Tiger Woods plays sports professionally.
Eldrick Tont `` Tiger '' Woods ( born December 30 , 1975 ) is an American professional golfer who is among the most successful golfers of all time . He first reached the number one position in the world rankings in June 1997 , after less than a year as a professional . From December 2009 to early April 2010 , Woods took leave from professional golf to focus on his personal life after he admitted infidelity . In May 2016 , Woods dropped out of the world top 500 for the first time in his professional career .