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

The inside story of young Tiger Woods' training for greatness, developing the unique traits that would not only help him achieve the pinnacle of success but also ingrain the personal flaws that brought him crashing down.

Eldrick "Tiger" Woods was transcendent, ultimately eclipsing superstar athlete status to becoming a global household name. Yet his story remains enigmatic. In Project Tiger, 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 Tiger can you witness the exhilaration and the consequences that history's most sensational golf prodigy's achieving greatness brings.

Author: Gavin Newsham
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 03/17/2026
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 9.06h x 6.38w x 1.34d
ISBN: 9798895150948


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 12/01/2025

About the Author
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.