Happy birthday, Tiger Woods.
The man many consider to be the GOAT turns 50 years old Tuesday. Everyone knows Tiger as one of the most decorated golfers in the history of this centuries-old game. His list of accomplishments, records and mind-blowing statistics as a player seemingly never ends. But Tiger is much more than just a golfer at this point. He has transcended the game as a blown celebrity — an entrepreneur, a businessman, an ambassador, a designer and, perhaps most importantly to him, a dad.
So, as the golf world joins its most beloved living legend in celebrating his 50th birthday, let’s take a look at 50 facts about the man who is Tiger Woods.
Tiger Woods, the golfer
Again, anyone who still follows Tiger knows that he’s much more than just a golfer, but before we get to that stuff, let’s start on the course. Take a look at some of the most mind-blowing, jaw-dropping, “holy cow, am I reading that right?” accomplishments and statistics belonging to Tiger Woods, the professional golfer.
1. Tiger has 82 PGA Tour wins, tied for the most all-time with Sam Snead.
2. Tiger has won 15 majors championships. Only Jack Nicklaus has more (18). Tiger won three U.S. Opens, three Open Championships, four PGA Championships and five Green Jackets at the Masters.
3. Tiger has missed only 39 cuts in 378 starts on the PGA Tour. He made 142 cuts in a row on the PGA Tour from 1998-2006, the longest streak ever, shattering Jack Nicklaus’ previous record of 113.
4. Tiger finished inside the top 10 in more than half of his starts on the PGA Tour (199 of 378).
5. There were 10 PGA Tour seasons in which Tiger finished with five or more wins. His most successful year was 2000, which saw him rack up nine victories, including three majors. In 2006, he won eight times with two majors.
6. Tiger once held all four major titles at once. He won the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship in 2000 and opened 2001 with a win at the Masters. Later dubbed the “Tiger Slam,” no other player in the modern era has accomplished this feat.
7. The PGA Tour event that afforded Tiger the most success through the years was the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Golf Club in Ohio, which he won eight times between 1999 and 2013.
8. Only one player in PGA Tour history has eight or more victories at the same course. Tiger has done it three times at Firestone, Bay Hill and Torrey Pines.
9. It took Tiger only 291 days from his first round as a pro to rise to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, the fastest ascension to the top in history.
10. Tiger spent 683 total weeks as the World No. 1. His first stretch lasted from August 1999 to September 2004 (264 straight weeks), but he later outdid himself when he spent 281 straight weeks at the top from June 2005 to October 2010. Scottie Scheffler’s current streak of 133 consecutive weeks is the third longest, behind Tiger’s two marks.
11. Tiger won his 15 majors by an average of 4.13 strokes. For comparison, Jack Nicklaus won 18 with an average margin of victory of 2.64 shots. Tiger’s biggest blowout victory in a major came at the 2000 U.S. Open when he dusted the field to win by 15 shots at Pebble Beach.
12. Tiger won in each of his 100th, 200th and 300th official starts on the PGA Tour at the 2000 WGC Invitational, 2006 Buick Invitational and 2013 Players Championship, respectively.
13. Tiger was named PGA Tour Player of the Year 11 times and topped its yearly money list 10 times with $121 million in total earnings on Tour.
14. Despite being American and spending almost his entire career on the PGA Tour, Tiger still has 41 wins on the European Tour (now known as the DP World Tour), the third most all-time. Only Euro legends Seve Ballesteros (50) and Bernhard Langer (42) have more.
15. Tiger has at least one pro win in 12 different countries: USA, Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.
16. In total, Tiger has 110 professional victories to his name spread across four different tours and all four major championships.
17. Tiger has made the cut in 24 straight starts at the Masters, the longest streak ever. He did not play the Masters in 2025.
18. Tiger went 11-1 in playoffs during his career — his only loss coming to Billy Mayfair at the 1998 Nissan Open. His most iconic playoff victory came at the 2008 U.S. Open, where he defeated Rocco Mediate on the first hole of sudden death after an 18-hole Monday playoff at Torrey Pines, all while battling through a torn ACL, two stress fractures in his left tibia and damaged cartilage.
