Tiger Woods Wins U.S. Golf Amateur Championship

On August 27, 1995, the ninety-fifth U.S. Golf Amateur Championship is won by Tiger Woods.

Woods turned professional in 1996, and by April 1997 he had already won his first major, the 1997 Masters in a record-breaking performance.

He first reached the number one position in the world rankings in June 1997. Through the 2000s, Woods was the dominant force in golf, spending 264 weeks from August 1999 to September 2004 and 281 weeks from June 2005 to October 2010 as world number one. From December 2009 to early April 2010, Woods took leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage after he admitted infidelity.

Several different women, through many worldwide media sources, revealed his multiple infidelities. This was followed by a loss of form, and his ranking gradually fell to a low of No. 58 in November 2011.

He snapped a career-long winless streak of 107 weeks when he captured the Chevron World Challenge in December 2011. As of August 26, 2013, Woods, is still ranked the No. 1 golfer in the world.

Woods has broken numerous golf records. He has been world number one for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any other golfer. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record ten times, the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times, and has the record of leading the money list in nine different seasons.

He has won 14 professional major golf championships, the second highest of any player (Jack Nicklaus leads with 18), and 79 PGA Tour events, second all time behind Sam Snead.

He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour, he currently has 106 wins.

Additionally, Woods is only the second golfer, after Jack Nicklaus, to have achieved a career Grand Slam three times. Woods has won 17 World Golf Championships, and won at least one of those events in each of the first 11 years after they began in 1999.

In 1996 Woods was named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. 11 times Woods has been named the PGA Player of the Year including five straight selections from 1999-2003. He was the PGA Tour Player of the Year 11 times, including five straight selections from 1999-2003.

Woods has led the PGA Tour in money winning 10 times including four straight years from 1999-2002. He won the Vardon Trophy nine times, including five consecutive years from 1999-2003. He has won the Byron Nelson Award nine times, including five consecutive years from 1999-2003.

Woods has also won the FedEx Cup twice in 2007 and 2009.

Check out the video below that features some highlights of Woods during his 1995 U.S. Amateur Golf Championship win:

Jack Nicklaus Wins British Open

On July 9, 1995, golfer Jack Nicklaus wins Golf's British Open. Nicklaus becomes just the fourth golfer to win all four majors.

Nicklaus nicknamed "The Golden Bear", was an American professional golfer. He is widely regarded as the most accomplished professional golfer of all time, winning a total of 18 career major championships, while producing 19 second place and nine third place finishes in them, over a span of 25 years.

Nicklaus focused on the major championships (Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, Open Championship, and PGA Championship), and played a selective schedule of regular PGA Tour events, yet still finished with 73 victories, third on the all-time list.

After winning two U.S. Amateurs in 1959 and 1961, and challenging for the 1960 U.S. Open, Nicklaus turned professional toward the end of 1961. The 1962 U.S. Open was both Nicklaus' first major championship victory and his first professional win. This win over Arnold Palmer in 1962 began the on-course rivalry between the two.

In 1966, Nicklaus won the Masters Tournament for the second year in a row, becoming the first golfer to achieve this, and also won The Open Championship, completing his career slam of major championships.

At age 26, he became the youngest to do so at the time, since over taken by Tiger Woods.

In 1968 and 1969, Nicklaus did not win a major tournament. He then won another Open Championship in 1970.

Between 1971 and 1980, he would win nine major championships, overtaking Bobby Jones' record of 13 majors, and becoming the first player to complete double and triple career slams of golf's four professional major championships.

At the age of 46, Nicklaus claimed his eighteenth and final major championship at the 1986 Masters Tournament, becoming that championship's oldest winner.

Nicklaus joined the Senior PGA Tour (now known as the Champions Tour) in January 1990, when he became eligible, and by April 1996 had won 10 of the tour's tournaments, including eight of that tour's major championships, despite playing a very limited schedule.

