26 examples of Tiger Woods' extraordinary competitiveness

February 25, 2021

26 examples of Tiger Woods' extraordinary competitiveness

tiger woods 2018 — Tiger Woods.
Andrew Redington/Getty

Tiger Woods' future on the golf course looks to be in jeopardy following a horrific car accident.
One former pro golfer who is now an orthopedic surgeon is optimistic Woods can compete again.
Based on his competitiveness, if anybody can do it, it would be Tiger, and we collected 26 examples.
Read all of Business Insider's Masters coverage here.
Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

Tiger Woods is one of the most fiercely competitive golfers in the world.

However, after his recent car accident, many are wondering if he will ever be able to play golf again. One form pro golfer who is now an orthopedic surgeon is optimistic that Woods can compete again, although he does have a long recovery ahead of him.

What we do know is that if anybody can overcome his injuries to return to the PGA Tour, it is Tiger Woods as nobody is more competitive. Relive some of the greatest examples of Woods' competitiveness below:

When Woods was 14 he said he could be the Michael Jordan of golf.

Source: Golf.com

He has practiced before and after competitive rounds: He was spotted playing in the dark at the 2011 PGA Championship.

Source: Nike Golf

He used to have a crazy, non-stop daily routine.

tiger woods running — Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Woods recently revealed what his daily routine was when he was younger:

"I used to get up in the morning, run four miles. Then I'd go to the gym, do my lift. Then I'd hit balls for two to three hours, I'd go play, come back, work on my short game, I'd go run another four more miles, and then if anyone wanted to play basketball or tennis, I would go play basketball or tennis. That was a daily routine. I'm not doing any of that now."

According to his former trainer, Hank Haney, Tiger's marathon training days would last for 13 hours.

He's so obsessed with working out - he even does it in the middle of the night.

Tiger Woods Rory McIlroy — Jamie Squire/Getty

Rory McIlroy said he used to receive texts from Tiger at 4 am saying he couldn't sleep, so he would go lift.

His former coach claims that he injured himself doing insane, Olympic-style weightlifting exercises to get stronger.

tiger woods british open 2012 — Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Source: ESPN

He played with a broken leg and torn ACL at the 2008 US Open and won.

tiger woods knee injury — Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

Source: ESPN

Prior to the 2019 PGA Championship, Tiger was asked about John Daly getting permission to use a cart. Tiger grinned and referred back to that U.S. Open win, saying, "as far as J.D. taking a cart, well, I walked with a broken leg."

Woods was not known be very friendly on the golf course during his prime, making plenty of rivals throughout his career.

He once fired an iconic death stare at his ex-caddie Steve Williams after their messy breakup.

tiger woods death stare steve williams — AP

Phil Mickelson has been one of Tiger's top rivals, though it appears the two are now friendlier than ever.

tiger woods phil mickelson — Jamie Squire/Getty

When Woods and Mickelson played a practice round together before the 2018 Masters, it was so surreal that McIlroy actually told Tiger, "I never thought I'd see the day: Tiger and Phil playing a practice round at Augusta."

Of course, he still had to have some fun afterward, saying Mickelson's button-down golf shirt was missing a tie.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson — Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Though he has rivalries, he also sends tough love toward other golfers. He once gave McIlroy some odd motivation before a tournament.

From McIlroy:

"He told me to get my finger out of my a** and win this week."

Source: Jason Sobel/ESPN

Tiger hates losing - in all sports.

tiger woods caddie — Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP

Tiger's caddie Joe LaCava said he once beat Tiger nine times in a row at HORSE, and Tiger wouldn't talk to him the rest of the day.

Source: Golf.com

He refuses to give an edge in any competition, even ping pong.

Jack Nicklaus recently told a story about watching Tiger and Mickelson play ping pong. When Mickelson won a round after switching sides, Tiger refused to keep playing.

"Phil says, 'Hey Tiger, how about a game of ping pong?' 'Sure, let's play.' So Tiger plays, and Tiger wins the first game. They play another one, Tiger wins the second game.

"Phil says 'I've got this buffet behind me… let's switch ends.' They switch ends, Phil wins.

"Phil says 'OK, come on Tiger, let's play one more.'

"Tiger says 'Phil, two to one.' And he never played him again the rest of the week."

Source: For the Win

He doesn't take it easy on anyone, including his ex-girlfriend Lindsey Vonn. She said he won every time they played ping pong or tennis.

tiger woods lindsey vonn muirfield — Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Source: USA Today

He felt guilty about using an air tank while spearfishing, so he learned to free dive without one.

Source: OC Register

He loves a good challenge.

Pro golfer Maverick McNealy told a story about Tiger accepting a challenge to hit a building in a canyon with a golf ball. He did it in two tries, then did it again.

"Tiger hits one. And he's like, 'Oh, it's about 10 yards right.' My dad said, 'Yeah, 50 yards short of anything.' And he had a little house, a little roof, way down there [in the canyon]. And Tiger was like, 'Give me another ball.' So he gets another ball, tees it up, hits it and says, 'That's right on it.'

"And it's a dead quiet, dead still evening. And the ball's going, going, going. Then I hear, bam! Right off the roof. And so we all run inside, giggling and laughing. The roof had to have been 400 yards out there and 50 feet, maybe more, dropped down into a canyon valley. And Tiger says, 'Oh, I'm going to do that again.' So he gets out, puts another ball down, rips it. And bam! Rips it off the roof again. We said, 'OK, we're done. We're done.'"

Source: Golf.com

He changed his swing in 2002 after winning eight majors because it wasn't perfect enough.

tiger woods abu dhabi — Scott Halleran/Getty Images

Source: Time

He has since changed his swing several times, leading to some criticism from those in the golf world.

He loved the military, so he reportedly tried to join the Navy SEALs.

In his book, "The Big Miss," ex-coach Hank Haney claimed that Tiger was obsessed with the military.

Not only did he go on six excursions at Navy SEAL "kill houses," he seriously considering trying to join the SEALs before his agent talked him out of it.

In 2000 he took a gamble and switched to a solid-core ball that no one else was using. Two years later, the entire tour was using it.

tiger woods young 2000 ball — Matt York/AP

In the 12 months after he changed balls, he won nine tournaments and all four majors.

He doesn't joke around on the course.

From Robert Lusetich at Fox Sports:

Once, at the Masters, when Mickelson watched his rival [Tiger] hit a three-wood past his driver, he asked Woods if he always hit fairway woods so far.

"No," said Woods, pulling his tee from the ground before marching down the fairway, "Sometimes further."

Source: Fox Sports

His numerous comebacks from injuries prove how hard-working he is.

Upon returning to golf in 2015 after an injury, Woods said:

"Competing is still the same. I'm trying to beat everybody out there. That hasn't changed. I prepare to win and expect to go and do that... The only difference is that I won the Masters when Jordan [Spieth] was still in diapers."

At the 2019 Masters, where Tiger won his 15th major and proved he was finally back, reportedly cursed himself out in a bathroom in private after 2 straight bogeys. He then rebounded to win the green jacket.