Tiger Woods is unquestionably one of the greatest golfers to have ever played the game, if not the greatest.
Woods has won 15 major championships and 82 PGA TOUR titles throughout his career, and if it wasn’t for some serious injury problems, he would have most likely broken Jack Nicklaus’s major record by now.
The 49-year-old took the game by storm when he burst onto the PGA TOUR in 1996, after winning three successive U.S. Amateur Championships.
His raw power off the tee combined with an incredible flair for pulling off extraordinary shots meant that he was like nothing ever seen before in professional golf.
There is no doubt that Woods initiated a seismic shift in the golfing landscape. His approach to the game saw athleticism and fitness become crucial ingredients for success at the very highest level.
His arrival on the PGA TOUR sparked huge interest in the game from the younger generation, and without his impact, professional golf would not be where it is right now.
The story of Tiger Woods’ first ever win on the PGA TOUR
Every great story has to start somewhere, and Woods’ opening chapter was set in the Nevada desert way back in 1996.
Woods won the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational, held at TPC Summerlin, after carding rounds of 70, 63, 68, 67 and 64.
However, his score of 28-under par was only good enough to force a play-off with Davis Love III. The Stanford University graduate went on to beat his more experienced rival in the sudden death play-off, and there was no looking back for him after that.
Incredibly, it took Woods just two months to win his first event after turning professional in August 1996. Talk about making an impact on the biggest stage!
What would have made the win even sweeter for Woods was the fact that Curtis Strange suggested he was ‘arrogant and cocky’ for insisting all he wanted to do was win immediately after turning professional.
Golf fans and those in the media knew instantly that the game had a new star to worship after his win at TPC Summerlin. Woods went on to be victorious at the Masters just six months after his first win on tour, finishing 12 shots clear of the runner-up, Tom Kite.
After his emphatic victory at Augusta National, he tasted victory a further 14 times at major championships, including the 2000 U.S. Open which he won by an incredible 15 shots, and The Open Championship in the same year, as he recorded an eight-shot winning margin at St Andrews.
Tiger Woods’ net worth and how much he earned from his first PGA Tour win
Woods has earned over $120 million through tournament winnings alone since turning pro. But how much did he bank with his first victory 29 years ago?
The now 49-year-old took home a $297,000 cheque after triumphing at the Las Vegas Invitational. Whilst that seems like a relatively small windfall now, it was a big deal for him at the time.
More importantly though, Woods received a two-year PGA TOUR exemption because of that victory in the desert, and that set him up perfectly for his future. He could play without the pressure of having to keep his card for two years.
He is the most famous figure in the game of golf, and indeed worldwide sport as a whole. Woods has amassed a net worth of $1.3 billion, according to Forbes.
And while his first paycheque on tour accounted for less than 0.00023% of his wealth today, his win in Las Vegas in 1996 was the catalyst for everything that followed.
At TPC Summerlin 29 years ago, a star was born in the form of Tiger Woods, and the PGA Tour has subsequently gone from strength to strength ever since.