Over the years, fans have seen Tiger Woods’ hair become thinner and thinner. His balding locks were very apparent when Woods revealed he was dating Vanessa Trump with a splashy Instagram post. The relationship hard-launch post included two snaps of the couple together. In the first slide, Woods had on a white golf shirt as he stood beside Trump, who had on a matching white top. What stood out to many fans — besides being incredulous over who Woods was now dating — was the golfer’s receding hairline, which looked worse than ever. In the second slide, Woods took action and covered his dwindling locks with a Nike baseball cap as he was photographed snuggling his sweetheart.

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Those photos went viral across social media, and people on X, formerly Twitter, roasted Woods’ balding look. “Mad respect for tiger woods having billions of dollars but choosing to just keep vibing with the worst hairline of all time,” one tweeted alongside the pics of Woods and Trump. Several thought Woods should go the rumored LeBron James route and opt for a hair transplant. Of course, Woods’ hair loss did not occur overnight. Just under a year before his sparse hair was on display next to his new girlfriend, a Reddit thread in April 2024 tore into Woods in response to a pic of him lifting his hat off on the golf course. Even then, fans urged him to explore getting hair plugs.

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Hair loss isn’t a subject Woods has avoided in the past. While answering fan questions for the PGA in October 2020, he revealed what he would choose to change about himself. “My hairline,” he responded with a laugh. “I would like to have more hair,” he added. That wasn’t the first time Woods trashed his own hairline in hilarious fashion.

Tiger Woods had been discussing his vanishing hairline for a full decade before the photos with Vanessa Trump had fans buzzing. The subject of the long-time golf pro’s hair loss came up when he spoke to Fox Sports in July 2014. “My hairline is not. I’m fighting for the cause, I’m fighting it hard,” Woods said at the time. “It’s a no-win fight but I’m hanging in there,” he added (via Complex).

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Discussion of Woods’ thinning hair became almost a running theme in his candid interviews. When appearing on “SportsCenter” in March 2017, the five-time Masters champ was urged by Scott Van Pelt to cut his losses and shave his head entirely. “I just want to know, when are we just going to come home, man?” Van Pelt jokingly said, referring to his own clean-shaven bald head. Woods took the playful taunting in stride. “I’ve got my helipad up top, and I’m very happy with that,” he said about his diminishing tufts of hair. Woods said his kids didn’t recognize him in older photos. “Look at daddy with a full head of hair,” he said, quoting them. Even after he was arrested for a DUI a few months later, Woods kept a sense of humor about his balding head. While being interviewed by police, Woods was asked for his hair color. “Mostly brown, and fading,” he joked while in police custody in June 2017.

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The jokes continued when Woods took home his fifth green jacket in April 2019. After winning the Masters for the first time in 14 years, he spoke about the competition. “Everyone was playing well, you couldn’t have had more drama … Now I know why I’m balding,” he said in an interview after his win.