When did Tiger Woods turn pro? Exploring the early years of golf legend’s career
Tiger Woods made golf history long before he turned pro. His rookie season and early professional years were both unusual and brilliant. Woods took professional golf by storm and conquered it in no time.
The then 20-year-old Tiger Woods won the US Amateur Championship for the third consecutive time in 1996. Just four days later, he made his professional debut, thanks to a sponsor's exception.
It's not as if Woods was a complete stranger to playing at the PGA Tour level before then. His absolute debut at that level was at the 1992 Los Angeles Open. Interestingly, that tournament is currently called The Genesis Invitational and is sponsored by the Tiger Woods Foundation.
His pre-professional path included 14 PGA Tour tournaments, with five cuts made (one withdrawal). However, his last seven starts included a T22 at The Open Championship in 1996 and a T41 at The Masters in 1995. Tiger Woods was launching his bid for stardom.
1996: Rookie season for Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods' professional debut was at the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open. There he finished T60, a position that may not seem very flattering, but the perspective certainly changes when one knows that it was his worst finish in nine months (T67 at the 1997 Memorial Tournament).
Tiger Woods' rookie season included eight tournaments (no cuts missed), with two victories and three other top 10s. He qualified for the TOUR Championship and finished T21 there.
In terms of time, it took Woods two weeks to earn his first Top 5 (T5, Quad City Classic), five weeks to earn his first victory (Las Vegas Invitational) and eight weeks to win the Rookie of the Year Award.
1997-1998: First major; Consolidation as a world star
Tiger Woods entered the 1997 season, winning his first Major and proving in the process that what had happened the previous year was no fluke. Woods won three more tournaments that year, including The Masters, his first major victory.
His triumph at Augusta was historic for many other reasons. Woods became the youngest player to win The Masters and set the record for the largest margin of victory that stands to this day (December 2023). Another record was the lowest score (18-under 270), which stood until Dustin Johnson broke it in 2020.
Between 1997 and 1998, Tiger Woods won five PGA Tour tournaments with 17 Top 10s. He played 41 events and missed only one cut. In addition, he won one event on the European Tour (1998 Johnie Walker Classic) and one on the Asian Tour (1997 Honda Classic).
1999-2000: First career Grand Slam
It took Woods less than five seasons to complete his career Grand Slam. To his brilliant triumph in The Masters in 1997, he added his victory in the PGA Championship in 1999 and in the US Open and The Open Championship, both in 2000.
Woods thus became the youngest player to complete the career Grand Slam, beating Jack Nicklaus by two years. As for 2023, Woods has completed the career Grand Slam three times, the same amount as the Golden Bear.
Woods' achievements in the 1998 and 1999 seasons had many other highlights. To illustrate it, it is enough to remember the following data:
- PGA Tour wins: 17
- International wins: 3
- PGA Tour official starts: 41
- PGA Tour cuts made: 41
- PGA Tour Top 10s (including the victories): 33.
Undoubtedly, one of the high points of Woods' fifth season as a professional (2000) was his three Major victories, which brought him close to achieving the season Grand Slam, something that no one has done to date.
In fact, by winning The Masters in 2001, Woods became the first (and so far only) player to win all four Majors in a row. It is a feat so 'unrepeatable,' that it has come to be called 'The Tiger Slam.'