Obituary (Uni Task)

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods, who has died aged 43, who was one of the world's most celebrated athletes and is widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time, died in his home yesterday in Jupiter Island, Florida, United States.

The cause of his death was unfortunately the same of his late farther's Earl Woods, a heart attack.

In announcing his Tiger's death, his children, Sam Alexis Woods and Charlie Axel Woods, said on their farther's Web site, tigerwoods.com: "Our dad was our best friend and greatest role model. He was an amazing dad, mentor, and friend."

Tiger Woods had accumulated scores of records and mind-boggling accomplishments during the course a career that stretched 25 years back to his amateur days. One could certainly make a strong argument for Woods’ being considered the greatest golfer of all time even if he were to never win another major championship. While Woods’ quest to break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championship titles has been the one record at the forefront of most golf fans' minds, we often overlook many other incredible accomplishments Woods had achieved throughout his career.

Between 2006 and 2007, Woods won seven consecutive PGA Tour events, which is second only to Byron Nelson’s streak of 11 wins in a row back in 1945. In an era where a two-win season is considered a big deal, Woods’ ability to pick off one win after another over the course of several months is a testament to just how dominant he was compared to his competition during his prime.

Eighteen of Wood’s 79 professional wins have come at World Golf Championship events. Add those 18 WGC wins to Woods’ 14 major championship titles, and just over 40 percent of Woods’ wins have come against the top golfers in the world. While Woods’ major championship titles have been well-documented, his complete and utter domination of the WGC events is one of his most underrated career achievements.

Not only was Woods the first player to ever win three U.S. junior amateur titles, but he won his three titles in consecutive years. And if that were not enough, he then went on to win three consecutive U.S. amateur titles, bringing his total to six consecutive USGA titles. That is six years without losing a single match in the generally volatile USGA match-play format against the top amateur golfers in the nation. Since 1895, only 18 players have won more than one U.S. amateur title, and only four players have won more than two. No one other than Woods, including the great Bobby Jones, has ever won three consecutive U.S. amateur titles. Amateur golf had never seen anything like this before Woods, has never seen anything like this since and is unlikely to ever see a form of domination that even remotely resembles what Woods was able to accomplish at national USGA amateur championships between 1991 and 1996.

Woods was born in 1975 in Cypress, California, to Earl and Kultida "Tida" Woods. He was nicknamed Tiger in honour of his father's friend Col. Vuong Dang Phong, who had also been known as Tiger.

Outside of his professional career he also had plenty of other ventures. The TGR Foundation was established in 1996 by Woods and his father Earl as the Tiger Woods Foundation, with the primary goal of promoting golf among inner-city children. In November 2006, Woods announced his intention to begin designing golf courses around the world through a new company, Tiger Woods Design.

He is survived by his children, Sam and Charlie, from his 2003 marriage to Elin Nordegren, who he divorced in 2010.