<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> (For a full list of awards, see here) </Td> </Tr> <P> Eldrick Tont Woods (born December 30, 1975) better known as Tiger Woods, is an American professional golfer who is among the most successful golfers of all time . He has been one of the highest - paid athletes in the world for several years . </P> <P> Following an outstanding junior, college, and amateur career, Woods was 20 years old when he turned professional at the end of summer in 1996 . By the end of April 1997, he had won three PGA Tour events in addition to his first major, the 1997 Masters . Woods won this tournament by 12 strokes in a record - breaking performance and earned $486,000 . He first reached the number one position in the world rankings in June 1997, less than a year after turning pro . Throughout the 2000s, Woods was the dominant force in golf--he won the 2000 U.S. Open by a record 15 - shot margin . He was the top - ranked golfer in the world from August 1999 to September 2004 (264 weeks) and again from June 2005 to October 2010 (281 weeks). </P> <P> Woods took a hiatus from professional golf from December 2009 to early April 2010 in order to focus on difficult issues in his marriage . He and his estranged wife Elin eventually divorced . His many alleged extramarital indiscretions were revealed by several women, through many worldwide media sources . This coincided with a series of injuries, treatments by Dr. Anthony Galea, who had been linked to HGH, a loss of golf form, and his ranking gradually fell to a low of No. 58 in November 2011 . He ended a career - high winless streak of 107 weeks when he triumphed in the Chevron World Challenge in December 2011 . After winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 25, 2013, he ascended to the No. 1 ranking once again, holding the top spot until May 2014, by which time he had been ranked number one for a total of 683 weeks, more than any other player in history . </P>

What year did tiger woods win his first masters tournament