Earl Woods Earl Woods Earl Dennison Woods (March 5, 1932 – May 3, 2006) was a US Army infantry officer who served two tours of duty in Vietnam and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was a college-level baseball player, writer, and father of professional golfer Tiger Woods. Woods started his son in golf at a very early age and coached him exclusively for his first years in the sport. Earl Woods was born in Manhattan, Kansas. His father, Miles Woods, had five children by his first wife, Viola, and six more (of whom Earl was the youngest) by his
Tiger Woods was ranked by Golf Digest magazine as the twelfth-best golfer of all time. When Woods won the 2001 Masters, he became the only player to win four consecutive major professional golf titles, although not in the same calendar year. Following a stellar 2001 and 2002 in which Woods continued to dominate the tour, Woods' career hit a slump. He did not win a major in 2003 or 2004. In September 2004, Vijay Singh overtook Woods in the Official World Golf Rankings, ending Woods' record streak of 264 weeks at #1. Woods rebounded in 2005, winning six official PGA Tour money