished in a tie for fourth place.^[78] He followed the Masters with poor showings at the Quail Hollow Championship and the Players Championship, where he withdrew in the fourth round citing injury.^[79] Shortly afterward, Woods' coach since 2003, Hank Haney, resigned the position; he was replaced in August by Sean Foley. The rest of the season went badly for Woods, who failed to win a single event for the first time since turning professional, while nevertheless finishing the season ranked #2 in the world.

Woods' performance continued to suffer in 2011, taking its toll on his ranking. After falling to #7 in March, he rebounded to #5 with a strong showing at the 2011 Masters Tournament, where he tied for fourth place.^[80][81][82] Due to leg injuries incurred at the Masters, he missed several summer events; in July he fired his longtime caddy Steve Williams, replacing him temporarily with friend Bryon Bell.^[83][84] After returning to tournament play in August, Woods continued to falter, and his ranking gradually fell to a low of #58.^[9] He rose to #50 in mid-November after a third-place win at the Emirates Australian Open, and broke his winless streak with a victory at December's Chevron World Challenge.^[9][85]

His 2012 season started at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on the European Tour in late January. For the first two days of play Tiger was grouped with Rory McIlroy and world No.1 Luke Donald. He shot under par rounds of 70 and 69 on Thursday and Friday respectively, which left him in joint 4th place at 5-under par. His low round of the week came on Saturday, shooting a 6-under par 66, giving him the joint lead with England's Robert Rock. Woods struggled on Sunday and couldn't mount a big enough charge, shooting a level par 72 and settling for joint 3rd place. Woods' second tournament of the year came at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in early February which he had not played since 2002. His amateur partner for the week was Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Woods shot solid rounds of 68-68-67 on the first three days, and began Sunday in third place, four shots behind leader Charlie Wi. However, he struggled with his putting and shot a final round 75 while his playing partner Phil Mickelson shot a 64 and won the tournament.

His next tournament was the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona. Woods battled to win his first round match against Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, 1-up, and then played Nick Watney in the second round. On the 18th hole, Woods had to make birdie to extend the match, however his 5 foot putt missed and he was knocked out of the tournament. Woods commented that his putting was hindered technically and required some work after battling with it throughout the round.^[86] The following week Woods teed off at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Woods commented that he had referred back to putting basics instead of new technique he had been applying. Woods' putting over the first three days of tournament play was noticeably better, but the ball was struggling to fall into the hole. Tiger began the fourth round on 2-under par, 9 shots behind leader Rory McIlroy. After parring the first hole and being delayed by adverse weather, Woods returned and played the remaining 17 holes in 8-under par including two eagles and no bogeys. A birdie-eagle finish set up Woods to possibly claim the title, however McIlroy kept his cool and won the tournament. Tiger finished joint second, and the round also marked his lowest final round score in his PGA Tour career.

Woods played the following week at the WGC-Cadillac Championship in Miami, Florida. Tiger spent the first three days near the top of the leaderboard and shot 72-67-68 to start the fourth round in tied 8th place at 9-under par, 8 shots behind leader Bubba Watson. Woods struggled on the front 9 and shot 2-over par going out. He then began to noticeably limp on the next three holes and went on to withdraw from the tournament with an apparent left leg injury, which was later confirmed as a strain on his left Achilles tendon that had been injured previously at the 2011 Masters Tournament. After a short time off, Woods played in the Tavistock Cup at the Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, representing Team Albany, finishing 4th. The same week, Woods began the Arnold Palmer Invitational. After three rounds of 69, 65 and a 71, he began Sunday in the lead at 11-under par, one shot ahead of Graeme McDowell. Woods remained in the lead throughout the round and shot a 2-under par 70 to claim his seventh win at Bay Hill and also marked his first win on the PGA Tour since the BMW Championship in September 2009. After a week off, he returned to Augusta for the Masters Tournament. Over the four days, Woods was never close to contending the title, and shot rounds of 72-75-72-74 to finish tied 40th. After a 3 week break from competition, Woods traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, for the Wells Fargo Championship. Although starting positively with a 1-under par 71, Woods' second round of 73 (1-over) derailed his tournament hopes and resulted in him missing his eighth cut as a professional by 1 shot and second in as many years for the tournament. The following week, Woods played The Players Championship. After an opening round of 74 (2-over), he was in threat of missing a second consecutive cut, a first for his professional career, however after a 4-under 68, he was firmly staying in the tournament as well as being in the hunt for the weekend. However, a weekend charge never mounted despite good ball striking and he settled for T40th at 1-under par.

