Professional golf career of Tiger Woods Professional golf career of Tiger Woods American professional golfer Tiger Woods has enjoyed one of the most successful golfing careers of all time. After competing in amateur events since he was a toddler and representing Stanford University on a golf scholarship, Woods left college after two years to turn professional at the age of 20. With the announcement "Hello world," Tiger Woods became a professional golfer in August 1996 and signed endorsement deals worth $40 million from Nike, Inc. and $20 million from Titleist. These endorsement contracts were the highest in golf history up to that point. He played his
Tiger Woods days in jail with an additional $500 fine. Woods was raised as a Buddhist, and he actively practiced his faith from childhood until well into his adult, professional golf career. In a 2000 article, Woods was quoted as saying that he "believes in Buddhism... not every aspect, but most of it." He has attributed his deviations and infidelity to his losing track of Buddhism. He said, "Buddhism teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously I lost track of what I was taught." Woods is registered as an independent voter. In January 2009, Woods delivered a