Drive
The Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods
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3.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Bob Harig's latest deep-dive into Tiger Woods' thrilling career, as seen through his iconic 2019 Masters comeback and win.
In April of 1997, the world of golf was forever changed. At the age of 21, a young Tiger Woods won the most prestigious golf tournament in the world, the Masters, by a record of 12 strokes. Woods became the youngest golfer ever to win the Masters and the first African or Asian-American player to win a major. History had been made - and would continue to be made over the next 15 years.
Woods transformed the game, turning golf geeks into keen observers, casual golf fans into ardent followers and even indifferent sports fans into curiosity mavens. He will undoubtedly be known for the raw numbers: 82 PGA Tour titles, 15 major championships, and according to Forbes, a billionaire who amassed more than $110-million in official PGA Tour earnings. Woods has proven to be a complicated figure through his decades in the spotlight. Plagued by marital scandal, a DUI arrest, and severe back injuries that resulted in what even he believed would be a career-ending spinal fusion surgery in 2017, Woods’ career finally seemed to be coming to an end. That all changed through 2018 and into 2019 as Woods returned slowly from the surgery. In 2019, on the same course where he won for the first time in 1997, Tiger Woods made history once again, winning the Masters one final time. The 2019 Masters brought together all the qualities that ultimately make up someone who has been an enduring figure for 30 years.
In this captivating and emotional portrait of one of the most famous figures in sports, Bob Harig brings readers the true story of the grit and perseverance of Tiger Woods in the final years of his career. Drive will show that Woods’ true legacy is one of resolve and redemption.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sports Illustrated journalist Harig (Tiger & Phil) tees up an adulatory account of Tiger Woods's late-2010s comeback. Starting in 2013, Woods suffered from debilitating back pain that left him barely able to walk by the time he withdrew from a 2017 European Tour event "after just three full rounds." In private, Woods signaled his pro career might be over, but following a successful spinal fusion, he was back on the green and contending in major competitions by 2018. Harig lauds Woods's resolve to return to professional golf, noting that despite some clunky playing during his early return appearances (he slammed his arm on a pine tree while following through on a swing at the 2018 Valspar Championship), Woods persisted and in 2019 clinched a surprise fifth Masters Tournament victory. Harig's determination to shape his narrative as an uplifting comeback story leads him to treat less positive developments with kid gloves. He frames Woods's 2017 arrest for driving under the influence and his near-fatal car crash in 2021 (a police report indicated he was driving at almost double the 45 mph speed limit) as setbacks for him to overcome rather than indications of irresponsible tendencies. Additionally, Harig provides few new insights into Woods's life and psychology, relying largely on public appearances to trace the athlete's trajectory since 2017. Readers will wish for a more balanced take.
Customer Reviews
Drive
Terrible book. It has no real point to it. We learn nothing new, it is poorly written and very poorly edited. It is very repetitive, making the same points over and over. If you are a Tiger fan looking for new insights, stories and interesting tidbits, you won’t find any of that here.