Endorsements[link]

Woods has been called the world's most marketable athlete.^[87] Shortly after his 21st birthday in 1996, he began signing endorsement deals with numerous companies, including General Motors, Titleist, General Mills, American Express, Accenture, and Nike, Inc. In 2000, he signed a 5-year, $105 million contract extension with Nike. It was the largest endorsing deal ever signed by an athlete at that time.^[88] Woods' endorsement has been credited with playing a significant role in taking the Nike Golf brand from a "start-up" golf company earlier in the past decade, to becoming the leading golf apparel company in the world, and a major player in the equipment and golf ball market.^[87][89] Nike Golf is one of the fastest growing brands in the sport, with an estimated $600 million in sales.^[90] Woods has been described as the "ultimate endorser" for Nike Golf,^[90] frequently seen wearing Nike gear during tournaments, and even in advertisements for other products.^[88] Woods receives a cut from the sales of Nike Golf apparel, footwear, golf equipment, golf balls,^[87] and has a building named after him at Nike’s headquarters campus in Beaverton, Oregon.^[91]

In 2002, Woods was involved in every aspect of the launch of Buick's Rendezvous SUV. A company spokesman stated that Buick is happy with the value of Woods' endorsement, pointing out that more than 130,000 Rendezvous vehicles were sold in 2002 and 2003. "That exceeded our forecasts," he was quoted as saying, "It has to be in recognition of Tiger." In February 2004, Buick renewed Woods' endorsement contract for another five years, in a deal reportedly worth $40 million.^[88]

Woods collaborated closely with TAG Heuer to develop the world's first professional golf watch, released in April 2005.^[92] The lightweight, titanium-construction watch, designed to be worn while playing the game, incorporates numerous innovative design features to accommodate golf play. It is capable of absorbing up to 5,000 Gs of shock, far in excess of the forces generated by a normal golf swing.^[92] In 2006, the TAG Heuer Professional Golf Watch won the prestigious iF product design award in the Leisure/Lifestyle category.^[93]

Woods preparing for a photo shoot in 2006

Woods also endorses the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series of video games; he has done so since 1999.^[94] In 2006, he signed a six-year contract with Electronic Arts, the series' publisher.^[95]

In February 2007, along with Roger Federer and Thierry Henry, Woods became an ambassador for the "Gillette Champions" marketing campaign. Gillette did not disclose financial terms, though an expert estimated the deal could total between $10 million and $20 million.^[96]

In October 2007, Gatorade announced that Woods would have his own brand of sports drink starting in March 2008. "Gatorade Tiger" was his first U.S. deal with a beverage company and his first licensing agreement. Although no figures were officially disclosed, Golfweek magazine reported that it was for five years and could pay him as much as $100 million.^[97] The company decided in early fall 2009 to discontinue the drink due to weak sales.^[98]

According to Golf Digest, Woods made $769,440,709 from 1996 to 2007,^[99] and the magazine predicted that by 2010, Woods would pass one billion dollars in earnings.^[100] In 2009, Forbes confirmed that Woods was indeed the world's first athlete to earn over a billion dollars in his career (before taxes), after accounting for the $10 million bonus Woods received for the FedEx Cup title.^[101][102] The same year, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $600 million, making him the second richest "African American" behind only Oprah Winfrey.^[103]

Honors[link]

Woods driving in 2007

On August 20, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced that Woods would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame. He was inducted December 5, 2007 at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento.^[104][105]

He has been named "Athlete of the Decade" by the Associated Press in December 2009.^[106] He has been named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year a record-tying four times, and is the only person to be named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year more than once.

