Project Tiger: The Birth of Genius and the Price of Greatness - Hardcover

by Gavin Newsham (Author)

Discover Tiger Woods's childhood path to dominance and the origins of his downfall.

There are two Tiger Woods: the man who won fifteen majors and broke numerous golf records, and the billionaire whose personal flaws destroyed his reputation. But there is another story to tell: "Project Tiger," the plan his father orchestrated to make his son the greatest golfer ever and a world-changing savior. The demands were extraordinary. The impact, permanent.

In Project Tiger, veteran golf journalist Gavin Newsham mines his extensive interviews with Tiger's coaches, classmates, girlfriends, and competitors for stories that refine our perception of Tiger's enigmatic character and legacy.

Young Tiger succeeded despite many conflicts, especially weekly vitriolic, racist hate mail in greater quantities than any other athlete alive today. Although Tiger had the talent to swing golf clubs before his first birthday, it was his father's drill-sergeant coaching that motivated him, driving him with fear and into obsession. Tiger emotionally detached as he rapidly ascended, a volatile perseverance that erupted in entitlement, arrogance, and selfishness.

In Project Tiger, readers witness golf's most sensational prodigy develop the unique traits that led him to the pinnacle of success, and also doomed him, and understand how his trajectory brings him full circle, training his son, Charlie Woods, with a different, loving approach to the game.

Author Biography

Gavin Newsham has written about golf for more than two decades. He is the founder of Golf Punk magazine, has served as a contributing editor at Golf Monthly, and is the author of multiple books. His biography of golfer John Daly, Letting the Big Dog Eat, was longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year and earned him the National Sporting Club Book Award for Best New Writer. Newsham's writing on golf has appeared in Golf Digest, New York Post, Guardian, GQ, The Sunday Times, and Golf World, among numerous other publications.