Tiger Woods makes the turn Friday onto the back side of 30, celebrating his landmark birthday with 10 major titles and a fighting chance at surpassing Jack Nicklaus’ career record in the next decade.
World number one Woods, in the midst of a six-week break until late January, has practically owned the golf world since turning professional in 1996, a decade of dominance unmatched in the history of golf.
”Although my friends keep reminding me, it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Woods said of his 30th birthday. ”I don’t feel old, but I have been grinding on the PGA Tour for almost 10 years, which is pretty scary.”
What Woods has done to his rivals in that time is truly frightening.
He has won the Masters four times and the US and British Opens and PGA Championship twice each, including a run of four consecutive major titles from the 2000 US Open through the 2001 Masters — the ”Tiger Slam”.
”I never thought I’d win 10 major championships in my 20s because that has never happened before,” Woods noted.
”Hopefully, my best years are still ahead of me.”
Woods needs a back nine of major crowns to surpass the 18 career majors captured by boyhood idol Nicklaus.
It was December 30, 1975, when a son was born to Earl Woods and his Thai wife Kultida, in Cypress, California.
The infant was named Eldrick but nicknamed ”Tiger” after a Vietnamese soldier who befriended his father during the Vietnam War. Almost from birth, Woods’ father put a golf club in his son’s hand.
At age two, Woods putted against Bob Hope on a television show. At three, Woods shot 48 for nine holes. On his wall was a poster chronicling the achievements of Nicklaus, whose feats he vowed to one day eclipse.
Developing a power driving game, Woods won the US Junior Amateur title in 1991, 1992 and 1993. In 1994 at age 18 he became the youngest champion in US Amateur history, then defended that crown the next two years.
In 1996, Woods won the US collegiate crown and US Amateur, then turned professional at the Greater Milwaukee Open, where he shared 60th.
Woods flirted with victory at the Quad Cities Open before losing to Ed Fiori, what would become the rare instance of Woods blowing a last-day lead.
His breakthrough triumph, and a secure PGA Tour spot, came when Woods beat Davis Love in a playoff to capture the title at Las Vegas, becoming the first sponsor’s exemption player to win a US PGA event since Phil Mickelson five years before.
Woods played his first major as a professional at the 1997 Masters and won with a performance for the ages, firing an Augusta National Golf Club record 18-under par 270 to win by 12 strokes, a margin unseen in a major since the days of Old Tom Morris at the British Open.
The breakthrough performance on a course whose leaders once vowed that blacks would only serve as caddies came days before the 50th anniversary of the first black player in Major League Baseball, Jackie Robinson.
Augusta National would lengthen the course several times over the next few years but could never ”Tiger-proof” the rough-less layout, Woods adding Masters green jackets to his wardrobe in 2001, 2002 and 2005 as well.
Woods won the 1999 PGA Championship, outdueling Spain’s Sergio Garcia, then had the ”Tiger Slam” in 2000 and 2001 and added the 2002 Masters and US Open before making swing changes in a ”slump” that most rivals would envy, returning even stronger with wins at the 2005 Masters and British Open.
Woods married Swedish model Elin Nordegren and lives in a golf community near Orlando, Florida, along with several tour rivals. If Woods is right and his best years are ahead, other players can only wonder how good he might ultimately become.
”People keep asking me if I can improve. Are you kidding? You never get there,” Woods said. ”Any time you think you’ve arrived in a sport, its time to quit.
”That’s what excites me about 2006: I know I can be better than I am today.”
Should Woods merely be using his 20s to round into true prime form in his 30s, he might live up to his father’s once-grandiose notions of becoming a global messiah beyond the sports realm. – Sapa-AFP