Don’t Hate The Game, Hate The Player: The Most Hated Athletes Of All Time
Tiger Woods
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Much like our previous athlete, Tiger Woods dominated his sport. He was the top-ranked golfer in the world from August 1999 to September 2004 and again from June 2005 to October 2010, breaking the record of most weeks ranked number one. He’s also won the PGA Player of the Year award eleven times.
His greatness didn’t come without contempt. He was represented as a young African-American man (also American Indian, Asian and Caucasian) dominating a sport typically populated by Caucasian men. But once the public found out that Woods had been cheating on his wife with multiple women, even his most loyal fans disappeared, along with his sponsors. His talent even appeared to leave his side as his performance and career began to decline.