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 years for the tournament. The following week, Woods played The Players Championship. After an opening round of 74 (2-over), he was in threat of missing a second consecutive cut, a first for his professional career, however after a 4-under 68, he was firmly staying in the tournament as well as being in the hunt for the weekend. However, a weekend charge never mounted despite good ball striking and he settled for T40th at 1-under par. In June, Woods won his 73rd PGA Tour event at the Memorial Tournament. He shot rounds of 70-69-73 to begin on Sunday at 4-under par.