19. In PGA Tour competition, Tiger held the 54-hole lead 59 times and went on to win in 55 of those. He has 14 wire-to-wire victories, meaning he was the leader or co-leader after every round.
20. Tiger represented Team USA in eight Ryder Cups, but oddly enough, struggled in most of them. He holds a meager 13-21-3 record in Ryder Cup matches and just one team victory (1999).
Tiger Woods, the businessman
From his iconic Nike deal to the creation of the Hero World Challenge, TGL and Sun Day Red, Tiger has always been about business, philanthropy and finding ways to grow the game and his own personal brand beyond the golf course. Here are some facts about Tiger Woods, the businessman.
21. Forbes estimates Tiger’s current net worth to be about $1.3 billion. His career earnings on the PGA Tour totaled $121 million.
22. In 2013, Tiger was ranked No. 1 on Forbes List of Highest Paid Athletes in the World. He is No. 6 overall in the decade list (2010-2019), only behind Floyd Mayweather, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, LeBron James and Roger Federer.
23. Tiger began his iconic partnership with Nike in 1996. The initial endorsement contract was $40 million for five years. In total, he is estimated to have made more than $600 million from his 27-year partnership with Nike.
24. The Tiger Woods Foundation was also created in 1996 with the goal of helping underserved children through scholarships and after school programs. Now known as the TGR Foundation, Tiger still serves as the organization’s CEO.
25. After ending his long partnership with Nike in 2023, Tiger created his own luxury apparel brand, Sun Day Red, offering high-end golf clothing and accessories, from shoes to polos to outerwear to head covers. The name comes from his iconic final-round outfits in which he always wore a red shirt because his mother, Kultida, told him that’s his “power color.”
26. In 1999, Tiger began hosting the Williams World Challenge (now the Hero World Challenge) — an event that brings together 20 of the world’s best golfers to compete in a fun, laid-back tournament at the end of the season while raising money for Tiger’s foundation. Tiger himself has won it five times. Hideki Matsuyama won the 2025 edition.
27. Tiger also founded TGR Ventures, housing many of his business properties under one umbrella, including TGR Live, which stages events and outings to benefit charity, as well as TGR Design — Tiger’s golf course design firm.
28. Tiger played a crucial role in the founding, creation and launch of TGL, which stands for “Tomorrow’s Golf League.” The tech-infused, made-for-TV indoor golf league was the brainchild of Tiger and Rory McIlroy and it features major stars in golf competing as teams in a fan-friendly, exciting environment.
29. Tiger’s first golf course design, El Cardonal at Diamante, opened in December 2014. Located in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, the course has become a regular stop on the PGA Tour as host of the World Wide Technology Championship — a FedEx Cup Fall series event. The first Tiger-designed course to be built in the U.S. was Bluejack National in Montgomery, Texas. It’s one of four championship courses in Tiger’s current design portfolio, along with El Cardonal, Trout National in New Jersey and Payne’s Valley in Missouri.
30. Popstroke is another TGR Design property — high-tech mini golf on steroids, essentially. With 20 locations across the U.S. and counting, this is one of Tiger’s most forward-facing and accessible business ventures.
Tiger Woods, the son
Tiger’s tight-knit relationship with his parents was well-documented throughout the early stages of his career. He has always been quick to bring up his late father and mother as keys in getting him to where he is now. Let’s look at some interesting facts about Tiger Woods, the son.
31. Tiger was born Dec. 30, 1975 in Cypress, California. His government name is Eldrick Tont Woods. His father gave him his nickname as an ode to his friend, a South Vietnamese Colonel who also went by Tiger.
32. Tiger’s father, Earl Woods, played college baseball at Kansas State and was a member of the U.S. Army. He met Tiger’s mother, Kultida, in her native Thailand while he was on a tour of duty there in 1968.
33. Earl Woods died in May 2006 at age 74. Kultida Woods passed away in February 2025 at age 80. In a tribute to his mother, Tiger said “without her, none of my personal achievements would have been possible.”
34. Tiger’s ethnic background is quite diverse, as his heritage includes Thai, Chinese, African-American and Caucasian. His mother is also said to have Dutch ancestry.
35. Deemed a prodigy from a very young age, Tiger has been in the public eye for nearly his entire life. As a 2-year-old, he appeared on The Mike Douglas Show for a “putting contest” against comedian Bob Hope. At age 5, he was featured on ABC reality TV show “That’s Incredible!”
