5 things to know about 19-year-old Tiger Christensen who broke Tiger Woods’ unique Open Championship record
German amateur golfer Tiger Christensen is currently playing at the 151st Open Championship. The 19-year-old qualified for his first major in July 2023 after a solid tied fourth finish with Alex Fitzpatrick, the younger brother of Matt Fitzpatrick, at the West Lancashire final qualifier.
However, Christensen broke a unique record held by Tiger Woods for several years after he teed up at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club on Thursday. He became the second golfer named 'Tiger' to compare to any major championship.
Until The 151st Open Championship, there may have been a number of Phils, Jordons, Justins, Matthews, or even Jacks. But there was only one 'Tiger', who had 'Woods' in his surname to ever compete at any major golf championships.
pic.twitter.com/3jewjtv79B
Tiger Woods is no longer the only player named Tiger to ever compete in a major championship.
How come no one said anything?!
19-year old T Christensen
T5 after R1 [66-1] @BetMGM📬 pic.twitter.com/3jewjtv79B
What are the five things to know about Tiger Christensen?
Tiger Christensen took the golf fraternity into a nutshell when he qualified for The 151st Open Championship. As mentioned earlier, he joined the likes of Kyle Barker, Alex Fitzpatrick, Matthew Jordan, and Matt Wallace after finishing tied for fourth at a West Lancashire qualifier event.
Here are five things to know about Tiger Christensen:
#5 Only amateur golfer to earn a spot at the Open Championship through final qualifying
The German prodigy was the only amateur golfer who earned a spot across the four final qualifying events for The 151st Open Championship.
He had to race ahead of the 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia and 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell to secure his place in the oldest major tournament.
#4 Christensen was born to German musician parents
On August 19, 2003, in Hamburg, Germany, Tiger Christensen was born to famous German musician parents Alex and Nicole Christensen.
His mother retired in 2002 after the release of 'Geisha Dreams' to focus on her personal life. She was also a co-presenter with Daniel Hartwig in a German TV show called The Dome and Megaman 2002.
His father Alex Christensen is a German dance music producer, who founded a German music project called the U96. He was also a judge in a reality music television series called Popstars, where he met Yasmin K with who he has collaborated a number of times.
#3 Tiger Christensen has four individual amateur title
The 19-year-old German golfer has had a pretty solid performance on the amateur golf circuit. He has had four individual titles and four team championship wins. Here is his individual amateur wins list:
- R&B German Junior Golf Championship - 2018
- Triple A European Open - 2020
- German International Amateur Championship - 2021
- Broncho Invitational - 2022
#2 He has been part of two European Boys' Championship-winning team
Tiger Christensen has been part of two European Boys' Championship-winning teams in his career. He represented the German team that won the tournament in 2019 and 2021.
#1 The 19-year-old golfer is 'not only' named after Tiger Woods
For the first time in the history of major championships, a golfer named 'Tiger', who is not 'Woods',. will be on the leaderboard. And he is none other than Tiger Christensen.
The youngster spoke with theopen.com and cleared that he was not only named after the legendary golfer Tiger Woods but also after a boxer named 'Tiger' too who happens to be his father's friend.
"It's not only after Tiger Woods. My dad also had a very good friend who is a boxer, who is retired now, but his ring name was Tiger, so it's 50/50," he said.
As of writing this article, Tiger Christensen was at T9 rank on the Open Championship leader. Further updates on him and the tournament will be updated.