Tiger ya girma a Orange County, California. Ya kasance wani yaro prodigy wanda aka gabatar da golf kafin shekaru biyu da haihuwa da ya athletic mahaifinsa, Earl Woods. Earl wani guda-digit handicap mai son golfer wanda shi ma daya daga cikin farko Afirka-American kwalejin baseball 'yan wasa a Kansas State University. Tiger mahaifinsa ya kasance memba na soja da kuma ya yi wasa gata a Navy golf Course kusa da hadin gwiwa Sojoji Training Base a Los Alamitos, wanda ya yarda Tiger yi wasa a can. Tiger kuma taka leda a par 3 Heartwell golf Course a Long Beach, kazalika da wasu daga cikin municipalities a Long Beach. A 1978, Tiger sa da comedian Bob Hope a cikin wani talabijin bayyanar a kan The Mike Show. A uku 48 ya harbe a kan tara ramuka a Navy Course. A biyar ya bayyana a ABC ta Digest birded wasan golf.
shekaru takwas