Tiger Woods in earlier years


Tiger Woods was born on Dec. 30,1975, in Cypress, Calif. His father, Earl Woods, was African American, Chinese and Native American and his mother, Kultida, is from Thailand and of Chinese, Thai and Dutch ancestry.Callaway Diablo Octane Tour DriverBecause of his parents' ancestry, Woods refers to himself as "Cablinasian." (Caucasian, Black, American, Indian and Asian). Woods was raised Buddhist, a religion that he stated he lost track of during his 13-minute apology on Feb. 19, 2010.

His parents discovered their son's talent for golf at a young age,TaylorMade R7 CGB Max Irons and he played the sport before the age of 2. Woods gained national attention at 2 when he appeared on "The Mike Douglas Show," defeating comedian Bob Hope in a putting competition. At the age of 3, Woods shot a 48 over nine holes at the Cypress Navy golf course. He was featured on the television show "That's Incredible!" at 5.

As a child, Woods won the Junior World Championships six times. At the age of 11, Woods was able to defeat his father for the first time on the golf course. He attended Western High School in Anaheim, where he won the U.S. Junior Amateur Champion three consecutive years. Woods was the youngest winner of the event and the only amateur to win on multiple occasions.