Tiger Woods’s Most Thrilling Titles and the Shocking Scandal: A Top 50 Countdown

Leading up to Tiger Woods’s 50th birthday, SI Golf has counted down the biggest moments—the highs and the lows—of his career. The top 10 includes epic major triumphs and a couple that got away.

Woods's top-10 defining moments should be familiar to golf fans. / Clockwise from top-left: Fred Vuich/Sports Illustrated, Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images, Kohjiro Kinno/Sports Illustrated, Mark Ralston, David Cannon/Getty Images,

On Dec. 30, Tiger Woods turns 50 years old. To honor the moment, and Woods's life and career, SI Golf has taken a long look back at all of it and ranked his top 50 defining moments—including incredible triumphs and big business deals, on-course defeats, injuries and, yes, even the scandals.

And at last, we've reached the end. Woods turns 50 today and we have landed on the final installment of our list: the top-10 defining moments of his career. For golf fans and followers of Woods's career, these moments likely do not need much in the way of introduction. So let's get to it.

No. 10: Wins third straight U.S. Amateur in 1996

At age 20, Tiger won an unprecedented third straight U.S. Amateur, which gave him six consecutive USGA titles. This win was an all-timer: a thrilling 36-hole match at Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon against the relatively unheralded Steve Scott.

Tiger Woods won a sixth consecutive USGA title at the 1996 U.S. Amateur. / Robert Beck/Sports Illustrated

On the 16th hole of the afternoon round, Scott had to remind Woods to replace his marker on the green before holing a birdie putt that brought him within one hole. Had Woods not replaced the marker, he would have lost the hole and the match. Woods tied it on the next hole and they went to sudden death, where Woods prevailed on the second extra hole. Three days later, Woods announced that he would turn pro. — Bob Harig

No. 9: “The Drop” at the 2013 Masters

Woods was cruising in the second round of the 2013 Masters and threatening to take the lead on the back nine. His wedge shot on the par-5 15th hole was tracking the pin the whole way, then stunningly hit the flagstick, bounced back and rolled into the water. It wasn’t just bad luck. It led to a rules controversy that dominated the event, turning a potential birdie into a triple bogey because of an illegal drop. It was a four-stroke swing—the margin by which Woods lost to Adam Scott. — Bob Harig

Woods was hit with a two-stroke penalty a day after this drop. / John W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated

No. 8: Falls to Y.E. Yang at 2009 PGA Championship

Tiger was having another tremendous year, winning five times following knee surgery, including the two preceding weeks at the Buick Open and WGC-Bridgestone. So he arrived at the PGA Championship at Hazeltine in peak form.

When Woods took a four-shot 36-hole lead, a 15th major seemed assured.

When it was two shots through 54 holes over unheralded Y.E. Yang, who won his first career PGA Tour title earlier in the year, the final round seemed like formality. Woods had never surrendered a 54-hole advantage in a major.

But Woods struggled and Yang pounced, winning by three strokes and dealing Woods his first major loss when holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead. Woods also finished second in the PGA at Hazeltine in 2002. — Bob Harig

No. 7: Extramarital affairs and ensuing scandal

Even 16 years later, the whole thing still seems surreal. Woods, at the height of his powers, popped up on the news in the wee hours after Thanksgiving, after being hospitalized following a strange car accident outside his home. The details emerged slowly and then quickly, as news of his extramarital affairs exploded as various mistresses emerged from the woodwork to share their stories.

For many years, Woods had owned the game of golf. But as the scandal metastasized, he found himself owning something he very much would’ve hoped to avoid: the front page of the tabloids.

Despite all of his accomplishments on the course, including an array of triumphs over the past 16 years, you can draw a line at Thanksgiving 2009 as a date that split his life and career into two parts: before scandal, and after scandal. — Jeff Ritter

News of Woods's affairs spread far and wide. / MARK RALSTON/Getty Images

No. 6: Wins 2005 Masters after an epic chip-in

Woods's caddie, Steve Williams, said the area beyond the 16th green where Tiger’s ball came to rest during the final round in 2005 was so obscure that he had never really scouted it. It didn’t seem necessary.

Jubilation after the unforgettable chip. / Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated

And yet that was where Woods found himself while two shots ahead of Chris DiMarco in the final round of the 2005 Masters. DiMarco had a makable uphill birdie putt on the par-3, while Woods faced the very real prospect of making a bogey.

And yet, somehow, he pitched the ball away from the flag, into a mound, and saw it roll ... ever ... so ... slowly ... toward the cup, resting on the edge for an agonizing moment before dropping for a remarkable birdie that gave him a two-shot lead with two holes to play. Woods needed both of those shots, as he bogeyed the last two holes before winning in a playoff over DiMarco. It was Woods’s first major victory since the 2022 U.S. Open. — Bob Harig

No. 5: Completes the Tiger Slam at 2001 Masters

Woods made history at Augusta in 2001. / Fred Vuich/Sports Illustrated

In 2000 Woods became the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in the same year, capturing the U.S. Open by 15 strokes (Pebble Beach), the British Open (St. Andrews) and then outdueling Bob May in a playoff to win the PGA (Valhalla).

After a winter of anticipation, Woods added his second Masters title shortly after also winning the Players Championship. He became the first and only player in the modern era to win four straight majors, a feat that became known as the Tiger Slam. — Bob Harig

No. 4: Wins 2000 U.S. Open by 15 shots

Woods turned in perhaps his most dominant performance at the 2000 U.S. Open. / Sports Illustrated

In perhaps his greatest performance, Woods played two of the four rounds at Pebble Beach without a bogey—only one other player had one such round—and lapped the field, shooting 12 under par and winning by a record 15 strokes over Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Woods was the only player under par for the tournament, capturing his first U.S. Open. This was also the first of four straight major titles. — Bob Harig

No. 3: Wins 2008 U.S. Open despite a broken leg

If the 2000 U.S. Open was his greatest performance, this one may have been his most remarkable. Woods had not played since the 2008 Masters, and he had what was believed to be a minor knee surgery following Augusta.

Later, we learned that he suffered hairline fractures in his tibia while rehabbing in advance of the U.S. Open, and would play the event in pain from those bone breaks.

He double-bogeyed the first hole at Torrey Pines in three of the four rounds. And he still found himself in an 18-hole playoff—after making an all-time clutch 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole—with Rocco Mediate. Even that playoff required an extra hole before Woods finally prevailed for his 14th career major. He then had reconstructive knee surgery that kept him out until February of 2009. — Bob Harig

No. 2: Wins the 2019 Masters at age 43

Against all odds, Woods returned to glory in 2019. / Kohjiro Kinno/Sports Illustrated

For the first time, Woods came from behind on the final day to win a major, making up a two-shot deficit on Francesco Molinari and defeating Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka by a stroke.

The tournament turned on the back nine at the par-3 12th, where both Molinari and Tony Finau, as well as Ian Poulter and Koepka in the group ahead, found Rae’s Creek with their tee shots. Woods made a safe two-putt par to tie for the lead, then birdied the 13th, 15th and 16th holes to forge a two-shot advantage.

A nervy bogey on the last hole was good enough for a 15th major title and 81st PGA Tour victory at age 43, just two years following spinal fusion surgery. It was his first major win since the 2008 U.S. Open and brought him all the way back following a decade plagued by scandal and injury. — Bob Harig

No. 1: Wins the 1997 Masters

Woods's win in 1997 signaled a new era in golf. / John Biever/Sports Illustrated

Playing in his first major championship as a pro, Woods was among the favorites despite limited experience at Augusta. The hype seemingly got to him with a first-nine 40. Even a seasoned veteran might've unraveled after that kind of start.

But Woods quickly showed his resilance while rebounding to shoot 30 on the back nine in that opening round, which set him on his major championship path. “We were in the dust for the next 12 years,” Nick Faldo once said.

Woods led by nine shots after 54 holes and went on to set a Masters total record of 18-under, breaking a mark held by Jack Nicklaus. He won by 12 shots and cemented his status and golf's new superstar. — Bob Harig

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