Tiger Woods timeline: From the Mike Douglas show at age 2 to turning 50

Oct. 6, 1978 — At age 2, makes an appearance on “The Mike Douglas Show” on daytime television and hits a driver with Bob Hope watching.

July 28, 1991 — Wins the first of three straight U.S. Junior Amateur titles by beating Brad Zwetschke in 19 holes at Bay Hill.

Aug. 28, 1994 — Wins the first of three straight U.S. Amateurs by making a key putt on the 17th hole of the TPC Sawgrass in a 2-up victory over Trip Kuehne.

Nov. 30, 1994 — As a freshman at Stanford, Woods gets mugged in the parking lot behind his dormitory on his way home from dinner. He is robbed of a gold watch and bracelet and struck in the jaw.

Aug. 25, 1996 — Woods rallies from 5 down after the morning session to defeat Steve Scott in 38 holes at Pumpkin Ridge and become the first player in history to win three straight U.S. Amateurs.

Aug. 27, 1996 — Turns pro at the Greater Milwaukee Open by sending a statement to the tournament office that said, “This is to confirm that as of now, I am a professional golfer.”

Oct. 6, 1996 — Wins the first of his 82 titles on the PGA Tour at the Las Vegas Invitational in a playoff over Davis Love III.

April 13, 1997 — Wins the first of his 15 major championships at the Masters. He opens with a 40 on the front nine Thursday and plays 22-under par over the final 63 holes to win by 12 shots and set or tie 27 tournament records.

June 15, 1997 — Reaches No. 1 in the world for the first time just 290 days after turning pro.

June 18, 2000 — Completes the most dominant performance in 140 years of majors by winning the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by 15 shots. He becomes the only player to win the U.S. Junior Amateur, the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Open.

July 23, 2000 — Wins the British Open at St. Andrews to become at age 24 the youngest player with the career Grand Slam.

April 8, 2001 — Wins the Masters to become the only player in history to hold all four major titles at the same time.

May 13, 2005 — Misses the cut at the Byron Nelson Classic, ending his record streak of 142 consecutive PGA Tour events over seven years making the cut.

June 12, 2005 — Returns to No. 1 in the world and starts 281 consecutive weeks at the top, the longest stretch since the Official World Golf Ranking began in 1986.

Dec. 30, 2005 — Turns 30. He has 42 PGA Tour wins and 10 majors.

June 16, 2006 — Misses the cut at the U.S. Open in his first tournament back since his father died. It's his first missed cut in a major as a pro.

Aug. 20, 2006 — Wins the PGA Championship at Medinah to become the the only player in history to win multiple majors in consecutive years.

June 16, 2008 — Wins his third U.S. Open title in a 19-hole playoff against Rocco Mediate at Torrey Pines while competing with torn knee ligaments and two stress fractures in his left leg.

June 24, 2008 — Has reconstructive surgery on his left knee and misses the rest of the year.

Nov. 27, 2009 — Florida Highway Patrol sends a report that Woods has been seriously injured in a car accident. He is treated and released, the first news item that led to revelations he had been in multiple extramarital affairs that ultimately led to his wife divorcing him.

April 10, 2010 — Having not competed for 146 days, Woods returns from the scandal in his personal life and opens with a 68 at the Masters. He finishes tied for fourth.

March 24, 2013 — He wins at Bay Hill and for the 11th and final time returns to No. 1 in the world and stays there for one year and two months.

April 1, 2014 — He has the first of what would be seven surgeries on his lower back, causing him to miss the Masters for the first time since he was a senior in high school.

Dec. 30, 2015 — Turns 40. He has 79 PGA Tour titles and 14 majors.

May 30, 2017 — He is arrested and briefly jailed in Jupiter, Florida, on suspicion of DUI. Police find him asleep behind the wheel of his car in the early morning with the engine running. He attributes it to a bad combination of pain medication.

April 14, 2019 — Wins the Masters for the fifth time, his first major title in nearly 11 years because of injuries.

Oct. 28, 2019 — Wins the Zozo Championship in Japan for his 82nd career PGA Tour title, tying the record held by Sam Snead.

Feb, 23, 2021: Crashes his SUV in Los Angeles going 85 mph in a 45 mph zone and breaks bones in the upper and lower sections of his right leg.

April 12, 2024: Sets a Masters record by making his 24th consecutive 36-hole cut.

March 11, 2025 — Has surgery for a ruptured left Achilles tendon. With back surgery in the fall, it becomes his first year as a pro he did not play a single tournament.

Dec. 30, 2025 — Turns 50. He has 82 PGA Tour titles and 15 majors.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

FILE - In this aerial image take from video provided by KABC-TV, a vehicle rest on its side after a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods along a road in the Rancho Palos Verdes suburb of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. (KABC-TV via AP, File)

FILE - Tiger Woods wears his green jacket holding the winning trophy after the final round for the Masters golf tournament, Sunday, April 14, 2019, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

FILE - Tiger Woods holds onto his knee as he comes out of a bunker on the fourth hole during the third round of the US Open championship at Torrey Pines Golf Course, in San Diego, Tuesday June 14, 2008. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

FILE - Tiger Woods kisses the winner's trophy after capturing the 100th U.S. Open Golf Championship at the Pebble Beach Golf Links, in Pebble Beach, Calif., Sunday, June 18, 2000. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

FILE - Tiger Woods answers questions at a news conference following play in the pro-am at the Greater Milwaukee Open Wednesday, Aug. 28, 1996, at the Brown Deer Golf Course, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Peter Zuzga, File)

From the Lindbergh baby kidnapping trial to O.J. Simpson's double murder case, cameras in the courtrooms have long exposed the inner workings of some of America's most spectacular criminal cases. Now calls to bar cameras from Tyler Robinson 's trial in the killing of Charlie Kirk is reigniting the debate over whether they belong.

