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.

Michael Jordan Returns

On March 19, 1995, Michael Jordan returns to the Chicago Bulls to beat the Indiana Pacers. The return from Jordan to the NBA came after a 17-month retirement, in which he played baseball for the Chicago White Sox minor league team the Birmingham Barons.

Michael Jordan with the Chicago White Sox in Spring Training of 1994.

On March 18, Jordan announced his return to the NBA through a two-word press release: "I'm back." The next day, Jordan donned jersey number 45 (his number with the Barons), as his familiar 23 had been retired in his honor following his first retirement. He took to the court with the Bulls to face the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis, scoring 19 points.

The game had the highest Nielsen rating of a regular season NBA game since 1975.

Michael Jordan wearing the jersey No. 45 upon his return to the Chicago Bulls ii the March 19, 1995 game against the Indiana Pacers.

Although he hadn't played an NBA game in a year and a half, Jordan played well upon his return, making a game-winning jump shot against Atlanta in his fourth game back. He then scored 55 points in the next game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 1995 (his first appearance at Madison Square Garden since retiring). Boosted by Jordan's comeback, the Bulls went 13–4 to make the playoffs and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Orlando Magic.

Though at the end of Game 1, Orlando's Nick Anderson stripped Jordan from behind, leading to the game-winning basket for the Magic; he would later comment that Jordan "didn't look like the old Michael Jordan", after which Jordan returned to wearing his old number. Jordan averaged 31 points per game in the series, but Orlando prevailed in six games.

The return of the Jordan to the NBA was good for television and the league, but even greater for the Bulls. His “Airness” would lead the Bulls to their second three-peat championships from 1996-1998.

Jordan is talked about as one of the best players of all-time, and with good reason he won six NBA Championships, earning the NBA Finals MVP each time. He was named the NBA’s MVP five times, an All-Star 14 times, and the MVP of the All-Star game three times. He was a 10 time NBA scoring champion, and three times the NBA steals champ, he was also a two time NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion and was the Defensive Player of the Year in 1988.

He was nominated to the All-NBA First Team 10 times, Second Team once, All-Defensive First Team nine times, the All-Rookie First Team as well being named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1985.

The Miami Heat has retired twice by the Bulls and Jordan/s no. 23 jersey once. He was named to the NBA’s 50 Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996.

In his career Jordan scored 32,292 points for an average of 30.1 points per game. Only he and Wilt Chamberlain have averaged 30 or more points per game over their entire career. He also pulled in 6,672 rebounds and 5.633 assists. Jordan still ranks third all-time in steals with 2,514 trailing John Stockton and Jason Kiss.

In August 2009, the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, opened a Michael Jordan exhibit containing items from his college and NBA careers, as well as from the 1992 "Dream Team".

Jordan also won two Gold medals with Team USA at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics and the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.

After Jordan received word of his being accepted into the Hall of Fame, he selected Class of 1996 member David Thompson to present him. As Jordan would later explain during his induction speech in September 2009, growing up in North Carolina, he was not a fan of the Tar Heels, and greatly admired Thompson, who played at rival North Carolina State.

He was inducted into the Hall in September, with several former Bulls teammates in attendance, including Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Charles Oakley, Ron Harper, Steve Kerr, and Toni Kukoc.  Former coaches of Jordan's, Dean Smith and Doug Collins, were also among those present.

Michael Jordan Sets Chicago Bulls Scoring Record

On Feb. 26, 1987, Michael Jordan's 58 points sets a new Chicago Bulls record for most points in a single game. While not his highest point total of his career for a single game, as he scored in the 60’s multiple times, including a 69-point game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1990.

Chicago Bulls shooting guard Michael Jordan in the 1987 NBA Dunk Contest.

This was however a highlight in Jordan’s career, which had many including winning six NBA Championships, being named the NBA Finals MVP all six times. He would win the regular seasons MVP five times, be named an All-Star 14-times, being named the MVP of the All-Star game three times. He was a 10 times NBA scoring champion, and three time NBA steals champion, being named to the All-NBA First team 10 times, NBA All-Defensive First team nine times and All-NBA Second team once. He was nominated to the NBA All-Rookie First Team and won the NBA Slam Dunk contest in back-to-back years in 1987 and 1988.

