It started with a feeling that something was being overlooked. While most focused on talent and trophies, one coach paid attention to something else—something subtle yet game-changing. What started as quiet observations soon turned into late nights, phone calls, and a question no one in golf had seriously asked before: What if the body was the missing link? Twenty years later, that question has changed the trajectory of pro golf training—and it all started with one athlete who did things differently.

In the late ’90s, golf was still clinging to old-school thinking—swing mechanics ruled, and physical fitness was rarely part of the conversation. But for Dave Phillips, something didn’t add up. As he watched a young Tiger Woods explode onto the scene, he saw more than a powerful drive or clutch putting. He saw intention. Preparation. A new standard, he stated while talking with Mel and Kira, “I feel Tiger really elevated, like actually we’re athletes and you got to treat yourself like an athlete, like nutrition and everything,” Phillips recalled. It wasn’t long before he and fellow coach Greg Rose began digging deeper. Tiger’s early connection to Titleist gave them just enough access to glimpse what was happening behind the curtain. “When he first came out in ’97, Greg and I were like, ‘This kid’s doing something that other people aren’t doing.’ He was a Titleist player when he first came out, so we had some access to what he was doing through Butch and so on.”

With that momentum, Phillips and co-founder Dr. Greg Rose officially formed TPI with the goal of studying how a golfer’s health affects their performance. The timing couldn’t have been better.“What was amazing is we got this crash course because at the time when we first started TPI, they had the Match Play out there,” Phillips said. “It was actually at La Costa, and Wally Uihlein had arranged for 30 of the top 60 players in the world to be at the facility for us to test. So in two days we tested Davis Love, Mark O’Meara, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott when he was a young kid… we immediately got to see whether biomechanics and doing human assessment screens matched.”

However, despite that initial breakthrough with elite players, Phillips and Rose saw a bigger opportunity: to make this knowledge accessible beyond Tour locker rooms. “When that happened, it just exploded. Then every player wanted to do it,” Phillips recalled. What began as a hands-on performance project soon evolved into a full-fledged education platform. The TPI Certified brand was born, offering structured training for coaches, trainers, and medical professionals around the world. Since its inception in 2004, the program has certified over 36,000 experts across 62 countries, delivering education in 10 languages and becoming the gold standard in golf fitness and performance training.

Tiger Woods Quietly Reshaped Golf’s Fitness Culture

In the late 1990s, Tiger Woods didn’t just change how golf was played—he changed how it was trained for. While most pros stuck to swings and short games, Tiger hit the gym. He lifted, sprinted, and treated his body like a weapon. In Golf Digest’s My Game: Tiger Woods – My Fitness, he explained his approach in simple terms: fitness wasn’t optional—it was essential. His discipline quietly triggered a cultural shift. Soon, power, flexibility, and stamina became as important as shot shaping. That influence reached across generations and straight into the minds of his fiercest rivals.

During the debut episode of GOLF Live with Golf.com, Phil Mickelson—one of Tiger’s most consistent challengers- reflected on what it was like competing against golf’s most physically and mentally dominant force. “They were great players and people—but far from being Tiger. On Tiger, there’s just no comparison.”

He had been asked to compare Tiger with the next wave of stars—Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, and Rickie Fowler. Mickelson didn’t hesitate. And he didn’t stop there. Looking back on Tiger’s Peak, he added: “Mentally, short game, or ball striking—I don’t think anybody matches Woods in any of those areas. And Tiger put them all together in one to create a career that is mind-boggling.”

Today, most PGA Tour pros train with intention. They screen their movement, build mobility, and push power thresholds—often through systems like TPI. But that mindset? It started with Tiger. Quietly. Relentlessly. And now, permanently.