In his new book, “Project Tiger: The Birth of Genius and the Price of Greatness,” Gavin Newsham zeroes in on the golf legend’s early years to understand both his athletic accomplishments and personal turmoil. “Tiger’s complex and painful trade-offs in the pursuit of greatness helped him rise to unparalleled achievement,” he writes, but “his success somehow dehumanized and, ultimately, immiserated him,” Here, an excerpt.
Amidst the rising tide of his college golf career at Stanford, Tiger Woods’s personal life took a dramatic turn with the abrupt end of his four-year relationship with his first true love, Dina Gravell, one of the few people outside his immediate family whom he genuinely trusted.
Their sudden break-up came at the 1995 US Intercollegiate Golf Tournament Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. Tiger’s parents pointedly ignored Dina as they all arrived to support Tiger, but she thought nothing of it, assuming Earl and Tida Woods had been arguing.
On the second day of the tournament, Tiger was forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury, and while he went to the hospital for an MRI scan, Dina headed back to her hotel to await news of the extent of his injury. Five hours later, and with no update, the phone in her room rang. It was reception. There was a delivery for her. It was a case with all of her belongings that she had left in Tiger’s room the previous day.
There was also a letter. “Dina,” it read, “the reason for writing this letter is to inform you [that] my parents and myself never want to talk or hear from you again . . . Reflecting back over this relationship, I feel used and manipulated by you and your family . . . I hope the rest of your life runs well for you. I know this is sudden and a surprise, but it is, in my opinion, much warranted. Sincerely, Tiger.
“PS Please mail my necklace I gave you to me when you get back home. Don’t show up at the tournament tomorrow because you are just not welcomed.”
Dina was shocked. It was like being “punched in the stomach,” she would recall years later. It was clear by the tone of the letter and the reference to “my parents” as to who had made the decision to end it.
In 2002, in an interview with Lawrence Donegan of the UK newspaper The Observer, Earl Woods reflected on young Tiger’s love life, a topic that within a decade, would dominate the headlines globally.
“He had one girlfriend in school and one in college,” he said, and he was wary of her family’s intentions.
“They had determined that Tiger was going to make a lot of money,” Earl told Donegan. “They were meaning to make the relationship a permanent relationship. I could see this, but Tiger couldn’t. As a parent I could do one of two things: I could forbid him to see her, or I could counsel him and then wait for him to grow and determine what was right for himself. I chose the latter. And that’s what happened to that relationship.”
The key word here, of course, is “counsel.” While it implies offering fatherly advice and handing autonomy to their son, it is clear that it was anything but.
Rather, the episodes demonstrates just how controlling Woods’ parents were, and how, even as a19-year-old, just how cold, ruthless and calculating Tiger could be. It was hardly the only time he behaved in such a manner.
After turning pro at the Greater Milwaukee Open in August 1996, Woods returned to the family home in Cypress, Calif.
Hearing that he was back in town, Joe Grohman, the young pro who had taken him under his wing at the Navy Golf Club when he was a kid, decided to drop by to see how he was doing.
He arrived at the Woods house to find Tiger surrounded by 20 or 30 men in suits.
Sensing Tiger was just a little busy, Grohman told Tida he’d come back tomorrow.
But, when he returned the next day, Tiger wasn’t there.
“Where’s Champ?” he asked his parents.
“He’s moved,” replied Tida. “He’s gone to Florida.”
Grohman was perplexed.
“But I was here last night? Nobody said you had better say your goodbyes to Tiger,” he said.
To his dismay, Grohman, like many others in Tiger’s life, was now, without a word of thanks or a forwarding address, surplus to requirements in the world of Project Tiger.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “My spirit was broken. Just walked right out of my life and that was that.”
Caddies, friends, girlfriends, even the man who made millions for him — IMG super agent Hughes Norton — eventually found themselves out in the cold.
In early 1998, Norton agreed to be interviewed and photographed for a Golf World cover story about Woods’s huge commercial success. When it came out, Tiger was incensed by the article, viewing it as a betrayal of confidence.
Summoning him to Isleworth Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Woods met Norton outside the clubhouse where the “expressionless” and “zombielike” golfer confirmed he was firing him.
“It was a shock, especially when you feel like you’ve done a great job,” Norton said. “But that’s how Tiger operates. One minute you’re on the inside, the next you’re out.”
Adapted from “Project Tiger: The Birth of Genius and the Price of Greatness,” published by Diversion Books, out March 17.