Professional golf career of Tiger Woods first professional golf event at the Greater Milwaukee Open, tying for 60th place, recorded a hole-in-one, and would win two events in the next three months to qualify for the Tour Championship. For his efforts, Woods was named "Sports Illustrated"'s 1996 Sportsman of the Year and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. He began his tradition of wearing a red shirt during the final round of tournaments, which was a link to his college days at Stanford. The following April, Woods won his first major, The Masters, with a record score of 18-under-par 270, by a record margin of 12
Professional golf career of Tiger Woods a 46.8% decline as compared to 2007. Called "one of the most anticipated returns in sports" by the Associated Press, Woods' first PGA Tour event after an eight-month layoff came at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. He lost to Tim Clark in the second round. His first stroke play event was the WGC-CA Championship at Doral, where he finished 9th (−11). Woods won his first title of the year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he was five strokes behind Sean O'Hair entering the final round. Woods shot a final round 67 and made a birdie putt at the final