Since his record-breaking win at the 1997 Masters Tournament, golf's increased popularity is commonly attributed to Woods' presence. He is credited by some sources for dramatically increasing prize money in golf, generating interest in new audiences, and for drawing the largest TV audiences in golf history.^{[50][107][108][109][110][111]}

Tiger-proofing[link]

Early in Woods' career, a small number of golf experts expressed concern about his impact on the competitiveness of the game and the public appeal of professional golf. Sportswriter Bill Lyon of Knight-Ridder asked in a column, "Isn't Tiger Woods actually bad for golf?" (though Lyon ultimately concluded that he was not).^[112] At first, some pundits feared that Woods would drive the spirit of competition out of the game of golf by making existing courses obsolete and relegating opponents to simply competing for second place each week.

A related effect was measured by economist Jennifer Brown of the University of California, Berkeley who found that other golfers played worse when competing against Woods than when he was not in the tournament. The scores of highly skilled (exempt) golfers are nearly one stroke higher when playing against Woods. This effect was larger when he was on winning streaks and disappeared during his well-publicized slump in 2003–04. Brown explains the results by noting that competitors of similar skill can hope to win by increasing their level of effort, but that, when facing a "superstar" competitor, extra exertion does not significantly raise one's level of winning while increasing risk of injury or exhaustion, leading to reduced effort.^[113]

Many courses in the PGA Tour rotation (including Major Championship sites like Augusta National) began to add yardage to their tees in an effort to slow down long hitters like Woods, a strategy that became known as "Tiger-Proofing". Woods himself welcomed the change as he believes adding yardage to the course does not affect his ability to win.^[114]

Playing style[link]

Woods practicing before 2004 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

When Woods first joined the professional tour in 1996, his long drives had a large impact on the world of golf.^[115][116] However, when he did not upgrade his equipment in the following years (insisting upon the use of True Temper Dynamic Gold steel-shafted clubs and smaller steel clubheads that promoted accuracy over distance),^[117] many opponents caught up to him. Phil Mickelson even made a joke in 2003 about Woods using "inferior equipment", which did not sit well with Nike, Titleist or Woods.^[118][119] During 2004, Woods finally upgraded his driver technology to a larger clubhead and graphite shaft, which, coupled with his clubhead speed, made him one of the Tour's lengthier players off the tee once again.

Despite his power advantage, Woods has always focused on developing an excellent all-around game. Although in recent years he has typically been near the bottom of the Tour rankings in driving accuracy, his iron play is generally accurate, his recovery and bunker play is very strong, and his putting (especially under pressure) is possibly his greatest asset. He is largely responsible for a shift to higher standards of athleticism amongst professional golfers, and is known for putting in more hours of practice than most.^{[120][121][122]}

From mid-1993, while he was still an amateur, until 2004, Woods worked almost exclusively with leading swing coach Butch Harmon. From mid-1997, Harmon and Woods fashioned a major redevelopment of Woods' full swing, achieving greater consistency, better distance control, and better kinesiology. The changes began to pay off in 1999.^[123] From March 2004 to 2010, Woods was coached by Hank Haney, who worked on flattening his swing plane. Woods continued to win tournaments with Haney, but his driving accuracy dropped significantly. Haney resigned in May 2010 and was replaced by Sean Foley. ^[124]

Mike "Fluff" Cowan served as Woods' caddy from the start of his professional career until March 1999.^[125] He was replaced by Steve Williams, who became a close friend of Woods and is often credited with helping him with key shots and putts.^[126] In June 2011, Woods fired Williams and replaced him with Woods' friend Bryon Bell, on an interim basis. Joe LaCava, a former caddy of both Fred Couples and Dustin Johnson, was hired by Woods shortly after.^{[citation needed]}

