This week marks the 10th anniversary of Tiger Woods' debut as a professional in Major golf championships. When Woods first turned up at Augusta, with the ink still fresh on his $50 million contract with Nike and a couple of tour victories under his belt, the whole golfing community was waiting with anticipation to see how he would perform on the biggest stage. And boy, did he deliver.

As reigning US Amateur champion at the time, he was traditionally paired with the defending champion, Nick Faldo, and as evidence that even the best get nervous, Tiger played the first nine holes in 40, four over par. Welcome to the big league!

Golf can be a funny sport, in the sense that one shot can turn everything around -- and Tiger, from a horrendous position over the back of the 12th green, proceeded to chip in for birdie. He then went on the charge and came home in 30, shooting a respectable two-under-par 70. The rest, as they say, is history. He shot rounds 66, 65 and 69 to set an all-time Masters scoring record of 270 -- 18 under par, lapping the field in the process and winning by 12 strokes.

'Tiger is 31 years old, the age when a golfer is supposed to be reaching his peak years. It now seems a matter of when, rather than if, the records fall'

Ten years on and Woods has transcended his sport to become one of the most famous and recognisable people in the world. He has 12 Major victories to his name, chasing Jack Nicklaus's record of 18. Tiger also has 56 wins on the US Tour, with Sam Snead's record of 82 the target. Tiger is 31 years old, the age when a golfer is supposed to be reaching his peak years. It now seems a matter of when, rather than if, the records fall.
Some of his greatest moments have come at Augusta. His win there in 2001 was his fourth straight Major victory, making him the first man to hold all four professional Majors at the same time. When he won again in 2002, he became only the third man after Nicklaus and Faldo to successfully defend the Masters title.

His win in 2005 holds special memories for two reasons. Firstly, we witnessed one of the greatest shots in the history of the game. Tiger and Chris Dimarco were going head-to-head down the stretch, and Tiger had a two-shot lead at the 16th in the final round, but he left himself a devilishly difficult chip shot, on the notoriously undulating green. It was one of those moments I will never forget. He picked a landing area and struck the ball. It rolled to the apex of the slope, before turning 90 degrees and running down the slope, pausing on the lip and dropping in on its last turn for the birdie two. Tiger went on to win.

That victory also marked the first win in a Major after he changed his swing for the second time (with much criticism from the press), under the guidance of Hank Haney. That gave him the confidence that the new swing was up to the job, and he went on to win back-to-back Opens and the 2006 US PGA.