Tiger Woods

Eldrick "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American golfer who is considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. In 2005, at the age of 29, he reached the milestone of winning a tenth major golf championship, placing him third on the all time list behind Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen. Including his three U.S. Amateur Championship wins he and Bobby Jones are the only golfers to win thirteen majors before age 30. He has won more times on the PGA Tour than any other active golfer and he holds the PGA Tour record for most consecutive tournament cuts made with 142.

Woods' golf game

When Woods burst onto the golf scene, one of the things which made the biggest impact on fans was his long driving. However, he refused to upgrade his technology while other players caught up to him during the 2002-2003 seasons on the PGA Tour. During 2004, Woods finally upgraded his driver technology and, as of 2005, he is back in his place as one of the very longest hitters on the PGA Tour. Despite his length advantage, he has always focused on developing an excellent all-around game. His driving is generally accurate, his approach play accurate, his recovery and bunker play sometimes brilliant, and his putting is usually reliable. 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.

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Early in his professional career Woods worked with the leading swing coach Butch Harmon, but since he has been coached by the less-heralded Hank Haney. He was involved in a media spat with Harmon, who also works as a golf broadcaster, when Harmon suggested that he was in "denial" about the problems in his game, but they publicly patched up their differences.

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Although he is considered charismatic, Woods' approach is essentially cautious. He aims for consistency: although he is better than any other golfer when he is in form, his dominance comes not from having best rounds that are better than the other leading professionals' bests, but from having fewer bad rounds. He plays fewer tournaments than most professionals (twenty or twenty one a year compared to the typical twenty five to thirty), and focuses his efforts on preparing for and competing in the majors and the most prestigious of the other tournaments.

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