Equipment[link]

As of 2011:^{[127][128][129]}

• Driver: Nike VR Tour (8.5 degree; Graphite Design Tour AD DI 6x shaft)
• Fairway Woods: Nike VR Pro 15° 3-wood and Nike SQ II 19° 5-Wood with Mitsubishi Diamana Blueboard 103 shaft
• Irons: Nike VR Pro Blades (2-PW) (Tiger will put his 5 Wood or 2 Iron in the bag depending upon the course setup and conditions). All irons are 1 degree upright, have D4 swingweight, standard size Tour Velvet grips and True Temper Dynamic Gold X-100 shafts.^[130]
• Wedges: Nike VR Pro (56 and 60 degree; True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 shafts)
• Putter: Nike Method 001
• Ball: Nike ONE Tour D (with "Tiger" imprint)
• Golf Glove: Nike Dri-FIT Tour glove
• Golf Shoes: Nike TW '13
• Driver club cover: Frank, a plush tiger head club cover created by his mother. Frank has appeared in several commercials.^[131]

Career achievements[link]

Woods has won 72 official PGA Tour events including 14 majors. He is 14–1 when going into the final round of a major with at least a share of the lead. He has been heralded as "the greatest closer in history" by multiple golf experts.^{[132][133][134]} He owns the lowest career scoring average and the most career earnings of any player in PGA Tour history.

He has spent the most consecutive and cumulative weeks atop the world rankings. He is one of five players (along with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus) to have won all four professional major championships in his career, known as the Career Grand Slam, and was the youngest to do so.^[135] Woods is the only player to have won all four professional major championships in a row, accomplishing the feat in the 2000–2001 seasons.

• PGA Tour wins (72)
• European Tour wins (38)
• Japan Golf Tour wins (2)
• Asian Tour wins (1)
• PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)
• Other professional wins (15)
• Amateur wins (21)

Major championships[link]

Wins (14)[link]

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
1997	Masters Tournament	099 shot lead	-18−18 (70–66–65–69=270)	1212 strokes	Tom Kite
1999	PGA Championship	00Tied for lead	-11−11 (70–67–68–72=277)	011 stroke	Sergio García
2000	U.S. Open	1010 shot lead	-12−12 (65–69–71–67=272)	1515 strokes	Ernie Els, Miguel Ángel Jiménez
2000	The Open Championship	066 shot lead	-19−19 (67–66–67–69=269)	088 strokes	Thomas Bjørn, Ernie Els
2000	PGA Championship (2)	011 shot lead	-18−18 (66–67–70–67=270)	00Playoff 1	Bob May
2001	Masters Tournament (2)	011 shot lead	-16−16 (70–66–68–68=272)	022 strokes	David Duval
2002	Masters Tournament (3)	00Tied for lead	-12−12 (70–69–66–71=276)	033 strokes	Retief Goosen
2002	U.S. Open (2)	044 shot lead	-03−3 (67–68–70–72=277)	033 strokes	Phil Mickelson
2005	Masters Tournament (4)	033 shot lead	-12−12 (74–66–65–71=276)	00Playoff 2	Chris DiMarco
2005	The Open Championship (2)	022 shot lead	-14−14 (66–67–71–70=274)	055 strokes	Colin Montgomerie
2006	The Open Championship (3)	011 shot lead	-18−18 (67–65–71–67=270)	022 strokes	Chris DiMarco
2006	PGA Championship (3)	00Tied for lead	-18−18 (69–68–65–68=270)	055 strokes	Shaun Micheel
2007	PGA Championship (4)	033 shot lead	-08−8 (71–63–69–69=272)	022 strokes	Woody Austin
2008	U.S. Open (3)	011 shot lead	-01−1 (72–68–70–73=283)	00Playoff 3	Rocco Mediate