Tiger Woods War veteran who was mostly African American with traces of European descent. Earl's mother Maude Carter was light skinned. Some people suggested that she had Native American and Chinese ancestry. Tiger refers to his ethnic make-up as ""Cablinasian"" (a syllabic abbreviation he coined from Caucasian, Black, American Indian, and Asian). Woods' first name—Eldrick—was coined by his mother because it began with "E" (for Earl) and ended with "K" (for Kultida). His middle name Tont is a traditional Thai name. He was nicknamed Tiger in honor of his father's friend Col. Vuong Dang Phong, who had also been known as Tiger.
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