Why Tiger Woods is Already the Greatest Golfer of All Time

Almost everyone knows who Tiger Woods is. He started playing golf extrememly young at the age of 2 and was considered a golf prodigy. He actually started playing tournaments at the age of 3. Tiger was always destined to be a great golf champion and player. Before the age of 10, Tiger was already winning tournaments. He won six Junior World Championships before his 16th birthday.

Tiger Woods would leave college to play golf professionally in 1996. Since he was very highly touted and due to his previous achievements on the junior circuit, he got an endorsement deal from Nike worth many millions. Tiger would go on to win 2 PGA tournaments in his rookie year and was voted Sportsman of the Year as well as PGA Rookie of the Year. The following year Tiger would win the first of his many majors at the Masters. What makes the win so much more remarkable is that he won the tournament by a record 12 strokes, which is unprecedented. Woods became the youngest Masters champion in history. He would go on to win 3 more PGA tournaments that same year (1997). Because of his great success, Tiger would became the #1 player and would be named PGA Player of the Year. Tiger was at an all time high but his form faded in 1998 by only winning one of his starts. Would this be the end of Tiger Woods?

To answer my question, not by A LONG SHOT! Tiger would bounce back in 1999 with vengeance to finish the season winning his last 4 starts including the PGA Championship (adding another major to his list, his second) and winning 8 starts in total for the year. For his remarkable season, Tiger was voted PGA Tour Player of the Year for the second time in three years. Woods completely outdid what he did before by winning THREE MAJORS (U.S. Open, The Open Championship, and PGA Championship) in 2000 as well as racking up 9 wins for the year. Just five years into his professional career, Tiger had already won 5 majors and 24 PGA Tour wins. Because Tiger Woods was the only player to hold all 4 grand slam trophies at once, he completed the career slam, people called it the "Tiger Slam". Nothing could stop Tiger Woods.

The next two years (2001, 2002) brought 3 more majors to Tiger Woods (Masters twice and US Open) as well as 10 more PGA Tour wins. 2003 and 2004 were hard for Tiger as he didn't win a single major at that time and also lost his #1 ranking to V.J. Singh. A lot of people were perplexed as to why Tiger was playing so badly, some blaming his marriage but Tiger vowed to come back better than ever. He did just that in 2005 as he made small but important adjustments to his game. Tiger would win his 9th and 10th majors in 2005 and regain his #1 ranking in the world of golf.

But things were much different in 2006. Tiger's father, Earl, passed away and Tiger took a two month break from golf. When he returned at the US Open, Tiger was still not the same player he was before, missing his first ever cut at a major. But just as Tiger is and always will be, he would roar back in the next two majors winning his third Open Championship as well as his third PGA Championship. Tiger Woods was back on top where he belonged. Although Tiger Woods would miss the last two majors in 2008 due to an injury, his win against Rocco Mediate at the U.S. Open, was the best I have ever seen. The shots he was making and the way he played when he was obviously injured and practically on one leg was inspiring and unbelievable. His legend definately grew after this epic win.

To date, Tiger Woods has won 14 Major Championships ( which is second only to Jack Nicklaus as well as 65 PGA Tour wins, and 89 wins in total. He is 14-0 going to the last round of the majors with a 54-hole lead. Also Woods has been PGA Tour Player of the Year a record NINE TIMES! Tiger Woods is on pace to become the first billion dollar athlete in history.

In conclusion, I am a big Tiger Woods fan and I could be a little biased but I honestly believe he is already the greatest golfer of all time. He has helped the game so much and has helped it reach maximum exposure. Now that Tiger is coming back from his injury, I expect him to be better than ever and to win more majors and have many more PGA Tour wins. By the time Tiger Woods is retired, I believe he will be #1 in almost every category there is in golf.