In 1988, Jordan was honored with the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award and became the first NBA player to win both the Defensive Player of the Year and MVP awards in a career (since equaled by Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Kevin Garnett; Olajuwon is the only player other than Jordan to win both during the same season).

In addition he set both seasonal and career records for blocked shots by a guard, and combined this with his ball-thieving ability to become a standout defensive player.

He ranks third in NBA history in total steals with 2,514, trailing John Stockton and Jason Kidd.

Jordan finished his career with 32,292 points, 6,672 rebounds and 5,633 assists.

The NBA selected Jordan to the NBA’s 50 Anniversary All-Time Team, and his no. 23 jersey was retired by the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat. Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year – 1991 Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996 Ranked No.1 by SLAM Magazine's Top 50 Players of All-Time

In International play Jordan earned two Gold Medals with the “Dream Team” in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He also won Gold on United State’s team in the 1992 FIBA Americas Championship and the 1983 Pan American Games.

In a 1999 ESPN poll, Jordan was ranked the greatest U.S. athlete of the Century.

Jordan is one of the most marketed sports figures in history. He has been a major spokesman for such brands as Nike, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Gatorade, McDonald's, Ball Park Franks, Rayovac, Wheaties, Hanes, and MCI. Jordan has had a long relationship with Gatorade, appearing in over 20 commercials for the company since 1991, including the "Like Mike" commercials in which children wishing to be like Jordan sang a song.

Jordan’s legacy went outside of basketball as Nike created a signature shoe for him, called the Air Jordan.

One of Jordan's more popular commercials for the shoe involved Spike Lee playing the part of Mars Blackmon. In the commercials Lee, as Blackmon, attempted to find the source of Jordan's abilities and became convinced that "it's gotta be the shoes.

The hype and demand for the shoes even brought on a spate of "shoe-jackings" where people were robbed of their sneakers at gunpoint. Subsequently Nike spun off the Jordan line into its own division named the "Jordan Brand". The company features an impressive list of athletes and celebrities as endorsers. The brand has also sponsored college sports programs such as those of North Carolina, Cincinnati, Cal, St. John's, Georgetown, and North Carolina A&T.

Jordan also has been associated with the Looney Tunes cartoon characters.

A Nike commercial shown during the 1993 Super Bowl XXVII featured Jordan and Bugs Bunny playing basketball against a group of Martian characters. The Super Bowl commercial inspired the 1996 live action/animated movie Space Jam, which starred Jordan and Bugs in a fictional story set during his first retirement. They have subsequently appeared together in several commercials for MCI.

In June 2010, Jordan was ranked by Forbes Magazine as the 20th most powerful celebrity in the world with $55 million earned between June 2009 and June 2010. According to the Forbes article, Jordan Brand generates $1 billion in sales for Nike.

Jordan Scores 20,000

On Jan. 8, 1993, Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls picked up the 20,000^th point of his NBA career. The historic point came during a big win over the Milwaukee Bucks. It was the 620^th game of his career. Only Wilt Chamberlain had reached the milestone faster than Jordan.

Jordan finished his career 32,292 points, and is the third highest scorer all-time behind only Los Angeles Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabar with 38,387 points and Utah Jazz great Karl Malone who scored 36,928 in his career.

Despite not being the leagues All-Time leading scorer, Jordan is recognized as the best, or one of the best players to play the game.

“His Airness” as Jordan has been refereed to has won six NBA Championships, with three-peats in 1991-1993 and 1996-1998. He was the NBA Finals MVP in each of the NBA Championships they won. Jordan won the leagues NBA MVP in 1988, 1991-1992, 1996 and 1998.

Jordan was named an All-Star 14 times, and three times he was named the NBA All-Star game MVP in those games. He was also the NBA defensive player of the year in 1988, and the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1985. He was a 10-time NBA scoring champion and a three-time NBA steals champion.

Jordan was named to the All-NBA First Team 10-times, and ALL-NBA Second Team once, his rookie year. He was nine-times named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team, and the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Showing off his high-flying skills Jordan won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in back-to-back years in 1987-1988 beating out Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb for the honors.

On Nov. 1, 1994 the Chicago Bulls retired Michael Jordan’s no. 23 jersey, while he was on his first pseudo-retirement leave from the league

Jordan was named to the NBA’s 50^th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996, while he was still playing for the Bulls.

In 2009 Jordan was inducted into the NBA’s Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.