The Year of the Tiger: The Major Run That Made Tiger Woods

Miller, a golf reporter for The Athletic, debuts with a just-detailed-enough account of the so-called Tiger Slam, when Woods won all four of golf’s major tournaments in a 10-month period between 2000 and 2001. Miller focuses on Woods’s mindset during this run to explore “the decisions and factors that can take a figure from the next big thing to the only thing.” Along the way, he links significant aspects of Woods’s personality and career to formative influences from his childhood. For example, he posits that Woods’s ultra-competitive mentality derived from his mother, who believed it was necessary to “put your foot on [the] throats of opponents.” Elsewhere, Miller connects Woods’s desire for perfection to his belief, even as a teen, that “he could win more majors than anyone in history.” In the late 1990s, Woods was already considered a golf phenomenon, but, instead of resting on his laurels, he changed his golf swing, ignoring the incremental approach his coach suggested and insisting instead on “fixing everything right away.” Ultimately, Miller suggests, Woods’s greatness comes down to his “ability to redefine himself and rise again.” The author’s play-by-plays of the four tournaments are fascinating, and make for a solid snapshot of a game-changing era. Golf fans, take note. Agent: Mark Tavani, David Black Literary. (June)