For anyone paying attention at the time it would have been obvious that, long before he became a household name, Tiger Woods was a player with the potential to break the mold.
After all, this was a player who first picked up a club before the age of two and soon after was showcasing his golf skills on national TV.
He then won the Junior World Championships six times before embarking on a run of three successive US Junior Amateur titles between 1991 and 1993.
Therefore, by the time Woods enrolled at Stanford in 1994, many were well aware of his extraordinary talent and, unsurprisingly, he continued his remarkable progress while at the renowned Californian university.
Woods only spent two years at Stanford before the inevitable lure of the professional game saw him signing an endorsement career with Nike in 1996 and leaving his amateur career behind for good, but during that time, he compiled an incredible college golf record.
While at Stanford, Woods was named a first-team All-American in 1995 and 1996. He was also the individual Pac-10 Conference champion (now the Pac-12 Conference) in 1996, and the Pac-10 player of the year in both years while at the university.
He also won 11 tournaments while at Stanford, a feat for the university that was only surpassed by Rose Zhang in 2023, shortly before she turned professional.
That total included an incredible eight wins in just 13 starts in 1996. Among those victories was his title in the 1996 men’s NCAA Division I Championship – the first time a player from Stanford had won it since Frank Tatum in 1942.
The achievement also saw him named national player of the year, while Woods also won the Haskins Award and Ben Hogan Award in 1996.
Overall, Woods played in 26 tournaments across his two years at Stanford, with an average overall score of 70.96 - the third-best in the program's history. A total of 27 of his 76 rounds were in the 60s, with a low round of 61. He also made par or better 52 times.
Tiger Woods College Wins
- 1994: William Tucker Invitational
- 1994: Jerry Pate Invitational
- 1995: Stanford Invitational
- 1996: John Burns Invitational
- 1996: Southwestern Intercollegiate
- 1996: Tri-Match
- 1996: The Brawl
- 1996: Cougar Classic
- 1996: PAC-10 Championship
- 1996: NCAA West Regional
- 1996: NCAA Championship
