In The Mail: Project Tiger

Arriving in the (e) mail this week was a copy of Project Tiger by Gavin Newsham.

Subtitled “The Birth of Genius and the Price of Greatness,” the book purports to set itself apart from the usual run of Woods biographies by showing how the upbringing that led him to golf greatness also brought him down in other arenas.

From the publicist

Eldrick “Tiger” Woods was transcendent, ultimately eclipsing superstar athlete status to becoming a global household name. Yet his story remains enigmatic. In “PROJECT TIGER: The Birth of Genius and the Price of Greatness”(Diversion Books, March 17, 2026), veteran golf journalist Gavin Newsham uncovers the answers, providing a portrait of the greatest golfer ever as a young man, a rendering that refines and deepens our understanding of his character and legacy. 

Tiger’s mother Kultida nurtured him, keeping him focused, but no one was more instrumental in sculpting him as a golfer and as a man than his father. With Tiger swinging golf clubs before his first birthday, Earl Woods took the mantle as drill sergeant coach, coldly imposing his “Project Tiger” goals to lead his son to sports stardom. 

Following these intense expectations, Tiger grew up with fear and obsession. Fear that any childhood injury could ruin his life, but obsessive fuel to be the best. Even at age six, Tiger lasted only fifteen minutes at the LA Open watching others play before he begged to leave and find somewhere he could practice. As he got older and impatient, he snuck onto golf courses, including the ultra-exclusive Cypress Point Golf Club, to play a few holes before being thrown off. By the time he made his pro debut at twenty years old, the chaotic crowd and media blitz engulfed him, and it included racism more hostile than any other living athlete has endured. And with Tiger’s rapid ascension also emerged entitlement and arrogance. He learned to ignore people who were no longer valuable to him, such as abruptly sacking his first agent soon after he signed deals worth $60 million. 

Gavin Newsham leaves no stone unturned as he shares these behind-the-scenes stories from Tiger’s coaches, rivals, golf role models, and even girlfriends to chart his spectacular amateur rise and dominant triumph along with the warning signs of scandal and monumental downfall decades later. Only in PROJECT TIGERcan you witness the exhilaration and the consequences that history’s most sensational golf prodigy’s achieving greatness brings.

“Even before his iconic ‘Hello World’ debut, Tiger Woods was a golf prodigy unlike any other. 

Newsham does a brilliant job exploring the formative years of the young phenom, from his televised debut at age two to his unprecedented run of six consecutive USGA amateur titles to turning pro in 1996 and immediately reshaping the sport in his image. 

This book goes deep on all of it: a unique father-son relationship; Tiger’s rare mental fortitude; and once-in-a-lifetime golf dominance. This is a chance to better understand the birth of greatness.” 

—Alan Shipnuck, 13x GWAA award-winning journalist and bestselling golf author of Phil andRory

I’ll have a review as soon as I can.