Meet the Americans: Tiger Woods

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Tiger Woods is making his sixth Presidents Cup appearance.

Oct. 1, 2009

MORE: Presidents Cup structure | Meet the American Team | Meet the International Team | Complete coverage

Tiger Woods began the 2009 season by answering questions about how his recovery from knee surgery in 2008 was coming along, but it wasn't long before the questioning centered on something far more important: Was Charlie Axel, the latest edition to the Woods Clan (born Feb. 9), doing as well as his mother, Elin, and sister, Sam Alexis? The answer, happily, was just fine and, as it turned out, so was dear old dad, who picked up his sixth victory of the season at the BMW Championship, the final event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. This year marks his sixth appearance in The Presidents Cup. He has also competed in five Ryder Cups, three World Cups, a Dunhill Cup and, as an amateur, a Walker Cup and a World Amateur Team Championship. Woods should also have pleasant memories from his last visit to Harding Park. It was there, in 2005, that he beat John Daly in a playoff at the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship.

The Woods file

FULL NAME: Eldrick T. Woods

HEIGHT: 6-1

WEIGHT: 185

BIRTHDATE: Dec. 30, 1975

BIRTHPLACE: Cypress, Calif.

RESIDENCE: Orlando, Fla.

FAMILY: Wife, Elin; Sam Alexis, Charlie Axel

EDUCATION: Stanford University

SPECIAL INTERESTS: Basketball, fishing, all sports

TURNED PROFESSIONAL: 1996

JOINED TOUR: 1996

Personal info

Woods was nicknamed Tiger after a Vietnamese soldier who was a friend of his father, Earl, who was a Green Beret stationed in Vietnam. He and his father founded The Tiger Woods Foundation in 1996. The Tiger Woods Learning Center, a two-story, 35,000-square-foot center that opened in February 2006, provides fifth though 12th grade students with critically important interactive enrichment programs in reading, math, science and technology. More information is at www.twlc.org. He serves as official host of the AT&T National held near Washington, D.C. His Web site is www.tigerwoods.com.

Playing record

PGA TOUR VICTORIES: (71) 1996 Las Vegas Invitational, Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic. 1997 Mercedes Championships, Masters Tournament, GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic, Motorola Western Open. 1998 BellSouth Classic. 1999 Buick Invitational, Memorial Tournament, Motorola Western Open, PGA Championship, World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational, National Car Rental Golf Classic/Disney, THE TOUR Championship, World Golf Championships-American Express Championship. 2000 Mercedes Championships, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Bay Hill Invitational, Memorial Tournament, U.S. Open, British Open, PGA Championship, World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational, Bell Canadian Open. 2001 Bay Hill Invitational, THE PLAYERS Championship, Masters Tournament, Memorial Tournament, World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational. 2002 Bay Hill Invitational presented by Cooper Tires, Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, Buick Open, World Golf Championships-American Express Championship. 2003 Buick Invitational, World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, Bay Hill Invitational presented by Cooper Tires, 100th Western Open presented by Golf Digest, World Golf Championships-American Express Championship. 2004 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. 2005 Buick Invitational, Ford Championship at Doral, Masters Tournament, British Open, World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational, World Golf Championships-American Express Championship. 2006 Buick Invitational, Ford Championship at Doral, British Open, Buick Open, PGA Championship, World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Deutsche Bank Championship, World Golf Championships-American Express Championship. 2007 Buick Invitational, World Golf Championships-CA Championship, Wachovia Championship, World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, PGA Championship, BMW Championship, THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. 2008 Buick Invitational, World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, U.S. Open. 2009 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, the Memorial Tournament, AT&T National, Buick Open, World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, BMW Championship.

2009 PGA TOUR HIGHLIGHTS: Woods took the No. 1 seed into THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola after his dominating eight-stroke victory at the BMW Championship at Cog Hill. Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, the Memorial Tournament, AT&T National, Buick Open, the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and BMW Championship (TOUR victories Nos. 66-71), which left him just two wins behind Jack Nicklaus and 11 behind Sam Snead in career victories. By anyone elses standards, this would have been cause for celebration (for many people, it would count as a great career), but Woods didnt win a major championship, tying for sixth in the Masters Tournament and the U.S. Open, missing the cut at the British Open (only his second missed cut in a major as a professional) and finishing second at the PGA Championship.

NATIONAL TEAMS: The Presidents Cup (6), 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009; Ryder Cup (5), 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006; World Amateur Team Championship, 1994; Walker Cup, 1995; Dunhill Cup, 1998; World Cup (3), 1999, 2000, 2001

PRESIDENTS CUP RECORD: 13-11-1

RYDER CUP RECORD: 10-13-2

COMBINED RECORD: 23-24-3

All-time playing partners

Paul Azinger (1 Four-ball RC)

Notah Begay (2 Foursomes, 2 Four-ball)

Mark Calcavecchia (1 Foursome RC)

Fred Couples (3 Foursomes)

David Duval (1 Four-ball RC)

Jim Furyk (3 Four-ball, 2 Foursomes; 2 Four-ball RC, 2 Foursomes RC)

Charles Howell III (3 Foursomes, 2 Four-ball)

John Huston (1 Four-ball)