For those who are old enough to remember, it seems that we’ve been hearing about Tiger Woods for years, even before he started winning several championships and living through scandal and a sort of career rebirth. When did Tiger Woods turn Pro?
Tiger Woods turned pro at the age of 20 in 1995. A year later, he won the Masters Championship at age 21, where he recorded a record score of 270.
It was known from an early age that Tiger Woods would turn Pro when he was able to. He started swinging a golf club at the age of 6 months and would spend hours watching his Dad try to perfect his game in the family’s garage. By 9 months old he was hitting those same balls that he had watched his Dad hit, though he continued to watch and learn throughout his childhood.
Young Golf Prodigy
By the time Tiger Woods was two, his fame started to rise when he appeared on The Mike Douglas Show in 1978, where he was shown putting against Bob Hope. From there, his list of accomplishments continued to amass.
Due to his father being a member of the military, they had golfing privileges at the Navy Golf Course close to where they lived in Cypress, California. By the time Tiger was 3 years old he shot 48 on the half course of 9 holes.
Two years after his feat at the Navy course, he landed his first magazine spot in Golf Digest when he was just five years old. By 6 years of age, he won his first golf competition, a Pitch, Putt and Drive, in the Under 10 category. This would be the first of many wins for the youngster.
When he was eight years old, he was younger than any other participant in the Junior World Golf Championships when he competed in the youngest age category, which was for 9 to 10-year-olds. Even though he was younger than what the competition aimed for, he still won against his older peers.
The same year he won the Junior Wolrd Golf Championships for the first time was when he broke 80 for the first time. Lots of firsts for an 8-year-old golf prodigy. But he wasn’t done, four years later at the age of 12, he broke shooting a 70.
In his first year as a teenager, young Tiger played in his first national championship, and by the time he was 15, he was being profiled by Sports Illustrated and he became the youngest U.S. Junior Amateur Champion.
He continued to compete and win several different awards and championships throughout his high school years. And shortly after he graduated high school, he was playing in his first PGA tournament while at the age of 19. It was the following year, when he was 20, that he turned Pro.
Career Achievements
Tiger Woods’ accomplishments didn’t stop when he turned Pro, in fact, he may have gotten even better. He is one of five golfers to win what is considered the Career Grand Slam, which is winning each of the four major titles. He remains the youngest golfer to do so.
While he has too many accomplishments to list here, some of the highlights include:
- Winning his 100th, 200th, and 300th PGA Tour starts
- Has won 82 PGA Tournaments, including 15 Majors
- 41 European Tour wins
- 21 Amateur wins
- 3 Australasia Golf Tour wins
- 3 Japan Golf Tour wins
- 2 Asian Tour wins
- 17 other wins
In addition to these highlights, he has also won many awards, and still holds the records for many of his accomplishments. Though if you ask him, his greatest accomplishments are his two children; his 12-year-old daughter Sam and his 11-year-old son Charlie, with whom he shares custody with ex-wife Elin Nordegren.