Badass or Jackass? The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Tiger Woods

You'd have to flip through a script of The Young and the Restless to find a more dramatic character arch than Eldrick Tont Woods. After it was discovered that he'd been with more reality show castoffs than Brett Michaels, Tiger went from the greatest golfer ever to a bruised punchline. Battling through years of below average play and pornstar tell-alls, Woods is once again at the top of his game.

The 2013 Masters Tournament begins today and all eyes will be on Tiger. Many believe that he's put his disgraced past behind him, but Complex Sports isn't going to let him get away that easy. Once again, it's time to ask: Badass or Jackass? The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Tiger Woods.

Date: 10/6/1978

What were you doing at two years old? Crapping yourself and throwing temper tantrums on crowded airplanes? Exactly. Well, Tiger Woods was outputting a fully-grown Bob Hope and stroking drives on national TV. Badasses typically take years to develop, but Tiger Woods has been a king since he was in diapers.

Date: 4/10-4/13/1997

Tiger's first Masters title was arguably his best. In a game dominated by old, country club-looking white guys, a 21-year-old Woods dominated the field. Going into the final round, Woods held a nine-shot lead. Instead of folding to the pressure like every other college-aged kid would, Tiger set a course record by shooting 18 under par and beat his runner-up by a dozen strokes. With one incredible weekend at Augusta, Woods shattered the sport's color barrier and cemented himself as the face of golf for decades to come.

Date: Late '90s

No Tiger wasn't poppin' bottles of Cristal with your favorite rappers in the late '90s but whether he liked it or not, the biggest rappers at the time were taking notice. From Jay-Z's foretelling, "I sink this bone in your hole, I'm Tiger Woods" line on "Who You Wit II" to Puffy's PGA Tour skit in the "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems" video, Tiger's influence on the world of hip-hop was pretty evident. Tiger Woods y'all, Tiger Woods y'all, it's all good y'all.

Date: 9/12-9/15/1999

Tiger used the final PGA Championship of the century to make a statement. Sergio Garcia was a 19-year-old on the come-up and entered the final round with a ton of momentum and trailing by only two strokes. But Tiger squashed any chance of a new, young prince claiming the throne and held off a surging Garcia by one stroke. Golf writers thought they were witnessing a rivalry in the making, instead Tiger created more distance from himself and the rest of the field.

Date: 7/20-7/23/2000

We'd say it's pretty badass to win a Grand Slam before the age of 25 (only one man's ever done it after all). In 2000, Woods captured the final quarter of the Slam to become only the fifth golfer in history to accomplish the elusive feat. So how did he do it? True to his Tiger nickname, he mauled the competition. Woods bested second by 8 strokes and hit 19 under par, the lowest score in any major tournament.

Date: 4/5-4/8/2001

In 2001 Tiger won his second green jacket the way he did everything (at least back then), in style. Tiger took the final two rounds of the weekend to best his then-rival, David Duval, by two strokes. With the win, Tiger became the reigning champ for all four Majors, which became affectionately known as "The Tiger Slam." Again, getting feats named after you...pretty badass.

Date: 4/10/2005

On the final day of the 2005 Masters, Eldrick made arguably the most famous shot in the history of golf. On the 16th hole, he made an impossible chip-in that fast became the legendary golfer's iconic moment. But the drama wasn't over. Tiger won the tournament by birdieing the 18th hole in a sudden death playoff to beat the always-a-bridesmaid Chris DiMarco. This win contributed to Woods taking the No. 1 spot over Vijay Singh who had the audacity to challenge Woods as the supreme ruler of the golf world.

Date: 7/20-7/23/2006

Only a few months after Tiger's father Earl passed, Tiger again beat out golf's version of the '90s-era Buffalo Bills, Chris DiMarco. Of course when Tiger shoots 18 under par on the Royal Liverpool course, there's no shame in losing. After the victory, Tiger dropped his often android-like course demeanor and cried in caddy Stevie Williams' arms. Sometimes shedding a tear is the most badass thing you can do, especially if you're pouring it out for pops. Right, MJ?

Date: 7/20-7/23/2000

In a season plagued by a nagging knee injury, Tiger drew the short stick and got paired with Adam Scott and Phil Mickelson during the '08 U.S. Open. Torrey Pines is hard enough when you're paired with a couple executive types from the country club, it's a lot tougher when you're golfing with the second and third best golfers in the world. For once, the smart bet in a major was on the field.

