An unauthorized history of Tiger Woods' jeans

The 16th annual Tiger Jam will be in Las Vegas next month and what's the best part? There's a good chance we'll get to see Tiger Woods wearing jeans. OK, so maybe that's not the best part. You see, Woods has a shaky history with denim. Let's take a trip through time and further explore this recurring trouble spot.

We'll start in 1994 with Woods in high school:

Not a good start, but again, he's still in high school and not a mega-millionaire superstar yet. But here he is throwing out the first pitch before a Texas Rangers game a month after he won the 1997 Masters:

Throwing form aside (why is he clenching his left fist?), these are classic "mom jeans." They also look like the same ones he was wearing three years ago. Note: This will be a recurring theme. As quick as Woods has been to change his swing, he's resisted change when it comes to style (Can you say red shirt and black pants on Sunday?). Then again, what should we expect from someone who looked to Michael Jordan for guidance when he turned pro?

Good lord, those are hideous. . . But back to Tiger. We jump ahead more than a decade to find him at an Indianapolis Colts game in September 2009:

Ahhh, much better, Tiger! Those look like they fit well and that they cost more than $10. But alas, Woods' denim makeover was short-lived. Here he is at a Stanford football game shortly thereafter:

Make that two Stanford football games, one in November 2009 (left: actually, those jeans aren't bad) and one in November 2011 (right: those jeans are bad). Again, very predictable. Again, those jeans on the right look familiar. Again, mom jeans.

The year after, Woods was back watching his beloved Cardinal and not wearing his beloved faded blues. Not that this look was that much better. . . off-course white belt alert!

At least, he has the stern sideline look down, but those jeans are almost Jordan-esque in their bagginess. C'mon, Tiger, pull yourself together! You can do better than this! Which leads us to the Tiger Jams of 2011 and 2012, a pivotal period in Woods' style history.

Oddly, Woods' jeans looked great during this time, but everything else? Well. . .

Again, nice effort with the jeans, but those sneakers. . . and that SHIRT! If you stare at it long enough, does a 3-D image appear?

Still, some encouraging momentum seemed to be building in Woods' denim selection. Surely, he'd put it all together when he showed up at a Denver Broncos game this past NFL season:

Nope.

So there you have it. After two decades, Woods is right back where he started when it comes to his jean selection. In fact, after concluding our in-depth investigation into the matter, we think it's possible he's been rocking the same pair off and on this entire time. Tiger, get better soon, and while you're at it, maybe get to a store.

UPDATE: Woods' denim woes have continued. Here he is surveying Bluejack National, a private course he's designing. Note the accompanying white belt again: