Tiger Woods Says ‘Hello, World’ and Completes Career Grand Slam: A Top 50 Countdown

As Tiger Woods approaches his 50th birthday, SI Golf counts down the biggest moments—the highs and the lows—of his career. Nos. 20-11 includes more major triumphs, the end of an underrated streak and a famous putt at the Players.

Woods has experienced both triumphs and near-death moments. / Clockwise from left: David Cannon, J.D. Cuban, Patrick T. Fallon, John Zich, Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

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

We have already unveiled Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of our series and continue with more highs and lows from a golf life and career like no other. Here's Nos. 20-11 on our list.

No. 20: “Hello, world”

Only a few days after winning the U.S. Amateur for the third time, it was still unclear if Woods would remain an amateur. He had never publicly revealed his plans, although there were plenty of indications that a deal to turn pro had been in the works for months. His dad, Earl, had quietly secured sponsor exemptions to several fall PGA Tour events, which were tournaments he wouldn't play if he was returning to Stanford.

A five-year, $40 million endorsement deal doesn’t happen overnight. Woods was likely turning pro regardless of his U.S. Amateur result, which turned out to be an epic comeback win that will appear shortly on our coutdown.

Woods said “Hello, world” at the Nike press conference that took place one day prior to the tournament. And indeed, the world took notice. — Bob Harig

No. 19: Wins 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black

In the first U.S. Open at a truly public golf course, Tiger led from start to finish at Bethpage Black and was four strokes ahead of Sergio Garcia going into the final round. Phil Mickelson made a brief run—earning the “man of the people” moniker—but finished three strokes back.

Tiger Woods led wire-to-wire at the 2002 U.S. Open. / Robert Beck/Sports Illustrated

This was Woods's second U.S. Open title and his second major title that year. He became the first player since Jack Nicklaus in 1972 to win the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year. — Bob Harig

No. 18: Second British Open victory at St. Andrews

Winning an Open at St. Andrews is one of golf’s crowning achievements. Winning it twice? That’s rarefied air, which is essentially where Woods was living in this stage in his career. His five-shot win in 2005 over Colin Montgomerie—and let’s be honest, it didn’t feel that close—made him just the fifth player in history to win two St. Andrews Opens. — Jeff Ritter

No. 17: PGA Tour record 142 consecutive made cuts comes to an end

From 1998 to 2005, Tiger Woods never missed a 36-hole cut on the PGA Tour, which is among his most underrated accomplishments. He made 142 in a row in this span, shattering the record of 113 set by Byron Nelson when cuts were determined by who was paid. Jack Nicklaus’s longest cut streak was 105.

Woods’s run finally ended at Nelson’s tournament, when he bogeyed the final hole to miss the weekend by one. Earlier this year, Xander Schauffele became the first player to get halfway to Woods since he set this record. — Bob Harig

No. 16: “Better than most” putt at 2001 Players Championship

NBC’s Gary Koch made the call that lives on today. He described Woods’s long, winding and utterly improbable birdie putt on Sawgrass's 17th hole as “better than most” several times as it slowly traveled some 60 feet from the back of the green toward the front pin position. The ball dropped in for a birdie that helped Woods, who was playing with Phil Mickelson, shoot a third-round 66 and pull within two shots of leader Jerry Kelly.

A final-round 67 gave Woods a one-shot victory over Vijay Singh and a second straight victory after a triumph one week prior at Bay Hill. Woods would go on to win the Masters two weeks later, completing the Tiger Slam. — Bob Harig

No. 15: Wins 2006 British Open for first major title since father’s death

Woods leaned on his power game for many of his major triumphs, but not this one. Royal Liverpool was littered with bunkers and internal O.B. that demanded precision, and Woods dialed it back accordingly while hitting just one driver all week.

The final round was tense, and while Sergio Garcia, dressed in head-to-toe yellow, faded while playing alongside Woods in the final pairing, familiar foil Chris DiMarco made a charge and cut Woods’s lead to one shot on the back nine. But Woods birdied 14, 15 and 16 to seal it. In the aftermath he collapsed into caddie Steve Williams arms and cried for longer than perhaps all of his previous majors combined. It was understandable: this was Woods’s first major win since his father, Earl, passed away earlier in the year. — Jeff Ritter

No. 14: Outduels Sergio Garcia at 1999 PGA Championship

There had been 10 major championships following Woods’s win at the 1997 Masters, but no victories. It’s fair to say that there was some concern at this point in Woods's career about when major No. 2 would come.

And then there was this upstart kid, 19-year-old Sergio Garcia, who made things tense. Garcia pressed Woods during the final round at Medinah until Woods holed a crucial par putt on the 71st hole and closed it out on 18. This win started a stretch of seven major wins in 11 starts for Woods. And the hotshot youngster, Garcia, wouldn’t win his first major until age 37 at the 2017 Masters. — Bob Harig

No. 13: Cruises at 2000 British Open at St. Andrews to complete career Grand Slam

A lot has been written about Tiger Woods’s past dominance, but 2000 should probably go down as Woods’s absolute peak season. Fresh off winning the U.S. by a preposterous 15 shots (which will appear on our countdown list soon), Woods rolled into St. Andrews for his first Open at the home of golf and promptly shredded the Old Course to the tune of 19 under par and a ho-hum eight-shot victory, the largest winning margin in an Open since 1900.

Complete dominance at St. Andrews. / Robert Beck/Sports Illustrated

This win also completed Woods’s career Grand Slam, making him the youngest player ever to achieve it. It also got him halfway to what would eventually become the “Tiger Slam,” as he’d win the ensuing PGA Championship in August and the Masters the following April to hold all four major titles at once.

One stat that gets tossed out often from this particular win at St. Andrews still speaks volumes for Woods’s complete control of his game: he didn’t hit into a single bunker in any of his four rounds. — Jeff Ritter

No. 12: Wins 2000 PGA Championship in playoff over Bob May

A sweet SI cover even 25 years later. / Robert Beck/Sports Illustrated

Woods had his share of major-championship duels, but the showdown against May, a little-known journeyman, absolutely ranks among the best. There was May, the ultimate underdog and Cinderella story, somehow matching Woods shot-for-shot down the stretch at a major and even forcing a playoff. There was Woods at the height of his powers, seeking a third straight major that would set him up to complete the Grand Slam the following spring at Augusta. It was a heck of a show.

Ultimately, Woods grabbed the lead in the playoff with a long birdie putt that he stalked into the cup—the photo of that putt was splashed on Sports Illustrated's cover and remains arguably the coolest Woods “action shot” cover the magazine ever captured. Woods walked in that putt and indeed walked to what came to be known as the Tiger Slam the following spring. — Jeff Ritter

No. 11: Car crash in Los Angeles in 2021

While on the way to a video shoot in Los Angeles, two days after the conclusion of his Genesis Invitational, Tiger Woods’s Genesis SUV—speeding between 84 and 87 mph on a 45 mph stretch of road—sailed off the road and hit a tree. There was no evidence that Woods, who was driving alone, braked during the crash.

He sustained serious leg injuries, on top of rehabbing from a back surgery two months prior. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office was criticized for its investigation, which included not taking any blood samples or obtaining Woods’s cellphone, and Woods never offered further details about the crash to reporters. He would eventually return to golf at the 2022 Masters. — John Schwarb

The surreal scene of Woods's crash. / Mark J. Terrill/Getty Images