The Rise and Fall of Tiger Woods
When you think of golf, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it a lovely field of green, where people frolic around, hitting balls? It probably is, and with good reason. Golf is, essentially, a sport where you hit a ball with a set of clubs, with the goal of getting it into a small hole with as few shots as possible.
But, when you think of golfers, who is the first one that comes to mind? For anybody born closer to the 21st century, or even avid golf fans, it has to be Tiger Woods. The man made a name for himself with golf, and made golf popular with non golfers. Here is the story of Tiger Woods, his rise and fall.
The Rise
Tiger Woods entered the world of golf before he was 2. He is what people call a child-prodigy. He played golf throughout his early life, hitting some impossible shots. It wasn’t until his professional career started, that people really started to be interested. He started playing golf professionally in 1996. As soon as he started his professional run, he signed a deal with several companies, for an endorsement. He was attracting attention, but his Masters win in 1997 really got him on the charts.
He won a lot of titles from 1997 to 2001. He won 15 golf majors, and is second only to Jack Nichlaus’ 18. He also has 81 PGA Tour victories, where he is second to Sam Snead, who sits at 82.
Woods’ career has been very good from 1997 to 2001. He started faltering then, coming back in 2005. He was doing well until mid 2008, when he underwent a surgery. In 2009, things started going the wrong way.
The Fall
It was revealed that Woods had cheating on his wife, or in newspaper terms, committed infidelity. He had a series of unfortunate events, including a car accident. He admitted to the claims of infidelity and lost a couple of major sponsorships immediately, notably from AT&T and General Motors.
He took a break from golf in late 2009, but came back shortly after. His career took a slow and steady decline from 2011 to 2016. He left golf due to injuries. He made a comeback in 2018, though, showing that he still is an opponent to be scared of.
A Second Rise
Tiger Woods won the 2019 Masters, which is his first Major tournament victory after 11 years. His career is marked by injuries and various accidents, but by winning that Masters, after being written off by so many analysts and professional golfers, he showed that he still is a very big name in the world of golf, competitively, and not in the past tense. Even though he is plagued by multiple injuries, he will be playing more golf in the years to come.
The career and personal life of Tiger Woods is full of ups and downs. But, such is life, and Woods continues to show that he is a competitive golfer above all else, with a thirst that often battles injuries and other obstacles successfully.