Robinson's attorneys on Friday pushed to ban cameras from his Utah courtroom, pointing to sometimes sensationalist media coverage they fear will foster widespread bias against their client as he faces prosecution in last September's shooting death of the conservative activist on a college campus.

Prosecutors want cameras allowed, and suggested they could help dispel conspiracy theories and “distorted narratives” swirling around the case since Kirk was shot in the neck while speaking to a crowd of thousands.

“Transparency serves as a corrective to misinformation,” Utah County prosecutors said in a court filing arguing in favor of cameras. A trial date has not yet been set.

Cameras appeared in courts long before the man charged with kidnapping and killing legendary aviator Charles Lindbergh’s baby went on trial in New Jersey in 1935.

An earlier photo captured a clutch of mobsters at Al Capone ’s trial holding hats in front of their faces so they wouldn't be recognized. In 1932, a German photographer feigned a broken arm to sneak a camera into the U.S. Supreme Court inside a sling and get a rare picture of justices in session.

Then came the “trial of the century” for Bruno Richard Hauptmann in the killing of Lindbergh's son. It ushered in a new era of criminal trial as visual spectacle.

Hundreds of reporters and dozens of photographers chronicled the proceedings. Popping flashbulbs repeatedly startled witnesses and some photographers reportedly climbed on tables to get their pictures.

Hauptmann was convicted of murder and executed. The chaotic trial provoked a backlash and new judicial ethics rules that kept cameras out of courtrooms for decades.

Whether cameras should be allowed has spurred perpetual disagreement between transparency advocates and defense attorneys eager to shield clients from ignominious publicity that could tilt a jury against them.

In 1962, a Texas state judge allowed news organizations to film the trial of infamous con man Billie Sol Estes on swindling charges.

The case had national notoriety after Estes was accused of looting a federal crop subsidy program, triggering a Washington scandal during President John F. Kennedy’s administration. His attorneys argued against cameras, saying they would prejudice potential jurors. The judge rejected the request and pledged he would not let the media transform his courtroom into a circus.

Court documents later described the scene in the courtroom as “a mass of wires, television cameras, microphones and photographers.” Hearings in the case were broadcast live by radio and television.

Following Estes' conviction, the Supreme Court took up his appeal and said the intense publicity deprived him of his constitutional right to a fair trial. Justices overturned the state court conviction in an opinion that derided “the evil of televised trials.”

“To permit this powerful medium to use the trial process itself to influence the opinions of vast numbers of people, before a verdict of guilt or innocence has been rendered, would be entirely foreign to our system of justice,” justices said.

The ruling was in line with a long-standing prohibition on cameras in federal courts.

Less than a decade later the Supreme Court decided differently in a case involving two Florida police officers who burglarized a restaurant.

Justices said in an 8-0 ruling that states could allow cameras at criminal trials and there was no “empirical data” to show the presence of broadcast media in the courtroom inherently has a negative effect.

In the years following, cameras gradually came into common use in state and local courtrooms across the nation. High-profile cases that were broadcast included murder trials for serial killers Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, the excessive force prosecutions of the Los Angeles Police officers who beat Rodney King, and the murder trial of Jodi Arias in the killing of her ex-boyfriend.

Still, restrictions remain and judges typically retain broad discretion over which parts of a case can be broadcast and who can be filmed or photographed.

Donald Trump's trial and 2024 conviction in a hush money case was closed to cameras while court was in session under a New York state law that sharply restricts video coverage. Media organizations used sketch artists to capture the scene.

Arguably the most watched televised trial remains the 1995 prosecution of former football player O.J. Simpson in the death of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. It, too, became known as the “trial of the century” and is listed by Guinness World Records as the “most viewed trial” with a daily average viewership of 5.5 million people.

As the case dragged on for months, viewers were inundated with courtroom testimony and analysts opinions. Simpson was acquitted.

The focus on every aspect of the case raised concerns about potential bias to jurors, and also that the lawyers and even the judge were acting differently knowing they were being watched across the nation.

“People were talking about how the judge and the attorneys were playing to the cameras as much as they were playing to the jury,” said Cornell Law School professor Valerie Hans.

FILE - This artist depiction shows defense attorney Todd Blanche pointing at former President Donald Trump while giving his opening statement to the jury in Manhattan criminal court Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, File)

FILE - This 1979 file photo shows Ted Bundy, convicted murderer, in a Miami courtroom. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this June 15, 1995 file photo, O.J. Simpson, left, grimaces as he tries on one of the leather gloves prosecutors say he wore the night his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were murdered in a Los Angeles courtroom. (AP Photo/Sam Mircovich, Pool, file)

FILE - Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)