Rather miraculously, Tiger made a late charge over the weekend rounds to force a playoff with Rocco Mediate. The two were deadlocked after an 18-hole playoff, which meant Rocco was in the unenviable position of facing El Tigre in sudden death. On the first hole, Tiger shot for par and Rocco shot one over. Tiger won his 14th major championship.

Woods called it his best major win ever. Mediate said "This guy does things that are just not normal by any stretch of the imagination." Two days later, Tiger announced he would be undergoing knee surgery. After this win, Tiger's life changed dramatically.

Date: 11/27/2009

Turns out Tiger was sleeping with every scandalous chick on the planet, which didn't sit well with his super model wife Elin (some people are just really uptight). Initial media reports said that an enraged Elin whacked him in the melon with a golf club, an ironic twist that would earn a solid "B+" in 8th grade creative writing.

On one hand, it's hard to blame Tiger for what he did. In what other universe could a cornball like Tiger find himself bumping golf carts with so many beautiful women? Like many dumb males before him, he made some bad decisions and destroyed his family. But some of these affairs were going on in 2004, as in the same year he said his vows. That begs the question: Why the hell get married at all!? Also, when you're texting pornstars about "golden showers," you've officially lost. A Stanford graduate should understand the risk involved with putting ones urination fantasies in writing.

Date: January 2010

What happened to the toothy trademark grin we all knew? When this Vanity Fair cover (which was shot back in 2006) leaked in early 2010 everyone was a little taken aback. Sure, the fact that he was a philanderer had became public knowledge months earlier but that was Tiger's life behind closed doors. We had rarely ever seen Tiger in anything but khakis and a polo much less shirtless, rocking a skully, and mean mugging for the camera.

Tiger—nor any athlete—should be pigeonholed to a certain look or stereotype but Mr. Woods looking like he should an extra in Oz was just a bit creepy.

Date: 2/19/2010

When athletes get into hot water, they turn their communications over to so-called public relations professionals. The result is typically an uncomfortable, insincere apology directed at millions of people whose lives were totally unaffected. When Tiger stared awkwardly into the camera and apologized for sexting pornstars in front of his family, he looked like an absolute douche.

After revealing that he'd been in treatment for sex therapy, he hugged his mom and cried like he just found out he has brain cancer. Get a grip, Tiger. Are you kidding? Dude, you just slept your way through half of VH1's Rock of Love cast, it's not that serious.

Bottom line, no one excpet for Elin needed an apology from Tiger Woods. If athletes would just use some common sense and balls, they wouldn't need to pay high price PR teams to make them look like jackasses.

Date: 4/6/2012

During the 2012 Masters, Tiger Woods spent the Friday round throwing clubs, screaming obscenities, and just generally acting like a complete brat. We see this just about every night in the NBA and NFL, but when you're wearing pleated khakis, you look like an especially big jackass.

Date: 3/18/2013

When we look at this cornball picture, we wonder how this dude was able to land so many beautiful women. Then we remember that he's worth $500M and everything snaps into focus. Anyway, the only thing lamer than this Wal-Mart Photo Studio picture is the fact that Tiger Woods announced his high profile relationship to gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn on Facebook. Tiger's marriage failed because of superficial fuckery, so making things "Facebook official" with the new squeeze only echoes that immaturity.

Date: 3/29/2013

After wandering in golf purgatory for two-and-a-half years, Tiger returns to the Masters this week with a No. 1 ranking after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational a couple weeks ago. By claiming the throne, Tiger tells the rest of the golf world that he's lived the most, he's won the most, and none of these cats are fit to carry his spare tees. When it comes to swinging a club (in every sense of the phrase), Woods is like the prom king, rich kid, and high school valedictorian combined. And, quite frankly, the rest of the field at Augusta should be grateful. There are those that fear him and many that are jealous, but most of them would be irrelevant without Tiger in that No. 1 spot.

Tiger Woods has devoted his life to sinking puts and driving golf balls. The dude's had a perfect stroke since he was a toddler. When you devote that much time to knocking a ball around a country club, you're going to have a hard time chipping your way out of some of life's sand traps.

We shouldn't be surprised that Tiger's imperfect. His dad throttled him since birth, he was a national celebrity before the legal drinking age, and he's been receiving enormous endorsement checks since he was in his 20s. When you combine that kind of entitlement with fame and competition, it's amazing that all he did was cheat on his wife. We should remember that. He didn't commit a crime. He did what three-quarters of the goons reading this story would have done, if put in the same position.

We shouldn't expect Tiger Woods to be a perfect person. He's a transcendent athlete that's paid to entertain and perform. And when it comes to raising golf's profile, the sport has never seen a bigger badass.