36. Tiger had a stutter as a boy and said he overcame it by taking classes and talking to his dog as practice. This was revealed in a 2015 story about Tiger writing a letter of encouragement to a boy who was being bullied for his stutter.
37. There are countless tales of Tiger’s unrivaled talent as a youngster. His father claims that Tiger carded his first sub-80 round of golf at age eight and first broke 70 as a 12-year-old. It’s said that Tiger has made a hole-in-one 20 times in his life, with his first ace coming at age six.
38. Earl Woods, a scratch golfer himself, says he first lost to his son when Tiger was 11 years old and never beat him again.
39. According to a 2011 book by Tom Callahan, Earl Woods researched the decorated junior amateur career of Jack Nicklaus in great detail and set Nicklaus’ records as goals for young Tiger to break.
40. Tiger won three straight U.S. Junior Amateur Championships from 1991-1993 and still remains the only player to ever win the event three times. The next year, he became the youngest player to ever win the U.S. Amateur, emerging victorious at TPC Sawgrass as an 18-year-old. That record has since been broken.
41. Tiger played two years of college golf at Stanford. He won his first college event in 1994 and in 1995, won the NCAA Individual National Championship, earning first-team All-American honors. Tiger’s college teammate, Notah Begay III, nicknamed him “Urkel.”
Tiger Woods, the dad
All of Tiger’s accomplishments on the golf course and in the business must be appreciated, but in recent years, the golf world has gotten to see a different side of the living legend they watched win major after major for nearly two decades. Tiger has two teenagers — daughter Sam and son Charlie — who have been in the public eye with their father from a young age. And if you haven’t heard, Charlie is quite the golfer himself. Here’s a little more about Tiger Woods, the dad.
42. In 2007, Tiger and his then-wife Elin Nordegren welcomed their daughter, Sam Woods, and two years later, Nordegren gave birth to the couple’s son, Charlie. Sam is now 18 and Charlie is 16. Tiger and Nordegren have since divorced but reportedly have maintained a good relationship and work together as coparents, according to People.
43. Tiger and Charlie have played together five times as a team in the PNC Championship, formerly known as the Father-Son Challenge.
44. Charlie first joined his dad at the PNC in 2020 at age 11, becoming the youngest player to ever enter the field. Their best finish came in 2024 when they lost in a playoff to Team Langer.
45. Sam Woods has caddied for her dad and brother at the PNC Championship in the duo’s last two appearances, in 2023 and 2024. The Woods family did not compete in 2025 as Tiger continues rehab from a recent surgery.
46. Tiger has caddied for his son, Charlie, on several occasions in junior amateur events, including the 2023 Notah Begay III Junior National Championship.
47. Charlie is already putting together an accomplished junior amateur career. Currently ranked No. 9 in the American Junior Golf Association rankings, he won his first AJGA title at the 2025 Team TaylorMade Invitational.
48. Charlie will undoubtedly have several offers to play Division I college golf. Tiger, who played at Stanford, recently spoke on Charlie’s recruitment: “It’s fun to be a part of the process with Charlie and go through it and see where the opportunities that he has that he has created for himself by playing better,” Tiger said. “Places that he could play, wants to play and ultimately we’ll decide where he wants to go play.”
49. Speaking of Stanford, Sam Woods is following in her dad’s footsteps in that regard. She graduated high school in May and is attending Tiger’s alma mater for college. A soccer player in high school, Tiger says Sam was never the biggest fan of golf: “When she was growing up, golf took daddy away from her,” he said on the Today show. “I had to pack, and I had to leave, and I would be gone for weeks and there was a negative connotation to it.”
50. In 2019, Tiger made a comeback that no one saw coming, battling back from a plethora of injuries to win the Masters at age 43. Both Sam and Charlie were there to witness it, which tugged at the heartstrings of just about every sports fan. “It means the world to me,” Tiger said. “Their love and their support, I just can’t say enough how much that meant to me throughout my struggles when I really just had a hard time moving around. Just their infectiousness of happiness. To have them there, and then now to have them see their Pops win, just like my Pops saw me win here, it’s pretty special.”
