Professional golf career of Tiger Woods

After competing in amateur events since he was a toddler and representing Stanford University on a golf scholarship, Woods left college after two years to turn professional at the age of 20.

He answered critics of his "slump" and what seemed to be wavering form by maintaining he was undergoing extensive swing changes with his coach, Butch Harmon, and was hoping to do better in the future.

He extended his win streak to six at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February with a memorable comeback—trailing by seven strokes with seven holes to play, he finished eagle-birdie-par-birdie for a 64 and a two-stroke victory.

He won the Buick Invitational in January, and in March he outplayed Phil Mickelson to win the Ford Championship at Doral and temporarily return to the Official World Golf Ranking number one position (Singh displaced him once again two weeks later).

While he began just as dominantly (winning the first two PGA tournaments he entered on the year) and was in the hunt for his fifth Masters championship in April, he never mounted a Sunday charge to defend his title, allowing Phil Mickelson to claim the green jacket.

[37] At the 2007 Masters Tournament, Woods was in the final group on the last day of a major for the thirteenth time in his career, but unlike the previous twelve occasions, he was unable to come away with the win.

The following week, he was trailing by four strokes going into the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic, but made six birdies on the back nine for a dramatic one-stroke victory.

After finishing the third round in a five-way tie for first place, he completed his fifth consecutive PGA Tour victory with a dramatic 24-foot (7.3 m) putt on the 18th hole to defeat Bart Bryant by a stroke.

[59] Called "one of the most anticipated returns in sports" by the Associated Press,[60] Woods' first PGA Tour event after an eight-month layoff came at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

[83] After his past marital infidelities became known, with massive worldwide media coverage which would eventually last for several months, Woods announced an indefinite break from competitive golf at the end of 2009.

In the 2010 PGA Championship, played at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, Woods made the 36-hole cut but failed to mount a challenge, ending in a tie for 28th place.

Woods's inconsistent play in the 2010 FedEx Cup playoffs failed to qualify him into the top 30 players for The Tour Championship, for the first time since he turned professional in 1996.

But he struggled with his long-game control in mixed weather conditions on Sunday, and putted much worse than he had in previous rounds, winding up in a tie with Graeme McDowell after 72 holes.

[99] Woods contended strongly in the 2011 Masters Tournament, scoring 71-66-74-67 to finish at ten-under 278, in a tie for fourth place, four shots behind winner Charl Schwartzel.

[103] Woods stated he was very disappointed to be unable to play in the season's second major championship, but that he was listening to his doctors, continuing to work on his recovery, and planning for the long term.

After starting with three birdies and two pars over his first five holes, he collapsed to shoot 77, his highest first-round major score since turning pro in 1996, and followed this up with 73 the second day, to finish at ten-over-par 150, missing the cut by six strokes.

[89] With the hiring of his new caddie Joe LaCava, Woods competed in the Frys.com Open, part of the PGA Tour Fall Series for the first time in his career, finishing tied for 30th place, ten shots behind the winner, Bryce Molder.

[107] In mid-November 2011 Woods rose to 50th in the Official World Golf Ranking, from a low of #58, after finishing third at the Emirates Australian Open, his best result to date in 2011.

[109] Woods broke a career-long winless streak of 107 weeks when he birdied the last two holes to capture his fifth career win in the Chevron World Challenge, by one stroke over Zach Johnson, in early December.

After a short time off, Woods played in the Tavistock Cup at the Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, representing Team Albany, finishing 4th.

In his next event, Woods won for the eighth time at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, out-dueling Rickie Fowler in the final round.

[124] Woods underwent a fourth back surgery in April 2017, two weeks after the Masters and subsequently missed the rest of the season, the second time in his professional career that he did not compete in any of the four major championships.

Woods stated that he would make his first appearance of the 2018 PGA Tour at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego, California, an event he had previously won seven times.

Woods missed the halfway cut at the Genesis Open in Los Angeles, before finishing 12th in at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Not hitting a single fairway on his opening nine, Woods made the turn in 3 under par before ultimately shooting a 6-under 64, his best ever final round in a major championship.

[143][144] The following day, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he would present Woods with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his incredible comeback in sports and life, which was awarded to him on May 6, 2019.

[151] Coming off minor knee surgery in late August, Woods played his first event of the 2020 PGA Tour season in October 2019 at the inaugural Zozo Championship in Japan.

On February 23, 2021, Woods was hospitalized in serious but stable condition after a single-car collision and underwent emergency surgery to repair compound fractures sustained in each leg in addition to a shattered ankle.

[166] Three months after the accident, in an interview with Golf Digest, Woods did not mention anything about his future as a golfer, but said his primary goal is simply walking under his own power.

[168] Woods' tournament previous to the Buick Invitational was the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, from which he withdrew after its third and final round was postponed from February to August due to weather.