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 Hill, out-dueling Rickie Fowler in the final round. With this win, Woods reclaimed the number one spot in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time since late in 2010, taking the spot away from Rory McIlroy. Woods remained number one throughout the remainder of the season. Though never seriously in contention, Woods finished tied for fourth at the Masters Tournament, won by Adam Scott in a sudden-death playoff over Ángel Cabrera. In his next event, Woods won The Players Championship for the second time. Tied with Woods going to the 71st hole, Sergio García hit two balls in