Woods was born in Cypress, California, to Earl Woods, a Vietnam veteran who introduced him to golf as a toddler, and Kultida Woods, who is of Thai descent. He became a golf prodigy at a remarkably young age, famously appearing on television putting against comedian Bob Hope before he was three years old, and went on to dominate junior golf, winning three consecutive US Junior Amateur titles and three consecutive US Amateur titles.

Woods turned professional in 1996, immediately signing endorsement deals with Nike and Titleist reportedly worth a combined $40 million or more — an extraordinary sum for a rookie at the time. He validated the investment almost immediately, winning the 1997 Masters Tournament by 12 strokes at age 21, becoming the youngest-ever Masters champion and instantly transforming both his own career and the broader popularity and prize money of professional golf.

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Woods went on to win 15 major championships, second all-time behind Jack Nicklaus’s 18, and holds the PGA Tour record of 82 official wins, tied with Sam Snead. He achieved the so-called “Tiger Slam,” holding all four major titles simultaneously across 2000 and 2001, and spent a record number of weeks ranked World No. 1. His career was later disrupted by a highly public 2009 personal scandal and divorce, multiple back surgeries, and a serious February 2021 car crash near Los Angeles that nearly cost him his leg. He has since made limited competitive appearances, including a return to the Masters, and co-founded TGL, an indoor golf league launched with fellow golfer Rory McIlroy through their company TMRW Sports. Despite playing a greatly reduced schedule in recent years, his presence at any tournament continues to draw significantly larger television audiences and galleries than the rest of the field combined.

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Forbes has repeatedly ranked Woods among the highest-earning athletes in history, estimating his combined on-course winnings and endorsement income at well over $1.7 billion across his career — among the first athletes ever to surpass $1 billion in career earnings, driven overwhelmingly by sponsorship income rather than tournament prize money alone. Even during years when injuries limited his competitive schedule, his off-course earnings from endorsements and business ventures remained substantial, underscoring how much of his fortune is now independent of his tournament results.

Woods’s endorsement deal with Nike, signed in 1996 and extended repeatedly, was reported at various points to be worth $20-30 million or more per year, making it one of the longest and richest individual athlete-brand partnerships in sports history before it ended in 2024 amid Nike’s broader athlete-roster restructuring. He subsequently launched his own apparel brand, Sun Day Red, in 2024. Other long-running sponsors across his career have included Titleist and Bridgestone (golf equipment), Gatorade (which released a Tiger-branded drink), EA Sports (the long-running Tiger Woods PGA Tour video game series), Rolex, and American Express.

Woods was married to Elin Nordegren from 2004 to 2010; the couple have two children, Sam and Charlie. He later had a relationship with restaurant manager Erica Herman, and has more recently been reported to be in a relationship with Vanessa Trump. He lives primarily on Jupiter Island, Florida.

Woods founded TGR Design, a golf course design and architecture firm, and the TGR Foundation, his charitable organization focused on education. He also launched The Woods, a sports bar and restaurant concept with multiple locations, and co-founded TMRW Sports with Rory McIlroy, the company behind the TGL indoor golf league, which began play in the mid-2020s and represents one of golf’s biggest recent business innovations.

Woods owns a waterfront estate on Jupiter Island, Florida, built around 2014 and reported by real estate outlets to be worth in the range of $50-60 million or more, including a private golf course, a putting green and a hitting bay, among other features. He has also owned a private yacht in the past.