He continued to play at least some of the four regular Tour majors until 2005, when he made his final appearances at The Open Championship and the Masters Tournament.

At the time of his retirement Nicklaus had 73 PGA Tour wins, 10 Senior Tour wins with 115 career wins between the PGA and Champions Tour. He had 18 Major Championship Wins including six Masters titles, including back-to-back titles in 1965-1966. He also won four U.S. Open titles, three British Open Titles and five PGA Championships.

Over the course of his career Nicklaus led the PGA Tour in money winning eight times, including three consecutive years from 1971-1973. He was the PGA Player of the Year five times, including back-to-back awards in 1972-1973 and 1975-1976.

In 1974 Nicklaus was named to the World Gold Hall of Fame. In 1975 he was awarded the Bob Jones award, which is the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association (USGA) in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. 

 In 2000 he was awarded the Payne Stewart award by the PGA Tour in honor of World Golf Hall of Famer Payne Stewart. It is given to a player who shows respect for the traditions of the game, commitment to uphold the game's heritage of charitable support and professional and meticulous presentation of himself and the sport through his dress and conduct. 

In 2008 he was awarded the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the PGA Tour over an extended period of time through their actions on and off the golf course. As of 2013 10 members have been given the Lifetime Achievement Award, including former president George H. W. Bush.

Since his retirement Nicklaus has also taken part in various off-course activities, including golf course design, charity work and book writing. Nicklaus helped design courses such as Harbour Town Golf Links, and his golf course design company is one of the largest in the world. 

Nicklaus also runs his own tournament on the PGA Tour, the Memorial Tournament. Nicklaus' books vary from instructional to autobiographical, with his Golf My Way considered one of the best instructional golf books of all time; the video of the same name is the best selling golf instructional to date.

Tiger Woods Wins Western Open

On July 7, 1997, golfer Tiger Woods wins golf's Western Open.

Formerly the World No. 1, he has been one of the highest-paid athletes in the world for several years according to Forbes.

Woods turned professional in 1996, and by April 1997 he had already won his first major, the 1997 Masters in a record-breaking performance.

He first reached the number one position in the world rankings in June 1997. Through the 2000s, Woods was the dominant force in golf, spending 264 weeks from August 1999 to September 2004 and 281 weeks from June 2005 to October 2010 as world number one. From December 2009 to early April 2010, Woods took leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage after he admitted infidelity.

Several different women, through many worldwide media sources, revealed his multiple infidelities. This was followed by a loss of form, and his ranking gradually fell to a low of No. 58 in November 2011.

He snapped a career-long winless streak of 107 weeks when he captured the Chevron World Challenge in December 2011. As of March 25, 2013, he is ranked No. 1, after winning the 2013 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Woods has broken numerous golf records. He has been world number one for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any other golfer. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record 10 times, the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record nine times. He won the Byron Nelson Award nine times, including five consecutive years from 1999-2003. He also has the record of leading the money list in 10 different seasons. Woods has led the PGA Tour in money winning nine times including four straight years from 1999-2002. He won the Vardon Trophy nine times, including five consecutive years from 1999-2003.

He has won 14 professional major golf championships, the second highest of any player (Jack Nicklaus leads with 18), and 79 PGA Tour events, second all time behind Sam Snead.

He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour, he currently has 106 wins.

Additionally, Woods is only the second golfer, after Jack Nicklaus, to have achieved a career Grand Slam three times. Woods has won 18 World Golf Championships, and won at least one of those events in each of the first 11 years after they began in 1999.

  

In 1996 Woods was named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. 11 times Woods has been named the PGA Player of the Year including five straight selections from 1999-2003. He was the PGA Tour Player of the Year 11 times, including five straight selections from 1999-2003.

Woods has also won the FedEx Cup twice in 2007 and 2009.

Tiger Woods Wins The Masters

On April 13, 1997, golfer Tiger Woods won his first Masters tournament, which was the first major championship of his career.  Woods became the youngest golfer and first African-American to win this prestigious event.

