Earl Woods handicap level when Tiger was born in late 1975. Coached by his father, Tiger Woods was introduced to golf in Orange County, California before age two, and became a child prodigy in golf, perhaps the most precocious young golfer in history. Tiger learned golf first on the U.S. military courses in southern California. Earl Woods shared the techniques he used in coaching his son Tiger in two books: "Training a Tiger: A Father's Guide to Raising a Winner in Both Golf and Life", and "Playing Through: Straight Talk on Hard Work, Big Dreams and Adventures with Tiger". Woods coached Tiger
Tiger Woods 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). Woods took a self-imposed hiatus from professional golf from December 2009