Tiger Woods after clinching victory at The Master in 1997.

Tiger finished Day One in fourth place, three shots behind leader John Huston, but he would take the lead on day two and never looked back.  He dominated the rest of the weekend and would go on to break the four-day tournament record, shooting 18 under par (270).  His 12-stroke win over second place finisher Tom Kite was also a Masters record, as well as a major championship record.

Woods would earn $486,000 for his victory in 1997.

On April 17, 2002 Tiger Woods becomes the third golfer to win The Masters in two consecutive years, earning his third Masters victory.

Woods would go on to a win record fourth Masters in 2005.

Woods turned professional in 1996, and by April 1997 he had already won his first major, the 1997 Masters in a record-breaking performance.

He first reached the number one position in the world rankings in June 1997. Through the 2000s, Woods was the dominant force in golf, spending 264 weeks from August 1999 to September 2004 and 281 weeks from June 2005 to October 2010 as world number one. From December 2009 to early April 2010, Woods took leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage after he admitted infidelity.

Several different women, through many worldwide media sources, revealed his multiple infidelities. This was followed by a loss of form, and his ranking gradually fell to a low of No. 58 in November 2011.

He snapped a career-long winless streak of 107 weeks when he captured the Chevron World Challenge in December 2011. Currently Tiger is ranked

Woods has broken numerous golf records. He has been world number one for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any other golfer. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record ten times, the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times, and has the record of leading the money list in nine different seasons.

He has won 14 professional major golf championships, the second highest of any player (Jack Nicklaus leads with 18), and 79 PGA Tour events, second all time behind Sam Snead.

He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour.

Additionally, Woods is only the second golfer, after Jack Nicklaus, to have achieved a career Grand Slam three times. Woods has won 18 World Golf Championships, and won at least one of those events in each of the first 11 years after they began in 1999.

With Woods not playing in The Masters this weekend he missed out on a chance to add on to his five Masters title, which would have given him a chance at tying Jack Nicklaus for most victories all time at The Masters.

Since The Masters began back in 1934, it has been the first of the four major championships in golf each year.

Since 1949 the winner of The Masters has won a green jacket, however, the victor must return it to the clubhouse one year after the time of that player's victory. In most instances, a first-time champion only removes the green jacket from the club’s grounds. A golfer who wins the event multiple times uses the same green jacket awarded upon his initial win (unless he needs to be re-fitted with a new green jacket).

The Champions Dinner, inaugurated by Ben Hogan in 1952, is held on the Tuesday before each tournament, and is open only to past champions and certain board members of the Augusta National Golf Club.

Beginning in 1963, legendary golfers, usually past champions, have hit an honorary tee shot on the morning of the first round. Such golfers have included Fred McLeod, Jock Hutchinson, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. Since 1960, a semi-social par 3 contest, on a par-3 course on Augusta National's grounds, has been played on the day before the first round of each Masters Tournament.

Nicklaus has won more Masters Tournaments than any other golfer, winning six times between 1963 and 1986. Other multiple winners include Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods, with four each; and Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead, Gary Player, Nick Faldo and Phil Mickelson, with three each. Player, from South Africa, was the first non-American player to win the tournament in 1961.

Since the Augusta National course first opened in 1933, it has been modified many times by different architects. Among the changes: greens have been reshaped and, on occasion, entirely re-designed, bunkers have been added, water hazards have been extended, new tee boxes have been built, hundreds of trees have been planted, and several mounds have been installed.

This year Bubba Watson won the Masters at Augusta out pacing a 20-year old Jordan Spieth. The victory was Watson’s second at The Masters  in six attempts, and second in the last three years. His first victory at Augusta came in 2012.

Bubba Watson after clinching victory at The Masters today.

Watson becomes the 17^th golfer to win two masters, and also becomes only the third golfer to complete the feat in their first six attempts at August.